Robert Borosage leaned back in his chair as he spoke to me at his K Street office. He grinned as he recalled the recent “fiscal cliff” debate in Congress, and the box in which conservatives — especially anti-tax activist Grover Norquist — found themselves as it played out.

“It was actually a great delight watching Grover explain how the greatest tax increase in 20 years was a tax cut,” Borosage chuckled. “It was a magical moment in television.” He compared it to his own effort to keep entitlement reforms out of the deal.