consumer, if you wish, and supply are of the content, netflix, to charge you more for speed if that is what you, and they want. netflix up 2%. neil, it is yours. neil: that is weird. i don't know how i feel about that whole thing. stuart: look if i want speed and delivery i want to pay for it, get out of the way. neil: but you're also cheap. free market views notwithstanding. it is a coo nun -- conundrum. seriously i go back and forth. good to see you. i'm for anything that charges stuart more. i guess i weigh that. stuart: would you pay for extra large cannoli? neil: yes i would. you settled it for me in terms i could understand. yeah he did. he just explained it very

nicery. we're on top of that decision shortly here that could be others are saying consumers it could cut a number of different ways. we're on top of that. we're on top after market rally that knows no bounds. it would be 69th record of the year, go back to bill clinton president, 1995, for the most records achieved in single calendar year. a lot depends on tax reform getting done. speaker paul ryan, a lot of that depends on my friends in the united states senate. take a look. >> it is all about timing and managing absences in the senate. so, we're basically being flexible for the majority leader. i talked to mitch a couple times about this we're simply being flexible to honor their concerns about managing their schedule and possibly absences. neil: how will that sort out?

we're talking about senators cochran and john mccain who might be too ill to be there for the big vote. that could make a big difference. to fox news capitol hill producer chad pergram. what do they do in that event? >> here is what happens next couple days. they have to finish the bill text. they didn't do that in the conference meeting yesterday. that is facade. this is offstage. i'm told tomorrow there will be conference call with house republicans. they will walk them through the bill. that decision will be made whether the house bows first or senate goes first. usually you have the body that asks for the conference committee, in this case the house of representatives, they're the one that goes first, excuse me, they defer to the other body. the house asked for the conference. the senate would go first but it is not a hard and fast rule. what could happen though, they're concerned about the health of mccain, suffering from mccain issues with cancer treatment, cochran hasn't been there in a while from

mississippi. the problem could they be there late at night for another vote-a-rama. where the senate votes for hours and hours. the senate has to go through what is called the byrd bath. they throw out anything that might be extraneous that doesn't count on budget rules. guess what, neil. they would have to go back to the house of representatives. that eats up a lot of time. not a problem they have passing the bill? the senate, it is issue they need to avoid a government shutdown at the end. week and they're running out of track. neil: in that event you lose two republican votes could be yea votes. do they push it back? does the math chain? now you have got two fewer republicans takes fewer votes? explain that. >> you could be down to 98 votes. thad cochran hasn't been voting recently. john mccain.

98, if it is 49-49 tie. you would perceive to have 49 nos if democrats hold together, bob corker one republican no on republican bill, 49-49 vice president pence comes to break the tie. we found out this morning delayed his travels to the middle east. some people have told me that is part of what the gig is here. they're saying wait a minute, if it is 49-49 we might need vice president pence to break the tie. anything else besides a tie the president can not cast a ballot. neil: you know this thing could be in jeopardy. >> that is the real risk. some people said where is sauce san collins -- susan collins, republican from maine on. this you have to bounce back to the house of representatives. in variable of time it takes another step. more streamlined. they could probably not decide this over the weekend or until

monday. the big thing they're watching, neil, they could pass the tax bill, have the government shutdown. talk about stepping on their own narrative. this would be the first major legislative achievement for the trump presidency here. the government shuts down end of the week. they have real problems trying to figure out how to fund the government. the government is funded 1 1: 1:59 p.m. next friday night. neil: to virginia republican congressman, house freedom caucus member dave bratt. i think you coming out of nowhere to become a united states congressman. days like this, times like this, i bet you wonder whether it was worth it. tell me what you think of this? >> i love my economic professor days. these days make you nervous but shutdown scenario i don't think there is too much risk of that. we're going to run out the clock, that is pretty clear.

