An Obama campaign official confirms reports that the president has been forced to cancel several upcoming fundraisers, so that he can continue to focus on raising the debt ceiling.

Obama had been scheduled to attend two DNC events tonight in Washington, DC. Instead, Vice President Biden will attend tonight's fundraiser at the St. Regis Hotel.

On Wednesday Aug. 3, the president had been schedule to travel to Chicago for fundraisers as part of his 50th birthday celebration.

The Obama campaign official says that if debt negotiations are still ongoing, the president will not travel to Chicago for those events.

In addition, an upcoming presidential West Coast swing for campaign events in California and Washington State has been put on hold, the official confirms.

Per the Washington Post, “President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner rushed Thursday to strike agreement on a far-reaching plan to reduce the national debt but faced a revolt from Democrats furious that the accord appeared to include no immediate provision to raise taxes… More savings would be generated through an overhaul of the tax code that would lower personal and corporate income tax rates while eliminating or reducing an array of popular tax breaks, such as the deduction for home mortgage interest. But the talks envisioned no specific tax increases as part of legislation to lift the debt limit, and the tax rewrite would be postponed until next year.”

The New York Times on the negotiations over a “trigger” that would ensure work on entitlement reform and tax reform: “The White House wants a trigger that would raise taxes on the wealthy; Mr. Boehner wants the potential penalty for inaction to include repeal of the Obama health care law’s mandate that all individuals purchase health insurance after 2014.”

The Baltimore Sun previews Obama's town hall in Maryland today. “About 1,000 people are expected to attend the hourlong event beginning at 11 a.m. at College Park, which will take place as congressional leaders continue to search for an agreement that will cut the budget deficit by trillions of dollars, raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2 and eke out the best possible political position for their parties for the 2012 election.”

In his National Journal column, Ron Brownstein writes how important demography and an aging population are in the debt debate. “Too many Democrats resist the need to restrain entitlements, and even more Republicans refuse to admit the need for more revenue. Yet only by moving on both fronts -- beginning in the debt-ceiling standoff still convulsing the capital -- can the nation go gray without falling dangerously into the red.”

There’s an AFL-CIO print ad hitting the Gang of Six: