Republicans seek to tie debt limit to deficit cuts

By Richard Cowan and David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans said on Tuesday they hoped to attach deficit-reduction measures to legislation raising the U.S. debt limit, but a new government report that forecast less red ink in the near term threatened to undercut their efforts. "Nobody wants to default on our debt," House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner told reporters following a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans in the Capitol. Boehner added that while Republicans advance legislation to raise the U.S. borrowing authority, "We ought to do something about jobs and the economy, about the drivers of our debt." His comments came as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released forecasts estimating this year's budget deficit would fall to $514 billion. CBO also said that the budget deficit would fall further in fiscal 2015, to $478 billion.