House Republicans are willing to discuss closing tax loopholes with President Obama in exchange for lowering tax rates, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) told CNBC Wednesday.
Source:gpoaccess.gov
Rep. Ryan Paul from Wisconsin
"I can simply say tax reform and tax increases can be two different things," Ryan said in a live interview. "We have always said let's go after corporate loopholes in exchange for lowering the tax rates. But that's not a tax increase. What we've said all along is for every dollar the president wants to raise the debt limit, let's cut more than a dollar's worth of spending."
Earlier Wednesday, the White House said it believed there were enough Democrats and Republicans in Congress who would support eliminating some tax breaks in order to pass a broad deal to cut the deficit.
The White House is locked in a dispute with congressional Republicans about how to cut the deficit and reach a deal to raise the U.S. debt limit before the United States runs out of borrowing capacity on Aug. 2.
Obama has called a meeting at the White House on Thursday with top congressional leaders to discuss the issue. Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who met with Obama to discuss the deficit standoff on Sunday, said the upcoaid
House Republican leader Eric Cantor also said Wednesday that party could agree to close some tax breaks in a trillion-dollar budget deal as long as they offset with tax cuts elsewhere.
—Reuters contributed to this report.