House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) questioned President Obama’s seriousness about addressing the federal deficit and reiterated the firm GOP position on raising the debt limit outline in his speech at the Economic Club of New York earlier this week. Boehner said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he gets the impression that the president is “really not serious about tackling the big problems that face our country.”

“He’s talking about it, but I’m not seeing real action yet, and I just think this is the moment,” he added. “We all know what the problems are. Why don’t we just deal with them?”

Boehner once again maintained that Congress had an “obligation” to raise the debt ceiling, but said he understood the doubt being raising by some members of his party. “I think it is necessary, but I understand the doubts,” he said, citing the Treasury Department’s repeated extending of the deadline for action.

The speaker was adamant that a “clean” vote to increase the debt ceiling was unthinkable, insisting on meaningful action to reduce spending, not least in order to convince credit markets that the United States is serious about confronting it’s debt problem. “I am not going to walk away from this moment,” he said. We have a moment a window of opportunity to act, because if we don’t act, the markets are going to act for us, our creditors are going to act for us…We could see the end of our economy if we don’t act.”

Despite the Treasury Department’s recent extension of the deadline for action to early August, Boehner said there was no reason that a deal couldn’t be reached well before then. “I’m ready to cut the deal today, we don’t have to go to the 11th hour,” he said. “I’ve offered to the president, I’ve said ‘Mr. President come on, let’s you and I, let’s lock arms and we’ll jump out of the boat together.’”

“I’m serious about dealing with this, and I hope he’s just as serious,” he added. “No gimmicks, no automatic clawbacks, I’ve had it with all of that. We know what need’s to be done. Let’s just do it.”

Everything should be considered as part of a potential compromise, Boehner said, with the exception of tax increases. When asked why wealthy earners shouldn’t have their tax rates returned to Clinton-era levels (a standard Democratic line) the speaker swiftly rebutted: “We don’t have an economy as good as we had during the Clinton era, when Republicans were in charge of the Congress. We’re trying to get our economy moving again.”

He also defended the Medicare reforms outline in the Paul Ryan budget recently adopted by the House, dismissing suggestions that Republicans were “running away” from the plan. “That’s just not a fact,” he said. “You can ask any one of our members, and they’ll tell you that on average 80 percent of the people at these town hall meetings were supportive of taking big steps to put our fiscal house in order.”

He cited a new report highlighting the dire financial outlooks for Medicare (and Social Security) as further evidence that reform is need to save the program for future retirees. “[Current] retirees are going to be taken care of [under the GOP plan], there’s no ifs, ands or buts about that,” he said. “But we all know that if nothing is changed, seniors’ benefits are going to get cut…that’s why we have to deal with this.”

“The greatest threat to our country and to our economy is doing nothing,” he added.

Republicans have put forward a proposal to address the problem, Boehner said, it’s time for Democrats to do the same.