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4:50 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 …

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and CNN

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, USA Today, Taylor Marsh, Maggie's Notebook, The Hill, Hullabaloo, Betsy's Page, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Washington Post, The Agonist, Patterico's Pontifications, Salon, Viking Pundit and Weekly Standard

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: CNN, Little Green Footballs and Daily Kos

Jake Sherman / The Politico:

Griping begins as debt deal specifics emerge — Members of Congress from both parties fear their leaders may have conceded too much ground in an emerging deal to raise the debt ceiling, a sign of how difficult it'll be for a sweeping plan to be signed into law before the government begins to default on its debt later this week.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Page

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, Hullabaloo, Don Surber, The Note, The Moderate Voice, The New Republic, The Daily Caller and RedState

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: PoliPundit.com and The Note

The Hill:
Senate defeats Reid bill, waits to vote on deal from Obama and GOP

Discussion: Daily Kos

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

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
A deal comes together

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Fox News:
Senate Negotiators Scramble to Finalize Debt Deal After Reid Bill Tanks

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Right Scoop and The Other McCain

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

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

Discussion: Mediaite and Hot Air

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

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Calculated Risk and Wall Street Journal

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

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

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

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

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

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

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

Negotiating All But Done for $2.7 Trillion Deficit Reduction Deal ... Now Comes the Selling — Sources from both parties tell ABC News that the major potential roadblock in deficit negotiations— the triggers — are now essentially agreed upon. The plan is for the House to vote on this tomorrow, assuming all goes according to plan.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Note, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Hot Air and The Daily Dish

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

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

GOP on verge of huge, unprecedented political victory — By all accounts, it looks like a deal is about to be announced in which the debt ceiling is hiked in exchange for the promise of major spending cuts, including to entitlements, totalling at least $2.4 trillion.

Discussion: Daily Kos

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: Don Surber, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Suburban Guerrilla

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, Grasping Reality … and TPMDC

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