House GOP plans vote on fiscal cliff 'Plan B'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House pushed ahead today with a bill that would raise taxes on people earning more than $1 million a year as hopes faded for a pre-Christmas deal between President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff."

Democratic leaders vowed to let the House measure die in the Senate without a vote and urged Boehner to return to the negotiating table.

As a grand bargain to avoid the fiscal cliff's automatic tax hikes and spending cuts proved elusive, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said lawmakers would return to the Capitol after the holiday to try again.

"The president and Boehner have to negotiate this, OK?" said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "We don't need a vehicle. We need an agreement."

Across the Capitol, Boehner accused Obama and his fellow Democrats of doing nothing to prevent the so-called cliff — sweeping tax hikes and spending cuts that hit in early January unless lawmakers head them off. But at the same time, he told reporters he would continue trying to strike a deal with the president.