Last week, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner agreed that the debt-limit deadline had created an opportunity for something "big:" tax loophole-closings and spending cuts, including adjustments to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. But yesterday, Boehner backed off and called for a smaller package or even a stopgap. Today, the President called a 30- to 90-day extension "unacceptable," cautioning that the closer we get to the 2012 election the harder a solution will become. Michael Shear is a political reporter for the New York Times.