you're bumming on tax tuesday, wednesday, like chad just said. then we got the budget to resolve thursday, friday. i'm already hearing we have a cr coming back that looks decent. neil: talking about continuing resolution that keeps things limping along. >> that puts us into january, right? don't like that. you have to go through all the drama again. the defense folks are concerned. we don't want a hit to defense, the longer you do a cr, the less good that is for our military. so there is just a bunch of variables we have to process. but in the end, i mean you guys opened it up, the market is going through the roof, that is the good news. when the fed does rate hikes three times in a row, that is about a good real world evidence you can get, that the economy itself is fundamentally sound. and that's great news. the markets -- neil: do you worry the rate hikes get in the way of whatever stimulus you might get from your tax cuts? >> yeah i do. we need to educate everybody on that. under obama they had $4 trillion

in high-powered money, sugar stimulus and 700 billion-dollar deficit stimulus. we're doing the right thing. we're providing a solid foundation for the economy. now the fed can finally get rates back up to a normal equalibrium level but american people have to understand, that is a good thing. that will eat away at a little bit of growth, but again a strong, fundamental economy is the most important thing and the jobs will continue to kick in for the kids and, i taught college kid for 20 years. for me, that is why i ran. we have got good news coming. neil: you hope. one of the things that had come up, congressman, a lot on this debate back and forth whether everyone will be in line. i'm getting a sense these other illnesses in the senate, notwithstanding senators mccain and cochran, whether there could be a revolt with susan colins, marco rubios who back off for other reasons. could this unravel there?

>> i hope paul ryan and some of other leadership comment on that. that gets to the democracy. when one person has leverage over entire congress, really over the entire american people, something is wrong with the system. that is the swamp. the system is broken when one person can leverage the entire country and both bodies. i think it is incumbent on our side hey, that is not right. follow the republican platform. it is fine to have debate and compromise within that structure but allowing these individual people to have total leverage over the entire country i don't care whether you're democrat or republican, that's wrong. the american people sent us here to, house republicans and the senate republicans and the white house and it is our responsibility to get things through. you need eight democrat senators to go along with some of these things we're doing. so we ought to compromise, right? it should be proportional to the eight seats. not one person getting their will over the american people.

neil: gotcha. good seeing you again, congressman. be well. >> you too, thank you. neil: we should let you know here, john cornyn, major texas republican leader is indicating right now he thinks john mccain is going to be voting next week. the senator, as you know is receiving treatment for brain cancer. he has missed a couple key votes this week but he will be able to vote on the tax compromise measure we're told next week. cornyn would know one way or the other. number two republican in the u.s. senate. he says that senator mccain is just restings up. we showed you a screen a second ago of senators susan collins and marco rubio who are doubters on this for other reasons. but we want to get the read and lay of the land how this all factors out with a potential vote as soon as next week. "daily caller" editorial director vince colin nays on that.

other senators balking at provisions that have been tucking in there. susan collins doesn't like top rate being lowered, neither does marco rubio. what do you think? >> there is a lot of people heading their breath right now. the idea once we get back the first hurdles of getting them to conference everyone breathed a sigh of relief. it is obvious far from over. you need two votes in the house and senate. it is a good sign john mccain is come back. if you want to see this bill pass he presumably will be a yes on that. he is always a question mark on these types of bills. the idea with susan collins and marco rubio what we have seen they have expressed grumpiness in public not getting things they want inside of the tax package. what they have not said they are a no vote. they have complained about that top rate coming down in marco rubio's case especially. he was upset he didn't get to extend child care tax credit further for more of working place but you know, at the end i think they will have to make the

calculation do we want to be in the position supports having a billets americans keep more of their own money? i think most republicans will say yes to the gambit. neil: in the end are market run up justified? they are anticipating tax cuts and good things come from it. reports from money center banks saying good things will come from it. what do you think? >> so right now, the numbers keep coming up. they suggest marco rubio and susan collins will show up to the table to vote yes. i think there is a clear correlation as we seen the news cycle run every turn and interrace of tax bill, the markets responded and pass it next week and president sign it i think you will see a nice bounce. >> what if we don't? what if there is some disappointment axe --'s this tax cut or don't plow into new

workers or pay more money? they're free to do whatever they want with the money but how will that fall out? >> what you will see democrats point to that as weakness of this tax package. bringing on child tax credit. having a situation where you're increasing that standard deductible and trying to take care of middle class families. for now, even if there is delayed benefits from these companies getting good tax wind falls in the end they will eventually show up in workers pockets in addition to individual rate hikes, not hikes but rate changes too. neil: good seeing you my friend. >> nice see you. neil: more concern about bias in the russian probe and what certain guy named mueller will do about that, if he has done enough at all about it, after this. cannot live without it.

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retail. under pressure like never before. and it's connected technology that's moving companies forward fast. e-commerce. real time inventory. virtual changing rooms. that's why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent network speed across multiple locations. every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver. neil: is it time for bob mueller to go or at least fire a lot of people still working under him given the fact we've got these revelations and texts from former top official who showed a distinct bias against president of the united states? blake burman with all the details now. what are you hearing? reporter: talk about traction republicans want to see addition, calling for some within the house judiciary

committee, a second specs counsel essentially to investigate the investigators on this one. this was raised once again yesterday during a hearing among the house judiciary committee. bob goodlatte is one who chairs that committee. once again earlier today he called for a second special counsel looking into bob mueller's team. >> we have called upon the department of justice to appoint a second special counsel to look into all of this. and as the evidence mounts there is need for investigation by someone who has prosecutorial abilities, it is very important. the independent, the inspector general can do an internal investigation report, but doesn't have prosecutorial authority. reporter: several different grievances from republicans. one they point to political donations made by members of the mueller team mainly to democrats but also two, peter strzok, the now-removed fbi investigator from mueller's team as obtained

by fox news the multitude of text messages he said that were anti-trump text messages. republicans have been focusing on this specific one that comes from august 2016 in which strzok wrote in the text message, and i quote here, i want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in andy's office that there is no way he, meaning then candidate trump, gets elected but i'm afraid we can't take that risk. now many republicans believe that the andy that was referred to in that text is andy mccabe, who is the deputy director of the fbi. they question whether or not that leads to some sort of conspiracy against then candidate trump during the election. yesterday, rod rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who hired robert mueller, was asked about this second special counsel, rather. keep in mind the inspector general from the department looking into all of this, and rosenstein said, and i quote, we have a responsibility to make a independent determination and we

will. neil? neil: thank you, my friend, florida republican congressman matt gaetz says something need to be done now. he connect ad lot the dots that don't look favorable to him. >> i was at one point lone voice in the wilderness calling for bob mueller to be fired based on conflicts interest evidence to me months ago. there are more republicans seeing this evidence of bias. more important that we're not just see somebody express opinion about president trump or secretary clinton, these are actual plans with text messages and meetings with people at fbi to undermine the sitting president of the united states before and after he was elected. we need an fbi that is independent, that people can trust. we do not have a process now that is going to yield a result instills any confidence in the american people because bob mueller has recruited a team

of people who are like the governing board of the never trump movement. i think we deserve better. neil: you don't accept at face value when he got rid of one guy, that was enough? >> this is not one guy. you have jeanie reed, one of the lawyers who actually defended clinton foundation against foia requests. very individual who set up hillary clinton's email server a part of mueller probe. over half of the members of mueller's team donated to hillary clinton or barack obama. none of them donated to president trump. either you have got a circumstance where bob mueller specifically recruited people who had a bias against the president, or just coincidence of all coincidences that this seems to be the collection of people persecuting the president. it is also worthy to note, neil, bob mueller did not produce this to us. he essentially had his team busted by horowitz, inspector general of the fbi. they were forced to come forward, not because they wanted to but because devin nunez and

intelligence committee was issuing subpoenas and demanding testimony and this would have come out. i think there is more to come still. that is why we need to get rid of bob mueller to have truly independent review of true collusion that happened between the dnc, fbi, and fusion gps company that was paying russians. neil: democrats are charging you, not you specifically, but this, republicans are pounces on this as act of deflection. what do you say? >> well i mean the evidence is overwhelming. it wasn't republicans that sent text messages back and forth claiming that these people at the fbi would be the insurance policy, the saviors of the american people. this is hard, smoking gun evidence, not only of bias but of plans to act on that bias in a way to undermine president trump. you know, democrats, used to cry and squall about russia every week in the congress. it seems these days, they're the ones trying to deflect because they don't want to talk about this anymore based on the dnc and the fbi's work with the fusion gps company that produced this salacious and unverified

