Obama: Halt ‘3-ring-circus’ of debt-limit debate

WASHINGTON — Decry­ing a “par­ti­san three-ring cir­cus” in the nation’s cap­i­tal, Pres­i­dent Barack Obama crit­i­cized a newly minted Repub­li­can plan to avert an unprece­dented gov­ern­ment default Mon­day night and said con­gres­sional lead­ers must pro­duce a com­pro­mise that can reach his desk before the Aug. 2 deadline.