Republicans and Democrats have to compromise if there is going to be deficit reduction, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told CNBC Friday.
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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during her weekly news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
A congressional "super committee" is charged with finding $1.2 trillion in budget savings over 10 years by the Nov. 23 deadline or automatic cuts kick in.
On Tuesday Democrats presented a $3 trillion combination of cuts in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and $1.3 trillion in new tax revenue.
The Republicans countered Thursday with a call for $2 trillion in spending cuts, including cuts to entitlement program and tax changes they said would boost the economy.
Pelosi told CNBC she would love the super committee to come up with a "bond" plan with $4 trillion in cuts.
"There are many opportunities for savings," said the California Democrat, but they shouldn't come solely on the backs of seniors.
"I hope we can reach $4 trillion," she said. "We’re willing to make concessions to do that. We hope the Republicans are willing to make concessions, as well."
She said any cuts in entitlement programs by the super committee must not gut the programs. Cuts in Social Security, for instance, "should be returned directly to Social Security. If you want to put Social Security on the table, whatever we do is to make it stronger and not underwrite tax cuts on the other side of the ledger."
Pelosi said Democrats have long favored measures that would encourage U.S.-based corporations to bring back foreign profits if they would create more American jobs, which she said has business support.
