It strikes me that it will always be possible to phrase the "hard problem" in such a way that it remains hard. If you phrase it so that it mixes the objective correlates of consciousness and the subjective perceptions of consciousness then the two will prove irreconcilable per se. In the world of neuroscience, however, a great deal is known about the former and the reported changes in the latter when the neurons are artificially stimulated or damped. There is no question that subjective states arise out of neural states which can be observed and influenced - just try 10 pints of snakebite if you don't believe me. The "hard problem" is just a particularly intractable and ultimately fruitless way of phrasing it.