Making a pre-deal
Acknowledge that there may be a pre-deal when reasonable proposals being refused for no apparent reason. People pretend that issues will be discussed in a meeting. However, often informal agreements have been made with people in positions of power. The deal may already have been concluded behind closed doors. The other people in the meeting may have been left in the dark. In most cases like this your best option is going with the flow. Consider next time that you "align" with the boss before the meeting.