right/left axis, then 16 negotiations may be a middle ground. if the parties can't find a middle ground, it's because a middle ground doesn't exist. when negotiations seems stall, what else to do but add another negotiate into the mix. today, president obama announces he will release his budget on the 10th. congress may have better luck lurching from crisis to crisis with a series of stopgap measures to create panic than trying to come to an agreement. wait. they are already doing that. let us turn to john, from "the new yorker" and "new york times" columnist and host of squawkbox on cnbc, andrew ross sorkin. thank you for joining us. andrew, i remember not but several weeks ago you were at the charming mountain get away at davos. you said to me in not so many