Negotiations over funding the government for the remainder of 2011 seem to be breaking down. Which, frankly, makes sense. It was never clear how John Boehner was going to sell his members on something Harry Reid would accept. The big change today is that Boehner is now saying that $33 billion in cuts — which is a shade more than he and Paul Ryan originally proposed — is too low. “Despite attempts by Democrats to lock in a number among themselves, I’ve made clear that their $33 billion is not enough,” Boehner said. Chuck Schumer, for the record, says he’s a liar-liar-pants-on-fire, and he has agreed to that number privately, even if he can’t admit it publicly.

So we’re four days out from a shutdown, and there’s no deal. President Obama has invited the primary congressional negotiators to huddle at the White House tomorrow, but it’s hard to see the White House giving away much more than they already have, and hard to see Boehner going back to his members and explaining that Obama was really, really persuasive, but you sort of had to be there.

Remember, too, that Paul Ryan is officially unveiling his budget tomorrow. The prevailing theory has been that the promise of such drastic reforms next time might make Republicans more willing to compromise this time. But it could do the opposite for both sides: By raising the stakes on the next fight, it's possible that both sides will find it harder to show any weakness on this one.