Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said House Republicans will not offer Democrats more revenue as the two parties attempt to reconcile their competing budgets Tuesday on Bloomberg TV:
PETER COOK: But aren't you going to have to offer something more on the revenue front even though you don't want to?
PAUL RYAN: No offense Peter, I'm not interested in negotiating through the media, but to be candid, no. We need reform of the tax code. That's what we're proposing, that means lower rates by plugging loopholes. You can raise the same amount of revenue as the federal government with a far more competitive, far more pro jobs tax code than the one we've got. But the other point I would make is this, we want to get a down payment on the problem. We want to get a down payment on deficit and debt reduction, we think that is good for the economy, we think that's good for the credit markets, we think that's good for confidence. That is where we end up at the end of the day here. We understand the president is not going to take all of our entitlement reforms and ours pending cuts, the $4.6 trillion [of deficit reduction] that gets you to a balanced budget, but probably, and hopefully something in between there so we can get a down payment on this problem, that's what we're shooting for.
Full interview: