House set to vote on Boehner's Plan B  —  Washington (CNN) — The House is set to vote Thursday on Plan B, a GOP version of an agreement on the fiscal cliff, and another measure designed to lure support for the plan from hard-line Republicans.  —  The White House threatened Wednesday to veto that plan …

Fiscal cliff: The lowest point  —  President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner opened their negotiations last month by pledging to work constructively to avert the fiscal cliff.  —  But on Wednesday, the two men at the center of the talks traded blame, not counteroffers.

‘Cliff’ standoff: Boehner works to wrangle votes for ‘Plan B’; Obama threatens veto  —  House GOP leaders scrambled to rally their members Wednesday behind a plan to extend tax cuts on income up to $1 million, defying President Obama's veto threat and setting up a showdown that could send Washington over the year-end “fiscal cliff.”

Scott Brown backs assault gun ban  —  Outgoing Mass. Sen Scott Brown has became the first GOP senator to endorse a renewed assault weapons ban.  —  “What happened in Newtown where those children were subject to that level of violence is beyond my comprehension,” Brown told the Springfield Republican on Wednesday.