Looking again at the House Democrats' legislative agenda for the 110th Congress, a muddled picture emerges of the plan's composite fiscal outcome.

The Washington Post points out today that the House Democrats propose tens of billions of dollars in additional spending for revamping the military, tightening port and border security, fully funding first responder needs, increasing college tuition deductions, promoting renewable energy, and expanding incentives for personal savings accounts.

At the same time, the Democrats' plan drops fixes for both the alternative minimum tax and for the "doughnut hole" in prescription-drug coverage under Medicare. But it would allow the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare, force companies to pay taxes on foreign profits, cut oil and gas company tax subsidies, and close the vaunted $345 bliion "tax gap."

So, what is the fiscal upshot? Without price tags and revenue estimates for all of the above items, it is anyone's guess. But theoretically, the plan aims at revenue neutrality:

[It] would prohibit the House from approving new spending or tax measures that widen the budget deficit. It would do that by restoring budget rules requiring that all future spending increases and tax cuts be offset by equivalent tax hikes or spending cuts.

Easier said than done; beware the slip 'tween cup and lip.