Cantor, Boehner: We're Still Best Buds

John Boehner and Eric Cantor put on what the Hill describes as a "buddy-buddy routine" for reporters today to try to dispel notions of animosity between them in the debt ceiling talks. Cantor: “The speaker and I have consistently been on the same page." Boehner, after putting his arm around Cantor: “Let me just say that we have been in this fight together. And any suggestion that the role that Eric has played in these meetings has been anything less than helpful is just ridiculous. We’re in a foxhole."

Harry Reid had a different take, notes MSNBC. He called Cantor "childish" and said he "has shown that he’s shouldn’t even be at the table." With no miracle breakthrough today, Obama has told lawmakers that if no deal on deficit reduction is reached tomorrow, he wants them to start working on an alternative plan to raise the debt ceiling, reports Politico. One option in play is to combine the Mitch McConnell plan with budget cuts identified by Joe Biden's bipartisan group, notes the Washington Post. McConnell and Reid are reportedly working on the framework. (More Eric Cantor stories.)