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Dick Durbin: In debt ceiling debate, both sides have to give

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Tuesday called for "honest" debate over the debt ceiling, and argued that lawmakers should heed to the recommendations of a bipartisan deficit commission that suggested trillions of dollars in reductions by leaving "everything on the table."

Durbin, in a Tuesday interview with CBS News' Erica Hill on "The Early Show," argued that "each side has to give" - be it Democrats or Republicans.

(Watch Durbin and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., discuss the debt ceiling debate above.)

Corker: Senate "most dysfunctional place" ever

"We've got to be honest, whether it's entitlements or taxes, let's be honest," Durbin said.

"Let's do something that's significant, let's follow the deficit commission, which was $4.5 trillion on a bipartisan basis with everything on the table," urged Durbin, who was on the commission. "That is a sensible approach - Democrats and Republicans ought to buy in."

The number two Senate Democrat also lambasted Republicans for their staunch opposition to raising taxes for the wealthy - a matter that has become a key sticking point in the negotiations.

"To say that there's no person so wealthy in America that they couldn't pay a penny more in taxes, and no special interest tax deal so good in America that it couldn't be examined and perhaps reduced, is not a good starting point," Durbin said.

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