dossier. neil: are you worried about the sort of scheme of unintended consequences? let's say you succeed getting mueller out of there, not as if investigations in either direction are going to go away. i assume there would be another prosecutor, maybe starting from scratch, maybe picking up mueller's work and this goes on and on? >> neil has to be an end at some point. time for bob mueller to put up and shut up. if there is evidence of collusion between trump campaign and russia we need to see it. >> you know this better than i, congressman, that interviewing stage that mueller has done with that. that this might be close to conclusion. >> if there is conclusion let's see it. we're a year into the donald trump presidency almost. we had this cloud over the administration that distracts us from working on issues that could improve quality of life for the american people. if there is evidence, let's see it. right now the strongest evidence seems to indicate that you had the dnc paying for this false information and that you had the

fbi then dressing that information up and then using it as basis for a fisa warrant to spy on the american people. that is what we really need answers. it is also where we need structural reform at the fbi for more transparency, more oversight, so this never happens again. neil: congressman, thank you, very, very much. >> thank you, neil. neil: we're keeping eye on this dow that is on track for another record. it would be 69th such record. we're following at fcc this delayed vote on something called net neutrality, something came in on the obama administration. one that guaranteed that you wouldn't be separately charged based on the data you're using or the content from where you're getting it. right now they want to overturn those rules. republicans have a 3-2 edge on the fcc right now. the chairman indicated he wants to get rid of that so this could be more of a free market type thing. now some are in favor of that. others are concerned this will lead to tiered pricing that puts consumers at disadvantage.

other companies say there are rules already in place to make sure that doesn't happen. they're concerned that regulating the internet like it was a telephone company is a bad precedent to set and could lead to some slippery things. consumer groups saying slippery things from those companies that they're worried about. regardless because of demonstrations, protests, a lot of back and forth, that vote is delayed. we'll have more after this. complicated, you know? well sure, at first, but jj can help you with that. jj, will you break it down for this gentleman? hey, ian. you know, at td ameritrade, we can walk you through your options trades step by step until you're comfortable. i could be up for that. that's taking options trading from wall st. to main st. hey guys, wanna play some pool? eh, i'm not really a pool guy. what's the hesitation? it's just complicated. step-by-step options trading support from td ameritrade

neil: it is official right now. disney to buy select twenty-first century fox assets for $52.5 billion in stock. rupert murdoch was with maria bartiromo earlier. here he is what he had to say about it. >> there is a lot of change coming. people will watch television differently. not use business but works very differently. we're seeing that with the emergence of new companies.

silicon valley spending tens and tens of billions on entertainment programing. so it makes sense. neil: all right, it makes sense and for both parties the idea is going to make a lot of money. look at their stocks again. charlie gasparino and i were discussing this earlier. we haven't seen quite the pop in twenty-first century fox some envision because originally bringing this value, closer to 40 bucks a share, i don't know necessarily what that could mean. what do you think? >> it could mean that the market is saying there is some degree of oversight from the justice department on this. that they -- neil: not a slam dunk. >> not a slam dunk. i think it is and here is why. i don't know if you remember a couple weeks ago that the justice department -- let's backs up a minute. the minute the justice department sued at&t over the time warner purchase the initial response from wall street any other combination like that would be put on hold, okay. that they're being very strict on this antitrust stuff, particularly what is known as a

horizontal combination where you layer assets that are similar on top of each other, such as disney buying our entertainment assets, our studios. they already have that. that is called horizontal. because with at&t time warner is vertical. because it is vertical they're not really overlapping. so you don't create monopolies. the theory, if you don't allow vertical, why allow rupert murdoch and disney to do horizontal? i believed that at the time too. it looked like all the talks were on hold right as people were digesting this. the justice department signaled just because we're against this deal, the at&t-time warner deal, that is unique thing. that is unique in our theory why we think that is bad. i could get into why they think it is bad in a minute. it doesn't necessarily nullify this horizontal merger of disney and fox or even some other combination. remember sony was looking at us. there was actually a bidding

war. we reported that out as well. that is what you have here. i think, to be honest with you, this deal is probably going to get a go ahead from justice based on my conversations with people in the antitrust division of the doj. neil: will it put the whole field in play, which it was last couple months anyway? >> i think, i think what it says is, that the field could be in play. neil: yeah. >> that the at&t-time warner combination, which will be fought out in court next couple months, is what they saul sue ty call it suigeneris. you are taking so much distribution, at&t has fiber-optic, they don't have cable, they have another distribution method, plus directv, which is huge. you're combining that with another huge piece of content from time warner, including cnn and everything. that is so big and combination

