Boehner won't commit to time for debt limit vote

House Speaker John Boehner is being non-committal about scheduling a vote on raising the nation's debt limit before early July, when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the United States could start defaulting on its financial obligations.

Boehner, in an interview published today in Politico, said "there's a chance" a vote to allow the federal government to borrow more money "could not happen." The speaker was quick to say, "That's not my goal."

The United States is on track to hit the $14.3 trillion debt limit in mid-May, but the government can do some things until early July that would stave off what Geithner predicts would be financial catastrophe.

In a separate interview with ABC News, Boehner once again said he believes it would be "responsible" to increase the debt limit -- but not without making some deep and dramatic cuts to federal spending and reining in the growth of entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security, which are big drivers of the nation's debt.

"The greatest danger we have ... is doing nothing, which is basically what the president's proposing," Boehner said.

This month, Obama outlined his plan to save $4 trillion over 12 years and vigorously defended the role of the federal government in providing health care to seniors through Medicare. His plan includes about $1 trillion in new taxes on upper-income people, considered a non-starter for Boehner and Republicans.

Boehner told ABC that "it's not smart" to raise taxes on people when they are being asked to invest in the economy to create jobs.

A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows Americans are evenly divided between Obama's deficit plan and one proposed by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis.