Republicans moved in concert Thursday to disrupt deficit reduction talks with the White House, refusing to participate in some cases until President Barack Obama become more personally involved and resolves the divisive issue of taxes. 
 
 It is a high-stakes gamble designed to change the dynamic of the talks and push back hard on the revenue question — a central tenet for the party. But it also betrays a growing defensiveness inside the GOP, as the debt ceiling gets closer with no deal in sight and pressure for negotiators to consider defense cuts and eliminating some tax subsidies. 
 
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 reset VIDEO: Speaker on Cantor leaving talks VIDEO: Dems 'disapointed' POLITICO 44 
 
 House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) fired the first shot, announcing he was withdrawing immediately from the negotiations because of the tax question. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) quickly followed with a broadside on the Senate floor, also keyed to the tax issue and titled “Where’s the President?” 
 
 “For weeks, lawmakers have worked around the clock to hammer out a plan that would help us to avert a crisis we all know is coming,” McConnell said. “So it’s worth asking: Where in the world has President Obama been for the last month.” 
 
 “What does he propose? What is he willing to do to reduce the debt and avoid the crisis that is building on his watch?” 
 
 In a joint statement with the chief Senate Republican negotiator, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, McConnell followed up by portraying Obama as a champion of higher taxes at the expense of “a bipartisan plan to address our deficit. He can’t have both. But we need to hear from him.” 
 
 Cantor had sent mixed signals earlier this week, first saying that he wanted greater involvement by the president and then insisting that he remained committed to the talks led by Vice President Joe Biden. His decision now appeared to catch some in the GOP leadership, including his fellow negotiator Kyl, by surprise. And it came just as Cantor has been on the defensive in the talks over Democratic demands for greater cuts from defense spending. 
 
 Adding to the intrigue was the almost Washington novel orchestration of the announcement. The Wall Street Journal was called in to get the news Thursday morning — the editorial pages of Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper are famous for their anti-tax orthodoxy. And Cantor made his move just hours after a Wednesday night meeting at the White House between his sometimes rival, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), and Obama, who are slated to take over the talks once the Biden negotiations have run their course. ||||| Deficit-reduction talks scheduled for Thursday were cancelled after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced he was withdrawing from the negotiations. 
 
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 Vice President Biden, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other top White House officials were set to come to the Capitol for the third consecutive day of talks, but that meeting has been called off after Cantor’s decision, a House Democratic aide said. 
 
 Cantor said he was leaving the talks because of the insistence of Democrats for including tax increases in a deal to cut deficits while raising the debt ceiling. 
 
 In a statement, Cantor called on President Obama to “resolve the tax issue," and said he would not take part in a meeting of the group on Thursday. 
 
 “Regardless of the progress that has been made, the tax issue must be resolved before discussions can continue," Cantor said. "Given this impasse, I will not be participating in today's meeting and I believe it is time for the president to speak clearly and resolve the tax issue,” he said. 
 
 Democrats ripped Cantor for the decision, with some suggesting he was quitting so that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would take the fall if Republicans end up agreeing to some tax increases. ||||| Senator Kyl Drops Out of the Debt Talks, Leaving Zero Republicans at the Table 
 
 UPDATE: A Senior Democratic aide says, “Cantor and Kyl just threw Boehner and McConnell under the bus. This move is an admission that there will be a need for revenues and Cantor and Kyl don't want to be the ones to make that deal.” 
 
 ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: 
 
 Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., will also drop out of the debt talks, a source within his office confirms today. The Arizona Republican’s office will issue a formal statement shortly. 
 
 After House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) dropped out of the talks this morning, Senator Kyl was the lone Republican in the group left. And with his withdrawal late this morning, the group does not have a Republican negotiator left in the room. 
 
 The group was set to meet for the 11 th time this afternoon with Vice President Biden, their third meeting of the week. 
 
 The group started as six – but is now down to four members from Congress. The remaining members are: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Assistant House Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.), and House Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
– And then there were none: Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is joining Eric Cantor in his decision to skip Joe Biden's deficit-reduction talks, which means no Republicans are left on the panel, reports ABC News. The departures come as Mitch McConnell blasted President Obama on the Senate floor, notes Politico, which sees a "concerted effort" by the GOP to force the president to get personally involved in the talks. They've hit an impasse over Democrats' push for tax increases. "I would expect to hear from (Obama)," said Speaker John Boehner. "I think those talks could continue if they're willing to take the tax hikes off the table." One anonymous Democratic senator views Cantor's move this way: “He’s throwing the hot potato to Boehner because it was too hot for him." Biden canceled today's scheduled meeting after Cantor's announcement, reports the Hill. The remaining Democrats: Max Baucus, Daniel Inouye, James Clyburn, and Chris Van Hollen.