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Pressure Grows for Debt Deal

Boehner, Obama play down rumors of progress.

Hope nobody started to celebrate the debt deal yet. The White House and congressional Republicans played down rumors Thursday that there had been a pact reached on the budget, as the August 2 deadline for raising the debt ceiling approaches. The rumors followed feverish negotiations between the two camps, with Democratic sources saying a potential agreement had been reached that would call for $3 trillion in cuts over 10 years and a tax code rewrite by the end of 2012. “There is no progress to report,” said White House communications director Jay Carney. But House Speaker John Boehner was more blunt: “There is no deal. No deal publicly. No deal privately. There is absolutely no deal.” However rumors of a deal helped boost the stock market, with the Dow ending up 1.2 percent.