became clear that it would not pass. boehner's plan would have raised taxes on those earning over $1 million. before political reality set in, he was sounding optimistic. >> our country has big challenges, and the president and i are going to have to work together to solve those challenges. >> after putting plan b aside, boehner said it's now up to president obama and the senate to find a way to avoid sending the nation over the cliff. house members are leaving washington. they'll return after christmas. >> you have to believe this is so telling about the trouble that speaker boehner is having corralling his troops in the house. even though the president said $250,000, they went up to $400,000 and boehner said $1 million. even that wasn't enough to appease some republicans in the house. absolutely no tax hikes. so this says a lot about speaker boehner's leadership and his control over the house.