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 Good morning. Here's what you need to know: 1. The Wall Street Journal reports: "GOP leaders and the White House are discussing a deal that would enact strict deficit targets and some spending cuts to win Republican votes for lifting the federal debt ceiling. It would defer contentious decisions about Medicare, Medicaid and taxes until after the 2012 elections." 2. Rep. Paul Ryan said yesterday that he was "relatively optimistic" that a deal to lift the debt ceiling could be cobbled together by August. Mr. Ryan said it would not be a "grand-slam" agreement, but more like a "single or a double." 3. Meredith Whitney doubled down on her prediction that state and municipal debt would experience severe stress this year. “States have been spending at two-and-a-half times their tax receipts,” Meredith Whitney told a conference in Los Angeles. “The states then are cutting off aid to their local governments which rely on them for over a third of their monies. The local municipalities have nowhere to go and their bias is to save their constituents before they save their bondholders.” 4. The Huffington Post reports: "Starting Friday, the U.S. Treasury will stop issuing special securities that help state and local governments pay for their debt, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced in a letter to Congress this week. This freeze, the first in a series of "extraordinary measures" undertaken by the Treasury to avoid a federal default, could pose difficulties for local governments nationwide, making it more complicated for strapped localities to manage their already weak finances." 5. The municipal bond market has been doing better lately. Lack of supply and a general sense that Meredith Whitney's prediction of pending disaster is not correct has led to improved prices. 6. The Wall Street Journal reports: "Syria's widespread and deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters has emboldened a new set of voices, including students in Syria's two largest cities who are protesting the crackdown itself." 7. Meanwhile, Syrian TV is reporting that Syrian Army forces are withdrawing from the southern city of Daraa, its "mission of detaining terrorists" apparently complete. Daraa has been the epicenter of the Sunni uprising against the Assad regime. 8. The White House will not release photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse. Meanwhile, The New York Times provides a more detailed and (one presumes) accurate account of the raid on Osama bin Laden's "mansion" in Abbottabad, Pakistan. 9. The reputation of Pakistan's army has been severely damaged by the US raid on Abbottabad. The army has long been seen as Pakistan's essential institution, holding together a country beset by militancy on one side and weak government on the other. 10. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) still will not say whether he will seek the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. But his appearance at the American Enterprise Institute yesterday had all the earmarks of a presidential campaign. 11. Mitt Romney holds a commanding lead among New Hampshire GOP primary voters, new polls show. Donald Trump's support in the state has evaporated. 12. Oh, one last thing! There's a GOP presidential candidates debate in South Carolina tonight. Tim Pawlenty and Ron Paul and a couple of b-teamers will be there. It will be televised on the Fox News Channel. For the latest in politics, visit Politics. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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