Nancy Pelosi: No Fiscal Cliff Deal Without Tax Rate Hike For Wealthy In an interview that will air in its entirety on Sunday's "This Week," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi gave ABC's Martha Raddatz a firm "no" when asked if a deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" could exclude tax rate hikes on the wealthy. Pelosi, D-Calif., said that simply capping tax deductions for the wealthy would simply not suffice. "Well, no...just to close loopholes is far too little money, if it's - and it could be they have said they want it to be revenue-neutral, " Pelosi said. Pelosi's position puts her directly at odds with GOP House Speaker John Boehner, who said tax rate hikes would be "unacceptable" during an interview with "World News" anchor Diane Sawyer earlier this month. Boehner has said he is open to rewriting the tax code and closing loopholes, which would result in additional revenue for the federal government, but has ruled out rate hikes for the wealthy. Still, Pelosi seemed optimistic a deal could be cut after today's first fiscal cliff summit between President Obama and top congressional leaders. The spirit at the table was one of everybody wants to make the best effort to get this done. Hopefully that is possible; hopefully it is possible by the middle of December so the confidence of the markets and most importantly the confidence of the consumers returns to infuse our economy with demand, which creates jobs," Pelosi said. The "fiscal cliff" refers to a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that are scheduled to go into effect in January. WATCH "This Week" on Sunday to see the entire interview