NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks gave up most of their gains Thursday as House Speaker John Boehner told a televised news conference that "no substantive progress" had been made in talks to reach a budget deal. The Ohio Republican declared Democrats were "not serious" about spending cuts.
Earlier Thursday, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid stuck firm to Democrats’ insistence on extending middle-class tax cuts, only to be rebuffed by his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell.
Boehner called on Democrats to “get serious” about spending cuts if they want a deal to avoid the automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to begin Jan. 1.
But the speaker pointedly said he is not walking away from discussions about the fiscal cliff. He told reporters that his meeting with Geithner was “frank and direct.”
Boehner, meanwhile, took a hard line on increasing the U.S. debt ceiling in fiscal-cliff negotiations, saying there would be a “price tag” for doing so.