President Obama asked House Democrats on Thursday to give him the political room to make concessions to Republicans on entitlements as part of a deficit-reduction deal.

In a meeting with the House Democratic Caucus in the Capitol Visitor Center, Obama said he won’t accept anything less than a balanced approach to deficit reduction that includes new tax revenues, according to numerous lawmakers in the room.

But he also reminded his troops that, with Republicans in control of the lower chamber, no deal is possible unless Democrats are willing to sacrifice some of their sacred cows.