Here we are on October 14th, the deadline for each House Committee to submit recommendations to the “Super Committee”. Democrats answered that call with “Big, Bold and Balanced” recommendations yesterday; Republicans have failed. Brian Beutler of Talking Points Memo:

Big, Bold And Balanced vs. Tiny, Tepid, Tilted — Dems, GOP Do Battle Over Deficits, Jobs

…House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) calls the Democrats’ demands, “big, bold, and balanced.” On Thursday, she presented the deficit super committee with dozens of pages of policy recommendations, drafted by her caucus’ ranking committee members, focused on growing the economy and reducing the deficit…

…they all call for significantly greater deficit reduction than the Super Committee is tasked with finding — a mix of tax increases, program cuts, and savings, combined with near-term support for the economy. That’s the model most experts support, it’s the basis for President Obama’s jobs bill and deficit reduction proposals, and, conceptually, it has broad support among Democrats in Congress.

If that’s Big, Bold, and Balanced, meet Tiny, Tepid, and Tilted. That’s become the GOP’s approach. Lacking the same incentive Democrats have to boost the economy, and chronically unwilling to raise even trivial new revenues, Republicans are prepared to let the Super Committee accomplish the bare minimum: No big, balanced deficit reduction, and thus no real movement on the economy.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) — the lone tribune in GOP leadership for an even modestly balanced deficit plan — appears to have given up all hope…

And so on the most important issues of the day in the eyes of the public, the Democrats are standing alone.