Boehner on averting fiscal cliff: ‘God only knows’

WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker John Boehner signaled on Friday he’s still open to negotiations with President Barack Obama on avoiding across-the-board tax increases set to hit taxpayers Jan. 1, but sounded pessimistic about reaching a grand deal with the president.

“How we get there, God only knows,” Boehner told a Capitol Hill news conference just hours after his rank-and-file handed him a stunning tactical defeat.

The Republican leader spoke the morning after he was forced by his members to abandon legislation that would have raised taxes on incomes above $1 million.

In the aftermath, Boeh...