The Hill News

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) dismissed Speaker John Boehner's call for matching any increase in the debt ceiling with an equal amount of spending cuts.

"I don't take it seriously," Paul said in an interview with Bloomberg's Al Hunt set to air Friday evening.

"Even in the '80s, when our good friend, Ronald Reagan, had a tax increase, which a lot of people forget about, he said he wanted two dollars of cuts for every dollar. Nothing happened. The deficit exploded. So do you think the American people are going to believe that we're going to cut in the future?"

Paul said lawmakers will eventually come to a compromise on increasing the debt ceiling before the limit is reached on August 2.

"I do," Paul said when asked whether he thought a compromise would be reached. "And that was the type of prediction I made about the [continuing budget resolution]. Remember, it went up to the last minute. Nobody knows exactly what will happen, but I ! said, they'll probably do it at the last minute. And I think that's what'll happen. It'll go up to the last minute, and they will raise the debt ceiling."

But Paul said he won't be voting for a debt ceiling increase when lawmakers finally strike a deal.

"But the reason I'm not going to vote for it, and I don't think it's going to be a catastrophe, because I think the catastrophe comes regardless, because as long as they encourage more spending, then we go over a cliff. So I want to stop us," Paul said.

Paul's comments come as a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Vice President Joe Biden continue to meet to try and hammer out a deal.

A deal has remained elusive so far. On Friday, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) criticized ! Republic ans for trying to tie proposed Medicare reforms to a debt ceiling deal as "irresponsible."

Reed's comments are in response to Republican calls to adopt part of House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget plan which would replace Medicare with a voucher system for Americans currently under the age of 55.