Ezra Klein checks in on the debt ceiling talks:
[T]hey've made more progress than most expected, and both sides now think a deal including more than $1 trillion in cuts is likely. Republicans now need that deal more than ever. And, in particular, they need a deal on Medicare, because they need something that takes the Ryan plan off the table while putting both parties on the hook for Medicare cuts. That's their best, and perhaps their only, chance to defuse the issue in the 2012 campaign. But a Medicare deal is hard to reach on its own terms and almost impossible so long as Republicans are also saying tax increases are off the table. Democrats aren't going to bail Republicans out and accept painful cuts to Medicare so long as Republicans aren't budging on taxes.
Maybe NY-26 will help.
The Dish 