My point is that it seems obvious to me that everybody has to take off his ideological blinders, if we're interested in a compromise. Just like Democrats have to realize that a success isn't possible without cutting spending (including the social systems), Republicans have to lay off the "taxes are theft!"-rhetoric, and take taxes for what they are: A necessity to increase revenues and reduce the deficit.
Of course I wasn't in the room when the talks failed, but based on what I read, I see the problem is on both sides. Each side had their "holy cows" they refused to touch. For Democrats, it was raising the retirement age or cutting healthcare subsidies, for Republicans, it was raising taxes. And now, both sides play the blame game, instead of getting their act together and actually do something for the country (and future generations).
It seems both Dems and Reps were more interested in abusing these talks for the 2012 campaign, than in actually finding a solution.