here as perry has noted. >> nothing? you don't think anything has changed substantively? >> well, not yet. we don't have anything on the table that's -- that's suggesting there's some grand deal possible. it's going to have to happen eventually. it's the only way out of this whole mess. maybe we have a little more leeway now. there seems to have been some good faith gestures but we still don't have anything on the table and taking some senators to dinner, taking paul ryan over to the white house for lunch isn't really going to get us there. >> perry, you write in the grio, quote, there is room for negotiation here, and obama appears ready to explore it. what was the impetus here? i mean, what do you think happened? did someone finally get in the president's ear and say, you know what, if you really want them to work with you and want them to like you, in d.c. you've got to take them out for a nice dinner? >> i don't think the white house thought the sequester would go