memeorandum: John Boehner Wants To Scale Down Debt Talks (Matthew Yglesias/ThinkProgress)

11:45 AM ET, July 10, 2011

Top Items:

Under pressure from right, John Boehner steps back on debt deal — House Speaker John Boehner, under pressure from the right and facing resistance from his own deputies, backed away Saturday from a bold $4 trillion deficit-reduction package that he once hoped would resolve the August debt ceiling crisis …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, msnbc.com, americanthinker.com, Verum Serum, The Page, Booman Tribune and Daily Pundit

Washington Post:

Boehner abandons efforts to reach comprehensive debt-reduction deal — House Speaker John A. Boehner abandoned efforts Saturday night to cut a far-reaching debt-reduction deal, telling President Obama that a more modest package offers the only politically realistic path to avoiding a default on the mounting national debt.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative and Reboot Congress

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Boehner Scales Back on Deficit Talks, Citing Tax Increases — WASHINGTON — Citing differences over tax revenues, House Speaker John A. Boehner said on Saturday night that he would pull back from joint efforts with President Obama to reach a sweeping $4 trillion deficit-reduction plan tied …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Balloon Juice, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and TalkLeft

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

John Boehner Wants To Scale Down Debt Talks — The collapse of negotiations around $4 trillion in debt reduction and House Speaker John Boehner's preference to scale the scope of discussion back to $2 trillion in hopes that will somehow generate a deal with no tax increases isn't surprising.

Discussion: Eschaton

New York Times:

The Worst Time to Slow the Economy — It was not surprising to hear the Republican presidential candidates repeat their tiresome claim that excessive government spending and borrowing were behind Friday's terrible unemployment report. It was depressing to hear President Obama sound as if he agreed with them.

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, Pirate's Cove, American Thinker, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:

John Boehner Rejects Obama's Grand Bargain On Debt Ceiling … Barack Obama , John Boehner , Deficit , Federal Deficit , Debt Ceiling , Boehner Budget Cuts , Boehner Debt Ceiling , Boehner Deficit , Boehner Spending Cuts , John Boehner Budget Cuts , John Boehner Debt Ceiling …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Atlantic Online, New York Times, Don Surber, Firedoglake, Scarecrow's myFDL diary, The New Republic and FrumForum

Wall Street Journal:

Boehner to Seek Smaller $2 Trillion Deal — WASHINGTON—House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) said the White House and congressional leaders have stopped pursuing the major deficit-reduction deal tackling entitlement programs and an overhaul of the tax code that he and President Barack Obama had been seeking.

Discussion: Doug Ross

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
White House says Boehner balked over taxes, not entitlements

Discussion: Reuters, CNN and FrumForum

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Boehner backing away from grand compromise on debt

Discussion: Hot Air

James Pethokoukis:
Like Reagan at Reykjavik, Boehner passes on a bad deal

Discussion: Power Line

James Pethokoukis:
Will Boehner pull a ‘Reagan at Reykjavik’ and walk?

Discussion: Associated Press, National Review and Power Line

Speaker:
Statement by Speaker Boehner on Debt Limit Discussions

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, New York Magazine and BizzyBlog

Wall Street Journal:
Boehner's Obama Gamble

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, The Hill, National Review and Washington Post

Reuters:
Boehner says debt talks scaled back over tax rift

Discussion: The Politico, CNBC and Poor Richard's News

James Pethokoukis:
Is Obama getting ready to snooker Boehner on taxes?

Discussion: Swampland and The Hill

Washington Post:
Senate Democrats draft debt-reduction plan

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, Daily Pundit, AMERICAblog News and Poor Richard's News

Stephen Clark / Fox News:

Bachmann Stands By Marriage Pledge That Links Slavery to Black Family Values — Republican presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann is standing firm behind a pledge she signed Thursday that promotes marriage and social conservative values, but includes a passage in the opening statement …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Weasel Zippers, Daily Pundit and Little Green Footballs

Don Surber: Latest plan to save O in 2012

Liz / Gary Johnson 2012:
Gary Johnson Calls Family Leader Pledge “Offensive and Unrepublican”

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses, Towleroad News #gay, Outside the Beltway, The Volokh Conspiracy, Balloon Juice, A plain blog about politics and The Agitator

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Conservative group backtracks on marriage pledge slavery language

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Little Green Footballs

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
FAMiLY LEADER Statement Suggests Pledge, Signed By Bachmann, Requires Her To Prosecute Essentially All Porn

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Dump Michele Bachmann and Washington Post

New York Times:

U.S. Is Deferring Millions in Pakistani Military Aid — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is suspending and, in some cases, canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military, in a move to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to fight militants more effectively.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Jihad Watch, americanthinker.com, UrbanGrounds, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress and FrumForum

The Politico:

Daley: U.S. suspending military aid to Pakistan — President Barack Obama's chief of staff on Sunday confirmed that the U.S. is suspending $800 million in military aid to Pakistan. — Bill Daley said the U.S. relationship with Pakistan is “difficult” and must be made “to work over time.”

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Sarah Palin / Facebook:

The Sugar Daddy Has Run Out of Sugar; Now We Need New Leaders — Barack Obama's big government policies continue to fail. He should put a link to the national debt clock on his BlackBerry. The gears on that clock have nearly exploded during his administration.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Conservatives4Palin and National Review

JammieWearingFool:

Great News: Friday's Anemic Jobs Number Are Likely Bogus — You think the abysmal jobs report Friday was bad? Just wait until the inevitable revision of the meager figure of 18,000 jobs saved (or created, as Team Obama is fond of saying). … Amazingly, Obama's toadies just keep compounding the problem.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Vox Popoli and New York Post