With Dec. 31 half gone, Obama took to the airwaves to announce a framework had emerged in the Senate but cautioned the crisis had yet to be averted. "We're very close," Obama said in outlining a deal that would allow taxes to rise on incomes of more than $450,000, increases the estate tax from 35 percent to 40 percent and extends unemployment insurance benefits. The sticking point was still spending cuts. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, whose own last-ditch effort, known as Plan B, failed to earn support in his caucus, told the Senate it was up to the upper chamber to come up with a deal. "Just as our economy is really starting to recover and we're starting to see optimistic signs, and we've seen actually some upside statistics from a whole range of areas including housing, now is not the time for more self-inflicted wounds -- certainly not those coming from Washington," Obama said before setting off for Christmas in Hawaii. They met Dec. 28. As recently as the last Friday of the year, Obama expressed optimism a deal would get done. But by Saturday's taping of "Meet the Press," Obama expressed doubts. "Now if we have raised some revenue by the wealthy paying a little bit more, that would be sufficient to turn off what's called the sequester, these automatic spending cuts, and that also would have a better outcome for our economy long-term," Obama said. But so far, at least, Congress has not been able to get this stuff done. Not because Democrats in Congress don't want to go ahead and cooperate, but because I think it's been very hard for Speaker Boehner and Republican Leader McConnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest Americans should go up a little bit, as part of an overall deficit reduction package. The optimism, however, was back by Monday. "It appears that an agreement to prevent this New Year's tax hike is within sight," Obama said. He pointed out, however, "they're not there yet. They are close, but they're not there yet. Obama said he was disappointed the grand bargain he had envisioned earlier in the year would not be achieved. "But with this Congress, that was obviously a little too much to hope for at this time," he said. Before the last-minute flurry of activity, Reid took a personal swipe at the House speaker.