Obama Says Budget Differences Could Be ‘Too Wide’ for a Deal

President Obama, in an interview with ABC News released on Wednesday, said that the differences between Democrats and Republicans on spending and taxes may be too great to reach an agreement on the budget.

“Right now, what I’m trying to do is create an atmosphere where Democrats and Republicans can go ahead, get together and try to et something done,” Mr. Obama said. “But ultimately it may be that the differences are just too wide.”

If the Republicans won’t consider increasing revenues, or will only trade revenues for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, “then we probably are not going to be able to get a deal,” he said.

The president called the recent meetings he’s had with Republican members of Congress “useful,” adding that he’s learned “people don’t always know what I’ve actually proposed.” The president will continue his outreach on Wednesday with a lunch meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Responding to Representative Paul D. Ryan’s call for the White House to put forward a budget that would achieve balance in 10 years, Mr. Obama said that he would not “chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance.”

The budget put forward by Mr. Ryan would make cuts to domestic government programs, including Mr. Obama’s signature health care reform, overhaul Medicare and Medicaid and cut the top marginal income tax rate, while balancing the budget by 2023.

Mr. Obama, rejected this proposal, suggesting that Mr. Ryan’s budget would achieve balance “on the backs of, you know, the poor, the elderly, students who need student loans, families who’ve got disabled kids.”