Plouffe: Obama still wants tax hikes for wealthy

White House senior adviser David Plouffe said on Sunday that President Barack Obama will continue to call for the wealthiest Americans to pay higher taxes in a speech scheduled for this week.

"People like him, as he'll say, who've been very fortunate in life, have the ability to pay a little bit more," Plouffe said on NBC's "Meet the Press," emphasizing the president will also continue his pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class.

"He has said he believes taxes on the higher income - people over $250,000 - should eventually go up. … I think the president’s goal - and he's been clear about this - is to protect the middle class as we move forward here," Plouffe added.

Plouffe praised congressional Republicans for making specific cuts in their budget plan, but said they would draw the line on their approach to taxes.

“The Republican congressional plan that came out...they put some specific ideas out. They should be credited for that. There's a couple in there we agree with. They, for instance, preserve the savings from the health-care reform in Medicare," Plouffe said. "But the congressional Republican plan, for instance, … would give the average millionaire a $200,000 tax cut while asking more of the middle class. … So we're obviously not going to sign on with that approach."

The budget plan offered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) "may pass the House," Plouffe acknowledged. But "it's not going to become law."