Obama: Budget accord may be impossible to achieve if Republicans don’t ease position on taxes

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is conceding “we’re probably not going to be able to get a deal” on budget, tax and spending issues with Congress if Republicans continue to insist that no new revenues can be raised unless entitlement programs are significantly overhauled.

Obama, who has been stepping up efforts to talk to both Republicans and Democrats this week, tells ABC News that “ultimately, it may be that the differences are just too wide.”

In the interview broadcast Wednesday, the president says he doesn’t think such a stalemate would amount to a crisis. But he also says it would be regrettable. Obama says the purpose of his rare visits to Congress this week is “to identify what I call the common-sense caucus” in an effort to break the political gridlock.