trade deals passed and we are willing to work with the administration to do that. we are standing ready to do that. but the bills have to be sent down. bill: you are starting to see a back off of some of these regulations we saw before the labor day weekend. there was a report out yesterday. now, there are some of your colleagues skipping this speech. perhaps as many as three. is that a good move, do you believe, senator? i m not sure whether attendance at this speech is necessary. i intend to be there. but the the president set the bar high for himself by calling a joints session of congress. he might have been better off if he presented these ideas at a truck body shop like mitt romney did this week. you better have new things to say if you are going to ask a joint session of congress to
not sure that is enough. reporter: fox democrats fox news the $300 billion price tag is not ok rate. there are hints the package might be more expensive. white house aides may not say so publicly perhaps so president can surprise the base with bigger than expected package. i m not going to get in specific numbers about the cost of the proposal. reporter: a bloated price tag would provide fodder for growing number of republicans who say they will skip the speech. because there is nothing new in the talk of initiatives like extenting the payroll tax cut. and boosting infrastructure spending. the president set the bar high for himself calling a joint session of congress. he might have been better off if he had presented these ideas at a truck body shop like mitt romney did earlier in week. adding to the pressure, most speeches to a joint session are state of the union addresses early in the year. now there are just four months left in the year for congress to act on the jobs p
faster job creation in the united states. shepard: aggressively. but some g.o.p. lawmakers say they won t be there to hear it. doug mckelway on fox top story live at the white house. how many of these republicans are skipping the speech, doug? well, shep, no official count as of yet. we do know of at least three members and three senators who are going to be skipping out. one who says he wants to watch his beloved saints play football instead. one who says is he sick and tired of presidential speeches. and yet another who says he doesn t want to be a prop for the president s speech. senator roy blunt of missouri wonders if a joint session of congress is the proper venue for such a speech. the president really set the bar pretty high for himself by calling a joint session of congress. he might have been better off if he would have presented these ideas at a truck body shop like mitt romney did earlier this week. interestingly, republicans plan no official televised response to t