As another poster said, Boehner left the Dem's on the ropes where they placed themselves. All he has to do is stay cool, attend the meeting and apply more pressure on the Whitehouse in public.
Correct, stay cool, stick to the plan and keep saying no politely while working with the spinate. If he can orchestrate a deal that makes reforms, doesn’t raise taxes and gets a balanced budget amendment though he will go down in history along with great Speakers of the past.
Of course, all of this is a big IF.