Obama would veto Boehner's Plan B, White House says "This approach does not meet the test of balance, and the president would veto the legislation in the unlikely event of its passage," White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement. At a press conference later, Obama said that "I remain not only open to conversations, but I remain eager to get something done" before the Christmas holidays. What separates us is probably a few hundred billion dollars. The idea that we would put our economy at risk because we can't bridge that gap doesn't make a lot of sense Boehner's decision to pursue a separate course and the White House's aggressive response were a late setback to what had been significant progress in negotiations to avoid a series of spending cuts and sharp tax hikes on nearly all Americans set to take effect in January that would suck $500 billion out of the economy next year if left unaddressed. With time quickly running out, Boehner announced his Plan B on Tuesday, also saying that he was not giving up on talks with Obama. The president has offered House Republicans a plan that would raise taxes on Americans earning more than $400,000, extend unemployment insurance for about two million Americans and launch fresh spending on construction projects. Republicans have scheduled a vote on the bill for Thursday. The White House released an analysis of the legislation on Wednesday afternoon, arguing that it would raise taxes for about 25 million middle-class households and preserve an average $50,000 in tax cuts for millionaires. It would do little to reduce the deficit, would hurt the unemployed and would cut Medicare. "The Congressional Republican "Plan B" legislation continues large tax cuts for the very wealthiest individuals - on average, millionaires would see a tax break of $50,000 - while eliminating tax cuts that 25 million students and families struggling to make ends meet depend on and ending critical incentives for our nation's businesses," White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement. It would also cut off a vital lifeline of unemployment assistance to 2 million Americans fighting to find a job just a few days after Christmas, while deeply cutting Medicare. Senior Republican aides dismissed the White House analysis. "The White House's opposition to a back-up plan to ensure taxes don't rise on American families is growing more bizarre and irrational by the day," Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Boehner, said in a statement. "Republicans have always said a broader, "balanced" plan is the ideal solution, and we have put one forward." Boehner's spokesman said on Wednesday that the speaker was pursuing the bill as a last resort and could be open to changes if the Democrat-controlled Senate amended the bill and sent it back to the Republican House. "The White House's opposition to a back-up plan to ensure taxes don't rise on American families is growing more bizarre and irrational by the day," spokesman Brendan Buck said. "Republicans have always said a broader, "balanced" plan is the ideal solution, and we have put one forward. In the absence of a "balanced" solution from the president, however, we must act to stop taxes from rising across the board in 12 days. If Democrats disapprove of this bill, then there is a simple solution: amend it in the Senate and send it back to the House. Boehner's proposal permanently extends the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for households making less than $1 million and would permanently rein in the alternative minimum tax and maintain the tax on inherited estates worth more than $5 million at 35 percent. The bill would permit the top income tax rate to rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income over $1 million and restore limits on exemptions and itemized deductions. But the tax on dividends would be held to 20 percent rather than rising to 39.6 percent, as under current law. Pfeiffer noted because Boehner's plan spares all income under $1 million from higher tax rates, millionaires would still see an average tax cut of $50,000 compared to what would happen if Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expired at the end of the year.