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.

Pawlenty: Science ‘In Dispute’ Over Whether Gays ‘Born This Way’  —  This morning on Meet The Press, David Gregory pressed GOP presidential candidate Gov. Tim Pawlenty about his recent remarks that he likes Lady Gaga's song “Born This Way,” asking if he believes being gay is a choice.

Exclusive: EU calls emergency meeting as crisis stalks Italy  —  (Reuters) - European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has called an emergency meeting of top officials dealing with the euro zone debt crisis for Monday morning, reflecting concern that the crisis could spread to Italy, the region's third largest economy.

Palin Plots Her Next Move  —  Sarah Palin hasn't jumped into the race for the White House (yet), but she believes the prize is there for the taking.  In a conversation with Peter J. Boyer, Palin warns Boehner not to raise the debt ceiling, proclaims that Obama is beatable—and says the 2012 field is far from settled.

Gawker's John Cook Attempts to Out CIA Agent Who Helped Kill Bin Laden  —  John Cook of Gawker attempted this week to out the CIA staffer who spearheaded the effort to kill Osama bin Laden.  —  In a post titled “Is This the Guy Who Killed Bin Laden?”  Cook attempts to isolate the staffer …

Sen. McConnell: ‘Nobody Is Talking About Not Raising The Debt Ceiling’ In Congress  —  Senate Minority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell discussed the debt ceiling negotiations with Bret Baier on Fox News Sunday.  McConnell was in agreement with Speaker John Boehner's decision not to support …

Stop Obama's Egyptian Tank Sale  —  While everyone in Washington was concentrating on the debt crisis this week, the Obama administration attempted to slip through a questionable arms deal that requires serious scrutiny.  Though it got little attention, the Defense Department officially notified Congress …

Why We Need the New News Environment to be Chaotic  —  The business environment for newspapers continues to be grim.  Pew recently reported that advertising revenue rebounded in 2010 for all forms of media, except newspapers.  * This might just be a matter of transitioning from print …

Newt Gingrich: ‘This is the Obama Depression’  —  ABC News' Arlette Saenz reports:  —  Newt Gingrich labeled the economic situation in the U.S. as the “Obama depression,” just days after a dismal jobs report and signs negotiations on the debt deal are faltering.

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.

Can jobs news get worse?  Just wait and see  —  If you are an American looking for work — no, make that pleading to be allowed to earn a living — you already know this: the job market is even worse than Washington is telling us.  And Washington yesterday told us that the employment situation is just plain ugly.

Conservative group backtracks on marriage pledge slavery language  —  A social conservative Iowa group has retracted language regarding slavery from the opening of a presidential candidates' pledge, amid a growing controversy over the document that Michele Bachmann had signed and Rick Santorum committed to.