WASHINGTON (CNN) - A day after Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell proposed a backup plan to raise the debt ceiling if a deficit reduction deal with Democrats can't be reached, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor torpedoed the proposal, saying it doesn't have any chance of passing in his chamber.

"Currently, there is not a single debt limit proposal that can pass the House of Representatives," Cantor, R-Virginia, said in a statement Wednesday. Though the statement does not directly refer to McConnell's plan, Republican congressional sources said Cantor intended to make the point that the Senate GOP leader's proposal is not going anywhere in the House.

Washington (CNN) - A fourth straight day of talks intended to head off a possible government default ended on a tense note Wednesday, with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor saying President Barack Obama cut him off by saying "I'll see you tomorrow" before walking out.

The exchange concluded almost two hours of talks that failed to achieve a breakthrough. Another session - the fifth in five days - was set for Thursday, participants said.

(CNN) - I think President Obama and the Democratic and Republican leaders with whom he's been negotiating an increase in the nation's debt ceiling all fully appreciate the stakes. Based on everything that I'm hearing, they are all convinced that the consequences of failure would be a huge disaster for the U.S. economy and the American people. It probably would make the 2008-09 recession look like child's play.

The warnings have been coming fast and furious in recent days – from the president, his treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, and, today, from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. And all of this helps explain why Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell came up with his rather complicated, last-minute and very desperate proposal to resolve the issue.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) – The public pressure on lawmakers to raise the debt ceiling was ratcheted up Wednesday when a major rating agency said it would put the sterling bond rating of the United States on review for possible downgrade.

Moody's Investors Services said it had initiated the review because of "the rising possibility" that Congress will fail to raise the debt ceiling in time - something that could lead to a U.S. default on its debt.

(CNN) – In a meeting to discuss the status of debt talks with reporters in his Capitol Hill office today House Speaker John Boehner said, “What the President is asking us to do just won’t pass.” Of the White House he insisted, “The only thing they’ve been firm on is these damn tax increases.”

The Speaker believes the broad set of options discussed during the daily White House meetings would not muster enough support within his caucus because they would raise taxes and demand smaller, less meaningful cuts than needed.

Washington (CNN)-Former Virginia senator George Allen's comeback campaign got a boost during the second fundraising quarter.

The GOP candidate will report $1.1 million in contributions, bringing his total for the cycle to $2.6 million overall.
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(CNN) - Add Tim Pawlenty to the list of Republican presidential candidates who will not sign the controversial marriage pledge from The Family Leader, a socially conservative group in Iowa.

The former Minnesota governor said he is a strong advocate for traditional marriage but will continue to define his marriage in his own words, instead of in "The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family."
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Washington (CNN) – Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Democratic chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, told CNN Wednesday he is considering an investigation into whether News Corp employees broke the law by hacking U.S. citizens.

"My bet is we'll find some criminal stuff," Rockefeller said. "This is going to be a huge issue," he said as he was leaving the Senate chamber after a vote.
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