memeorandum: Compromise In The Works — The rumored deals flying around … (Matthew Yglesias/ThinkProgress)

3:40 PM ET, July 31, 2011

Top Items:

Congressional Sources: Republicans and Democrats Reach Tentative Debt Deal — ABC News' Jonathan Karl (@JonKarl) reports: — Democratic and Republican Congressional sources involved in the negotiations tell ABC News that a tentative agreement has been reached on the framework of a deal …

Major Garrett / NationalJournal.com:

Outlines of Debt Compromise Emerge — An announcement could come as early as Sunday afternoon. — Here are the outlines of a debt-ceiling deal that congressional leaders and the Obama White House are firming up in preparation for a possible announcement as early as Sunday afternoon.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, TPMDC, Sky Dancing, Taylor Marsh, USA Today, Hullabaloo, Hot Air, Maggie's Notebook, The Hill, Betsy's Page, Outside the Beltway, Patterico's Pontifications, Viking Pundit and Weekly Standard

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

GOP ready to declare victory in debt fight — Republicans on Sunday framed an emerging debt ceiling agreement as largely giving them what they wanted in a debt deal. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also pushed back Sunday against suggestions the prolonged fight over raising …

Discussion: Washington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and CNN

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Democrats will lose now. But they can win later. — Democrats are going to lose this one. The first stage of the emerging deal doesn't include revenue, doesn't include stimulus, and lets Republicans pocket a trillion dollars or more in cuts without offering anything to Democrats in return.

Discussion: emptywheel and DISSENTING JUSTICE

Jake Sherman / The Politico:

Boehner: ‘Serious issues’ remain — Speaker John Boehner emailed his House Republican colleagues Sunday afternoon acknowledging momentum in negotiations with the White House over a deficit reduction package, but we warned that “serious issues remain.” — The Ohio Republican told lawmakers …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Dems, GOP Float Eye-Popping Debt Limit Compromise — Very late on Saturday, multiple reports sketched out the framework of a debt limit compromise President Obama has struck with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). — As noted here, the issue under contention was the design of a so-called …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, Don Surber, Hullabaloo, The Note, The New Republic, The Daily Caller and RedState

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Compromise In The Works — The rumored deals flying around Washington today all sound pretty bad. And how could they not be? The White House started with a position that: … But (1) and (3) were in significant tension. The White House strategy for getting (3) was to persuade the public that (3) was the correct position.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post and Grasping Reality …

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

The end of Harry Reid as we know it — We don't know all the details of the negotiations between Mitch McConnell and the White House which apparently are closing in on an agreement, but one thing is clear, Harry Reid has become a sideshow. — The master of the Senate was left …

Discussion: The Other McCain, PoliPundit.com and The Note

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Senate Votes Down Reid Bill, Awaits Obama/McConnell Spending-Cut-Only Debt Limit Bill — Shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday, the Senate voted down Majority Leader Harry Reid's debt limit bill. — That plan has been outmoded by a new one, hammered out by the White House and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, that's still being finalized.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, CNN and Daily Kos

Dan / Riehl World View: Jennifer Rubin Is An A**hole

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
A deal comes together

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

The Note:
Caution on Capitol Hill: ‘Nothing Is Agreed to Until Everything Is Agreed to’

Discussion: Hot Air and Mediaite

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill: McCarthy: GOP still wants balanced budget amendment

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
McConnell: 'We're very close' to a deal

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos, Sky Dancing, The Note, Outside the Beltway, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and The Hill

The Caucus:
McConnell Sees Deal “Very Close”; Focus Is on Triggers for Cuts

Discussion: Daily Kos

Peter Schroeder / The Hill: Moody's: Neither debt plan protects the nation's AAA rating

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Amid New Talks, Some Optimism on Debt Crisis

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Politico, Prairie Weather, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, TalkLeft, Politics, AMERICAblog News, CNN, Calculated Risk and U.S. Senate Republican …

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
BREAKING: Dems Delay Debt Limit Test Vote

Discussion: Open Congress, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Salon, New York Times and Booman Tribune

Heidi Przybyla / Bloomberg:
White House, Republicans Said to Reach Tentative Deal on U.S. Debt Ceiling

Discussion: Washington Post, NationalJournal.com, Washington Monthly, American Power, CBS News and The Agonist

The Hill:

Senate defeats Reid bill, waits for deal from Obama and GOP leaders — The Senate voted largely along party lines on Sunday afternoon to block legislation crafted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that would raise the debt limit by $2.4 trillion.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Senate Blocks Reid's Debt Ceiling Plan

Discussion: Washington Monthly

New York Times:
Senate Blocks Reid's Debt Ceiling Plan; Talks Continue

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Washington Wire:
Live Blog: The U.S. Debt Battle

Discussion: Calculated Risk and Wall Street Journal

Stanley B. Greenberg / New York Times:

Why Voters Tune Out Democrats — Stanley B. Greenberg is the chief executive of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a polling company that works with center-left political parties in the United States and abroad. — BARACK OBAMA can't catch a break from the American public on the economy …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and Suburban Guerrilla

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Bring Back Poppy — WATCHING today's Republicans being led around by an extremist Tea Party faction, with no adult supervision, I find my mind drifting back to the late 1980s when I was assigned to cover the administration of George H.W. Bush, who I believe is one of our most underrated presidents.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org and Daily Kos

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Extortion politics: a new form of governing — Josh Marshall made an interesting point in passing yesterday, asking whether conservative Republicans could achieve massive spending cuts through “old-fashioned majority votes.” Josh answered his own question: “Of course not.”

Mgroombridge / Decide America:

Debt-Ceiling Negotiations Leaving Defense Budget in Grave Jeopardy — Every indication is that the debt-ceiling negotiations are leaving the defense budget in grave jeopardy. By exposing critical defense programs to disproportionate cuts as part of the “trigger mechanism,” …

Discussion: Washington Post, Weekly Standard and National Review