Debt Talks Collapse, Again

So much for that "grand bargain." The debt talks between John Boehner and President Obama have collapsed yet again, with each side blaming the other, reports the Washington Post. What now? Obama summoned the leaders of both parties to the White House tomorrow morning to find a way out. "I expect them to have an answer in terms of how they intend to get this thing done in the course of the next week." He added that he remained "confident" of a deal if only because he didn't think Congress would be "irresponsible" enough to trigger a default. The deadline is Aug. 2.

"It’s hard to understand why Speaker Boehner would walk away from this kind of deal,” said Obama, making the case that he was being generous to Republican concerns. Boehner, however, said he and the president couldn't agree on taxes and entitlements. "The deal was never reached, and was never really close," he wrote to fellow lawmakers. “In the end we couldn’t connect. Not because of different personalities but because of different visions for our country." Read his full letter here. (More John Boehner stories.)