Boehner: Debt Increase Can't Pass with Tax Hikes

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Republican in Congress is ruling out any tax increases as part of a budget bargain required to pass an increase in the government's ability to borrow through the GOP-controlled House.

House Speaker John Boehner says any measure that mixes tax hikes with the increase in the debt limit would be impossible to pass.

The Ohio Republican has been thrust into the spotlight after his top lieutenant, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, abruptly pulled out of talks led by Vice President Joe Biden.

Boehner says it'll take more leadership from President Barack Obama to get the debt measure enacted. The alternative is a first-ever U.S. default on its obligations.