IN THE negotiations to reduce America’s long-term deficit and to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of automatic tax increases and spending cuts at the year’s end, Republicans have so far done most of the retreating. But they still want something in return. Emerging from the first—and so far only— negotiating session with Barack Obama on November 16th, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, said he was “prepared to put revenue on the table, provided we fix the real problem.” By that he meant entitlements, in particular the big three: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—pensions, and health care for the elderly and poor, respectively. On November 20th John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House, demanded that Mr Obama’s health-care plan should also be on the table.

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