Obama warns Cantor: 'Don't call my bluff' in debt-ceiling talks  —  Republicans said tense negotiations over raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit at the White House ended when President Obama stormed out of the meeting with a stern warning to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.): “Don't call my bluff.”

Obama: ‘This May Bring My Presidency Down, but I Will Not Yield’ on No Short-Term Extensions  —  ABC News' Jake Tapper and Ann Compton report:  —  It was, sources from both parties say, the most tense of the deficit reduction meetings yet.  —  After a period of what was described …

Top Democrats laud GOP debt-limit move; Fed chief warns of ‘calamity’ if U.S. defaults  —  Democratic congressional leaders responded positively Wednesday to a top Republican's “backup plan” for raising the federal debt ceiling amid a new warning from the nation's central banker that failure …

Obama Warns Cantor 'Don't Call My Bluff' As Debt Talks Stall … WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and the White House had what nearly every party is describing as a “tough” and “testy” meeting on the debt ceiling Wednesday afternoon, culminating in a stormy exchange between President Obama and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

No yelling at Obama today  —  Carney reminded journalists, “I used to be where you are, and I used to ask questions.”  —  AP Photo  —  A long-running tiff between the White House press corps and the West Wing over presidential access flared anew today when press secretary Jay Carney faced off …

Raters Put U.S. on Notice  —  Moody's, S&P Sound Alarms on Debt; President Obama Walks Out of Talks  —  Credit rating agencies moved closer to an unprecedented downgrade of the U.S. government's debt amid deteriorating talks in Washington, with President Barack Obama abruptly walking …

McCaskill: GOP looks like ‘hot, sloppy mess’  —  Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) slammed Republicans, claiming their internal divisions were impeding the ongoing debt-ceiling negotiations.  —  “I don't know what [House Speaker John] Boehner (R-Ohio) has going on in his caucus,” she said on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Thursday.

G.O.P.'s No-Tax Stance Is Outside Political Mainstream  —  The back-and-forth of the debt limit negotiations can be perplexing.  But the facts driving the debate are quite straightforward.  Any deal, or any workaround to a deal, will need to be approved by a majority of the House of Representatives.

The Republican Case for Compromise  —  I HAVE always been a conservative Republican, and I subscribe to the ideas of less government, lower taxes, innovation and entrepreneurship.  But I also believe that, in the face of a possible debt default by the federal government, Republicans need to embrace the principle of compromise.