is so powerful that could price gouge consumers. neil: the rap against the president from at&t deal -- >> hates cnn. neil: right. do we know what the thinking is there? >> on us? let's be real clear, we work, mr. murdoch is our boss, i can tell you the politics of this. in private meetings donald trump has railed about cnn. in private meetings with his advisors he has talked, spoken about the fact if you, at the same time, when you combine these two together, it is too much power. neil: i'm also told private meetings he rails against you. >> probably does but if we're going to be fair and balanced here, you know, i read in the "times" mr. murdoch does have a relationship with president trump. so maybe that helps. maybe it doesn't. i can just tell you that aside from all that the justice department is clearly signaling because they told me just because they're against this deal they're not against ours.

it may seem illogical, i tell you at&t will make the argument in court. how can you be against us if you're for that one? neil: very good point. >> what is net neutrality again? neil: i have no idea. it is raging. the vote is delayed, a couple hours late. >> you can't -- neil: i am intrigued by it. you intrigue me. >> only thing that gets you more excited than net neutrality pumpkin spice lattes and bitcoin. you are such a freak. neil: i buy by pepper meant lattes with bitcoin. >> who buys stuff with bitcoin? corn and stuff? what can you buy bitcoin with? neil: the danger of bringing charlie up on the set. it is net neutrality vote today and i'm wearing this? after this.

♪ neil: all right. we are going to have a white house briefing at 1:45, whether on the latest developments what could be a delay in the tax cut vote given two noted illnesses in the senate. we are told separately by john cornyn of course, the second-ranking republican in the senate, that john mccain is scheduled to vote next week. he missed a couple crucial votes this week. he will be voting next week. we don't know about doubters like susan collins and marco rubio with separate concerns about the tax package. latest concerns about the spending measure supposed to get us past this two-week hump. adam shapiro is following that particularly closely. he joins us from capitol hill. hey, adam. reporter: the issue of the funding of the u.s. government is also taking center stage now that republicans are pretty confident, neils, as you reported they will get the bill through next week with or without the two senators lowering threshold for simple

majority. but on funding issue they're getting opposition from democrats. let me real quick bring you up to speed. the appropriations chairman said that the proposed resolution through january 19th and automatic cuts in defense fending and temporary delays non-defend cutting in january, provide continued funding for chip program while they work it all out. here is what pat toomey had to say about a government shutdown being averted. >> i don't think we'll have a government shutdown. i think our democratic colleagues are toying with the idea of shutting it down if they think they can blame us for it. i think most likely we'll pass what we call another continuing resolution which continues government funding. reporter: democrats are saying not so fast. they use all kind of fancy words, like cramnibus this is

being forced down democrats and chuck schumer, nancy pelosi leading charge to delay piece of potential legislation. here is nancy pelosi's chances about chance of passing. >> 44 democrats sent a letter saying this week that is not going to fly in the senate. it is not going to fly. we can't support that. reporter: so everyone is jockeying for position right now, neil. keep in mind that most of the members are intending to get out of town by the 22nd, and that does play a factor in this. would they really be willing to shut down the government, have to be here potentially over the holidays? the betting money is no. back to you. neil: i understand that this measure, which is really get us over the two-week hump when we run out of money, would get us over another couple weeks before they address it seriously in the new year, right? >> that is correct, they come back to the table in jon to

address all of think, which means you come to the table more than you do already. adam, thanks for the report. if spending measure falls apart then everyone's guesses about tax cuts and everything else, what then? to the "wall street journal" associate editor john bussey "real clear politics" national political reporter caitlyn huey burns. what do you think? >> i don't know. the first law of bureaucratic physics momentum is your friend. neil: right. >> this looks like it is going to happen the reasons we heard. they will not want to say -- neil: spending measure. they will cobble together something. >> cobble together something for couple weeks. the bigger deal what the big spending measure looks like in january. so too for tax reform. they're very keen to stay up on the surf board, on the wave of this one. and there is momentum in congress now for it. neil: yeah, speaking of momentum, we got a little bit of that on board that john mccain is going to vote next week, presumably for it.

