Boehner preaching from his chair. (Flickr Creative Commons)

President Obama first offers to Republicans in budget talks to fix the "fiscal cliff" were rejected by Speaker John Boehner, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Obama's plan called for a $1.6 trillion tax increase, $50 billion in infrastructure spending in 2013 and added power to add to the federal debt limit. 

"No substantive progress has been made in the talks between the White House and the House over the last two weeks," said Boehner, after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.  "The White House has to get serious."

Read the whole story here.

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the fiscal cliff here.

Reach Executive Producer Michael Juliani here.