Bipartisan budget talks led by Vice President Biden collapsed Thursday after the top two Republican negotiators pulled out, complaining Democrats won't drop their push for tax increases and calling on the president to get involved.

The decision by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., effectively sidelines the talks, which had accelerated in recent weeks as lawmakers tried to strike a budget deal that would pave the way for Congress to approve an increase in the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. The clock is ticking, with the Treasury Department having set Aug. 2 as the deadline to lift the debt cap.

Republicans want to extract major budget cuts before accepting a debt ceiling increase, but do not want tax hikes included as part of the equation. In a joint statement from Kyl and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the senators claimed the White House and Democrats "are insisting on job-killing tax hikes and new spending," claiming such a plan would fail in Congress. Republicans specifically are concerned about a push to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire for top earners...