House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio arrives for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, to discuss the pending fiscal cliff. Boehner said there's been no progress in negotiations on how to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts and called on President Barack Obama to come up with a new offer. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures as he speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, to discuss the pending fiscal cliff. Boehner said there's been no progress in negotiations on how to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts and called on President Barack Obama to come up with a new offer. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - This Oct. 10, 2011 file photo shows transfer cases containing the remains of Army Capt. Drew E. Russell, right, and Army Spc. Ricardo Cerros Jr., sitting on a loader during a prayer, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. Russell and Army Capt. Joshua Lawrence were inside a small command post on an Afghan army base, when an exploding grenade was followed in seconds by bursts of gunfire. Before any of the Americans could raise a hand to defend themselves, Lawrence was dead, one 5.56mm bullet to the head, and Russell was dying, shot three times in the back. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark, File)
FILE - In this July 18, 2012, file photo, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talks about the drought during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. Vilsack has some harsh words for rural America: It's "becoming less and less relevant," he says. A month after an election that Democrats won even as rural parts of the country voted overwhelmingly Republican, the former Democratic governor of Iowa told farm belt leaders this past week that he's frustrated with their internecine squabbles and says they need to be more strategic in picking their political fights. "It's time for us to have an adult conversation with folks in rural America," Vilsack said in a speech at a forum sponsored by the Farm Journal. "It's time for a different thought process here, in my view." He said rural America's biggest assets the food supply, recreational areas and energy, for example can be overlooked by people elsewhere as the U.S. population shifts more to cities, their suburbs and exurbs. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio arrives for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, to discuss the pending fiscal cliff. Boehner said there's been no progress in negotiations on how to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts and called on President Barack Obama to come up with a new offer. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures as he speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, to discuss the pending fiscal cliff. Boehner said there's been no progress in negotiations on how to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts and called on President Barack Obama to come up with a new offer. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Saturday that Republicans in the House are blocking a bill that would prevent a tax increase on the first $250,000 of income earned by all Americans. The Democratic-controlled Senate has approved the measure, but Obama said House Republicans …