House Republicans, both in the budget committee and in the Republican Study Committee, have outlined potential cuts that will bring spending back down to 2008 pre-recession levels. However, all Washington negotiators can do is talk about raising taxes, or not, and how much revenue can come from limiting deductions on one hand and economic growth on the other. It appears that discussion of spending cuts is so poisonous, despite the run-up in spending over the past four years, that cuts cannot even be the subject of discussion.