Boehner calls for 'fiscal sanity' budget

WASHINGTON, March 7 (UPI) -- House Speaker John Boehner said Republicans will demonstrate "fiscal sanity" in deciding how much money the United States can afford to spend.

Boehner, R-Ohio, is under increasing pressure to come up with a budget that satisfies his party's conservatives and can still pass the chamber, Roll Call reported Wednesday.

"There's a lot of pent-up demand from our members to show the American people a way forward to fiscal sanity ... and we're going to do that," Boehner said.

Republican leaders and GOP members of the Budget Committee are meeting behind closed-doors this week to see if they can set budget levels below what appropriators have said they need for passage.

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said he doesn't know where the spending cap will fall.

Political observers say it is unlikely the number will go quite as low as the $931 billion that some have called for.

"You get a number low enough, and you'll get conservatives voting on it," said Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C.