President Obama today ripped Republicans for refusing to accept tax hikes, even for the wealthiest Americans, as part of any deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling beyond $14.29 trillion.

"You can't reduce the deficit to the levels that it needs to be reduced without having some revenue in the mix," the president told a White House news conference in the wake of a breakdown in administration negotiations with Congress on reaching a debt-ceiling deal while at the same time reducing soaring deficits.