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.

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.

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.

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.

South Sudan becomes an independent nation  —  The BBC's Will Ross describes the celebrations in the capital Juba  —  South Sudan has become the world's newest nation, the climax of a process made possible by the 2005 peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war.