i'm not taking a leap here. what do you think? >> momentum is crucial. especially since next year they will be down one senate seat, right, with doug jones becoming the democratic senator from alabama of all places. i think momentum's crucial here. i think beyond this the challenge for republicans is multidimensional they not only have to get the tax bill passed but sell it to the public if they want it to be successful campaign measure next year. according to polls right now it is very unpopular. now paul ryan earlier this morning arguing that the public hasn't seen the effects yet. once they do they will take a more favorable view. that will take pr. neil: for whatever reason, most americans don't think this is going to measure up for them. they're angry about the fact, as you know, john, that the corporate cuts are permanent. theirs are not. the return they will get on their money will not be what the corporations are getting. they're facing, that is,

republicans, a wall of dismissive attitudes on this. >> yeah, polls are showing people don't expect this could be a big tax cut for, you know, in their paychecks. i think they're counting on several things. one is that there's going to be some tax cuts. you will get a little more in your paycheck at a minimum for most people. but then, that, if the tide continues to raise all boats in the stock market, they can point to 401(k)s, if people are invested in the stock market. a lot of people aren't. if they're invested in the stock market, hey, look, we're lifting values for you. so you're getting -- neil: why hasn't that improved sentiment at least on the president's poll numbers it would have some advantage but it really hasn't? >> if you look at the tax bill it is framed in political terms so far. republicans talked about the tax bill we need to pass something to show for our majorities in congress and for the white house. when you take it out of the

political context perhaps they can. the president was kind of tasked with selling this. he campaigned as populist. this bill isn't really in line with a lot of things he talked about on the campaign trail. so there has been a discrepancy of sorts in that whether he can be the chief salesman on this, especially when his own poll numbers are low, that remains to be seen. neil: we had phil graham on yesterday instrumental in the reagan tax cuts, said in his best southern voice, neil, you don't want to delay anything. they're concerned about a delay in corporate cut or cuts that won't evidence themselves, benefits by next year's november election. republicans back then in '82 lost over two dozen seats because of that. he is concerned about that happening again. >> that's right. that is the clicking clock you hear short term. neil: right. >> the longer-term ticking clock remains for this bill is the one trillion dollars it adds to the deficit according to the bipartisan joint committee on

taxation in congress. what are they going to do about that? neil: growth will get us past that. >> exactly. >> growth will take care of it. we began to hear that this morning paul ryan we're going to attack welfare reform. we'll do something we said in the people zone. entitlements in general. i didn't hear the words social security, medicare, medicaid, he didn't use those words but you got to think -- neil: only way to get a handle. >> exactly. neil: you mentioned paul ryan the speaker, "politico" is reporting, i don't want to hit you broadside, that he will retire after the 2018 elections. what do you make of that? >> we know from john boehner's tenure there is not a job he particularly enjoys into this climate. neil: he was dragged into it. >> exactly. he took the job unwillingly, really. has grown into it. although the politics are tough here, right?

if he can get this, paul ryan wanted to tax reform for a long time. neil: not retire from the speakership, but retire from capitol hill all together. but go ahead. >> raises questions what his ambitions would be beyond congress. this is thankless job for certain. he has had a lot of other jobs. budget committee chair within congress. neil: i always thought he was a man in tough place. he was mitt romney's running mate. mitt romney, president had hot and cold relationship. he was always in this kind of a task that bridge between the establishment or the renegade part of the party, i don't know what it is but obviously tiring, aging position to be in. >> remember when he took the job, he got everybody together, i will set out basic ground rules everybody has to agrow to before i take this job. in other words he was, he was already defining it as something that kind of crushes people. boehner is an example of that. and, look, if he can go out,

having passed tax reform -- going out on top. neil: paul ryan's office is denying the "politico" report. there is a report in "politico" getting some buzz. it has sliced some advances in the dow. i'm not saying exclusively that. we were up 60 points. now we're up eight 1/2. this might be among the reasons. >> what does it say about the midterms. if republicans are bracing for losing lots of seats next year, potentially losing house, democrats think they have more momentum after these past two elections in virginia and alabama, i'm wondering how that factors in? what signals this sends about majority. neil: alabama is one-off regardless what you think about that. democrats are pouncing a sign south could turn. i that was all roy moore. what am i missing? >> i don't know the south turn, take that with virginia governor's race. neil: georgia race.

