Boehner says negotiations over looming fiscal crisis 'not a game' House Speaker John Boehner, clearly frustrated after a closed-door meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, said President Obama's money man offered no "specific" plan for averting the looming end-of-year fiscal crisis, adding: "This is not a game." "First, despite the claims that the president supports a balanced approach, Democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts," the Ohio Republican said. And secondly, no substantive progress has been made in the talks between the White House and the House over the last two weeks. Obama dispatched Geithner and White House Legislative Director Rob Nabors to meet separately Thursday with Boehner as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Reid, meanwhile, said Democrats are still waiting for a reasonable proposal from Republicans on how to resolve the so-called "fiscal cliff." He told reporters Thursday that "We need a proposal from them." Republican lawmakers and the White House are at odds, in particular, over Obama's push to let tax cuts expire for wealthier Americans. A senior administration official would not characterize what was said on the call or say if a face-to-face meeting is planned. Boehner described the conversation with Obama Wednesday as "direct and straightforward." Those spending cuts are part of a default agreement by Congress after it failed to reach a more measured deal to reduce the trillion-dollar annual deficits that have brought the national debt to more than $16 trillion. On the Senate floor Thursday, McConnell said raising tax rates during tough economic times is the "last thing we want to do." "We're not insisting on keeping tax rates where they are to protect some sliver of the electorate," the Kentucky Republican told lawmakers. We're insisting on keeping tax rates where they are, first and foremost, to protect jobs. And because we don't think government needs the money. A lot of people around here seem to have forgotten that we're still in the middle of a jobs crisis. I can tell you a lot of folks are hurting in Kentucky. National unemployment's still just a hair below 8 percent, and millions of Americans are still looking for work," he continued. So if it's an iron law of economics that you get less of what you tax, why on earth would we want to raise taxes on work? Rates matter because they affect behavior. The higher the tax rate, the higher the disincentive to work," he said. Obama's tax plan calls for an extension on tax cuts for most Americans. His proposal would allow for tax rates to increase for the wealthiest 2 percent. He said Thursday that he believes members of both parties can reach a framework on a debt-cutting deal before Christmas. At least one Republican lawmaker has already left party ranks to say the GOP should accept the president's tax proposal. Conservative Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, for instance, told GOP colleagues in a private meeting Tuesday that it's better to make sure that tax cuts for the 98 percent of taxpayers who make less than $200,000 or $250,000 a year are extended than to battle it out with Obama and risk increasing taxes on everyone. Cole's remarks are noteworthy because he's a longtime GOP loyalist and a confidant of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. They were made in a meeting of the House GOP Republican whip team, which is a sounding board for GOP leaders. "If we don't believe taxes should go up on anybody, why can't we accept a deal that takes 98 percent out and still leaves us free to fight on the other grounds," Cole said in an interview on Wednesday. I'm not for using the American people for leverage or as a hostage. Fox News' Kelly Chernenkoff, Peter Doocy, Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.