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Washington (CNN) -- Republican disarray over taxes forced House Speaker John Boehner to drop his alternative proposal to a fiscal cliff deal, leaving the negotiations in limbo Friday -- 11 days before automatic tax increases on everyone.

Boehner said at a news conference Friday morning that his Republican colleagues refused to back his plan because of what he called unfounded fears of being blamed for a tax increase.

"They weren't taking it out on me," he told reporters. "They were dealing with the perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes."

Boehner and his majority leader, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, said they want to continue negotiating with President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats on a way to avoid the automatic tax hikes and steep spending cuts of the fiscal cliff, set to hit in the new year.

The lack of backing by his own caucus was a political blow to Boehner and raised more questions than answers about what happens next in the tough negotiations with Obama on either a broad deficit reduction agreement or a smaller step to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Both the House and Senate are leaving for the Christmas holiday, with plans to return on December 27 in case there is some kind of deal to take up.

Without an agreement, tax rates go up and government spending -- including for the military -- gets cut deeply in the new year. It is being called the fiscal cliff because many observers say it could send the economy reeling.

Boehner made clear the negotiations with Obama on a broad deficit reduction agreement hit an impasse this week when both sides offered their "bottom line" positions that included major concessions but remained a few hundred billion dollars apart.

With his alternative plan to avoid the fiscal cliff torpedoed by his own party, Boehner said it now is time for Obama and Senate Democrats to come up with a solution. He noted that the House already passed measures to avoid the fiscal cliff, adding "at some point, the United States Senate has to do something."

Boehner also denied a reporter's suggestion that he is walking away from further talks, but he offered no timetable or mechanism for resuming discussions

The House sought to address the spending cuts Thursday night, passing a measure proposed by Cantor and backed by Boehner that would reduce the impact on the military.

However, the chamber then went into recess when it was clear Boehner lacked the votes for his separate tax plan, which would maintain current tax cuts for most Americans while allowing rates to return to higher 1990s levels on income over $1 million.

Conservatives opposed to any kind of increase in tax rates refused to sign on, and with Democrats unified in their opposition, the measure had no chance of passing.

On Thursday afternoon, Boehner and Cantor had said the speaker's proposal, dubbed Plan B, would pass the House, and in the process put pressure on Obama and the Democratic-controlled Senate to accept the Republican alternative.

"There was a perception created that that vote last night was going to increase taxes. I disagree with that characterization," Boehner said Friday by way of explanation, adding that "the perception was out there, and a lot of our members did not want to have to deal with it."

Obama campaigned for re-election on extending the tax cuts that date back to his predecessor's administration on income up to $250,000 for families, but returning to higher rates on amounts above that threshold.

He and Democratic leaders made clear Thursday they opposed Boehner's alternative as insufficient, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying the Senate would spurn the Boehner plan and Obama promising to veto it if it reached his desk.

According to Republican sources, the zero chance for Boehner's Plan B to actually become law influenced some wavering House members to reject the plan.

After Thursday night's unexpected reversal, Republican Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona -- who will move to the Senate in the new Congress -- said he was disappointed.

"It's too bad; I'd rather vote on it tonight," said Flake, who said he sides with Democrats in backing the extension of tax cuts except for household income of more than $250,000. "Get it done."

Possible scenarios now range from intensified and ultimately successful talks in the coming days, or entrenchment in hardline positions as the fiscal cliff becomes a reality next year, when the new Congress could enter negotiations with Obama.

The Plan B was significant because Republican leaders previously insisted they wouldn't raise rates on anyone.

Boehner complained Thursday that in making that concession, he expected but never got significant concessions from Obama.

"For weeks, the White House said that if I moved on rates, that they would make substantial concessions on spending cuts and entitlement reforms," Boehner said a few hours before his plan failed. "I did my part. They've done nothing."

He elaborated on the negotiations Friday, saying he told Obama that his latest proposal made over the weekend was his bottom line. Boehner said Obama told him the White House counterproposal Monday was the president's bottom line.

Boehner also repeated his complaint that Obama and Democrats were unwilling to address the spending cuts and entitlement reforms that he considers necessary to properly address the nation's chronic federal deficits and debt.

"What the president has proposed so far simply won't do anything to solve our spending problems," Boehner said, noting that "because of the political divide in the country, because of the divide here in Washington, trying to bridge these differences has been difficult."

Democrats say Republican leaders are buckling to their conservative base by backing off as negotiations seemed to be nearing a deal.

White House spokesman Jay Carney called Boehner's alternatives "a major step backwards," claiming they would lead to extended tax cuts of $50,000 for millionaires. Reid slammed the two Republican measures -- the one that passed and the one that wasn't brought up for a vote -- as "pointless political stunts."

The war of words notwithstanding, Boehner, Carney and Senate Democratic leaders all said Thursday they were ready to talk further.

Economists warn that failure to reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff could spark a recession. Stocks opened sharply lower Friday on news of the continued Washington dysfunction on the issue.

The possibility of a fiscal cliff was set in motion over the past two years as a way to force action on mounting government debt.

Now legislators risk looking politically cynical by seeking to weaken the measures enacted to try to force them to confront tough questions regarding deficit reduction, such as reforms to popular entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Polling has consistently shown most Americans back the president, who insists wealthy Americans must pay more, rather than Boehner and his Republican colleagues, who have balked at tax rate hikes and demanded spending cuts and entitlement program reforms.

A new CNN/ORC International survey released Thursday showed that just over half of respondents believe Republicans should give up more in any solution and consider the party's policies too extreme.

The two sides seemingly had made progress earlier this week on forging a $2 trillion deficit reduction deal that included new revenue sought by Obama and spending cuts and entitlement changes desired by Boehner.

The president's latest offer set $400,000 as the income threshold for a tax rate increase, up from his original plan of $250,000. It also included a new formula for the consumer price index applied to some entitlement benefits, much to the chagrin of liberals.

Called chained CPI, the new formula includes assumptions on consumer habits in response to rising prices, such as seeking cheaper alternatives, and would result in smaller benefit increases in future years.

Statistics supplied by opponents say the change would mean Social Security recipients would get $6,000 less in benefits over the first 15 years of chained CPI.

Liberal groups sought to mount a pressure campaign against including the chained CPI after news emerged this week that Obama was willing to include it, calling the plan a betrayal of senior citizens who had contributed throughout their lives for their benefits.

Boehner essentially halted negotiations by introducing his Plan B on Tuesday. He described it as a fallback option to prevent a sweeping tax increase when the Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of the year.

The spending cut measure -- similar to one passed by the House last year that went nowhere in the Senate -- was added to the docket later Thursday to appeal to conservatives upset about backing a tax increase without acting on spending and protecting the military budget.

White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage dismissed the GOP spending measure as "nothing more than a dangerous diversion" for the elimination of federal funding by negatively impacting millions of seniors, disabled individuals and poor and at-risk children.

A separate White House statement Thursday night expressed confidence that there will be a deal on the fiscal cliff, but offered no explanation of how it would happen, when it would come or what it would look like.

"The president will work with Congress to get this done, and we are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly that protects the middle class and our economy," the White House said.

CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.