Wisconsin politicians discuss meetings with President Obama

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WITI) -- Wisconsin politicians took center stage on the Sunday talk shows on Sunday, March 10th.

Congressman Paul Ryan appeared on FOX News Sunday -- previewing this week's release of his budget proposal.

Last Thursday, he had lunch with President Obama.

"This is the first time I've had a conversation with the President lasting longer than two minutes or televised exchanges, so I've never really had conversation with him on these issues before. I'm excited that we had this conversation. We had a very frank exchange. We come from very different perspectives. I ran against him in the last election -- so we exchanged very frank candid views that were very different -- but at least we had this conversation," Ryan said.

Senator Ron Johnson also characterized his talks with President Obama as "frank." He was one of 12 Republicans who had dinner last week with President Obama.

Democrats and Republicans are still far from a consensus, but both sides want to keep talking.

"From my standpoint this is a good first step. You have to start meeting with people. You gotta spend a fair amount of time figuring out what we agree on first. So many times we're talking about different numbers. We have to first agree on the facts and figures," Sen. Johnson said.

"There is a trust deficit, and the way in my experience in 20 years as a legislator that you close that trust gap is that you sit down and continue to talk. I'm more likely to reach consensus and agree on facts when I've spent some time getting to know and working with the other side," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D - Florida) said.

President Obama plans to meet again this week with more members of the Senate and Congress.

Congressman Ryan's budget proposal is expected to be released Tuesday.