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 …

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 …

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.

Ann Althouse: Rube … Friday, the Wisconsin law professor asserted that she “made a rational choice” in voting for Obama in 2008, because she does not want to admit the truth: She was wrong, and not merely incidentally wrong, but disastrously, catastrophically wrong.

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.

Senate Democrats draft debt-reduction plan  —  Senate Democrats have drafted a sweeping debt-reduction plan that would slice $4 trillion from projected borrowing over the next decade without touching the expensive health and retirement programs targeted by President Obama.

After Years of Struggle, South Sudan Becomes a New Nation  —  JUBA, South Sudan — The celebrations erupted at midnight.  Thousands of revelers poured into Juba's steamy streets in the predawn hours on Saturday, hoisting enormous flags, singing, dancing and leaping on the back of cars.