“The House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, striking a conciliatory tone a day after the Republican Party’s electoral drubbing, said on Wednesday that he was ready to accept a budget deal that raises federal revenue as long as it is linked to an overhaul of entitlements and a reform of the tax code that closes loopholes, curtails or eliminates deductions and lowers income tax rates.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/us/politics/back-to-bargaining-table-with-fiscal-cliff-dead-ahead.html?pagewanted=all
It's all code speak for raising taxes. Eliminating deductions is contradictory to “lowers income tax rates”.
Romney explained this many times.
You lower rates and eliminate deductions at the same time. No aggregate tax increase and revenue neutral. But the tax code gets simplified and the tax base is broadened.