House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner faced an embarrassing setback on Thursday when he failed to unite his Republican lawmakers behind an effort designed to extract concessions from President Barack Obama in year-end "fiscal cliff" talks. The surprise development cast more uncertainty on the year-end budget talks that aim to prevent across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts that could push the U.S. economy into recession next year. Boehner had hoped to show that he has the full support of his party by passing a bill, known as "Plan B," through the House that would limit income-tax increases to the ... (full story)