>> enthusiasm among democrats. >> that is exactly the point. so you may be right in that alabama was a one-off, you had particularly unattractive candidate on the republican side for a lot of voters. but it was, it was, what it galvanized. we saw the same thing as you point out in virginia. it was women. it was african-americans. it was all of those parts of the democratic constituency. >> young people. >> and young people. exactly. millenials, that democrats have been very eager to re-engage in the political process. boy, did you see them engaged. neil: we're looking a tax cut if it passes president says by february you will see it in your paycheck. if enough people do, will that change their mind and help republicans? >> i think no matter what, if it passes, and looks like it will, this is definitely a victory for the republicans. something that they're going to campaign on. and democrats will campaign

against. >> look at votes though, on the tax bill. members in california, new jersey, and new york, republicans who are facing very tough re-elections next year in districts that hillary clinton won or swing districts, they didn't vote for this bill. gives you perspective how they're seeing what the messaging and what perception is going to be. neil: we learn quickly everything not being a gimme. speaking of things not being a gimme, we're told the net neutrality vote is delayed. was supposed to be 10:30 this morning. because of protests demonstrations it hasn't happened. a lot of you are emailing and texting i don't know what the deal is, i don't know whether you're looking at cable bill, wondering bottom line they haven't done it yet. keep you posted on that. keep you posted on a dow barely unchanged, up to points on this report that speaker paul ryan will step down. he said that report in "politico," nowhere else is not

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neil: all right, quick look at the markets right now. they're down. the only thing we can attach to this, that is always dangerous, folks, i apologize ahead attaching any significant development to a significant

shift in the markets here but only thing we have to go on now this news reported in "politico," paul ryan, the speaker, is looking to retire after the 2018 mid determine elections. presumely after all the fuss is preparing to keep republicans in charge of the house. whether that is the speakership, whether he fights another day there is lot you really can't necessarily read into this. just that he might be going. certainly in a position of power, his at the same time reads like this. speaker ryan is fully committed to advancing a bold conservative agenda in 2018. any gossip to the contrary is completely baseless and without merit. it does leave a wiggle room that i don't want to overly obsess about this. get read on this, potential of congress without in 2019 a paul ryan or certainly in position of leadership then. to market watchers, jeff saut

and jack ablin. what do you think? jack what do you think of this? >> yeah, i mean i think it's certainly a surprise. paul ryan is been there, sticking by trump and trying to get legislation through and after a couple of false starts, it looks like this tax plan is finally getting signed into law and the republicans need this. they need, they need this legislation. they need some positive momentum to roll into the midterm elections next year. neil: jeff, do they need a paul ryan to do that? >> no. i don't think so. i lived in d.c. politicians come and go. the wheels keep turning no matter who is the speaker of the house. you saw what happened with john boehner who is florida resident, by the way, bought a condo down in marco island. i think it's a non-event. neil: jack, looking at this, likelihood tax cuts going through, to you, how would you handicap it? >> i would say, you know, at this point probably 90%.

in fact by year-end. we're going to, we're going to need to see this pass, republicans certainly. i think mike pence has now postponed his middle east trip to sit down in case they would need his vote. neil: will they need that vote? will they need that vote, the vice president? i apologize, guys. apparently we're having audio problems. on net neutrality, issue, delayed vote, 2 1/2 hours late, they're in recess due to security issue. there were number of protests and demonstrations. they're outside the building. some inside the building. but the vote is delayed. we'll keep you posted. you're watching fox business.

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neil: it could be sooner than you think. welcome, everybody. i'm neil cavuto appeared they are talking about a vote on tax reform to get it to the president fast are you trying to move so quickly and concerned a couple key senators might not be there for the big boat mayor delay and vice president pence trip to israel just in case he needs to be there. meanwhile, keeping an eye on a white house briefing read this and other stories might come up including reports on the "politico" being shot down by the speaker's office to paul ryan wants to step down after the 2018 election. republicans on the latest of the

back-and-forth. let's first of all talk about the taxpaying, congressman amaury think it stands. >> a company owned, just on the verge of what the president said by the end of this year, but christmas will pass a tax form package that begins the process of what i said before. with god energy independence, the worst tax system and now we've got a tax system that puts us competitive with the world but money in the people's pockets and that is something we are excited about. neil: are you worried about senators who may be trying to get something that they want and that's the way the system works. susan collins concerned about lowering the top rate in the reported 37% and so to marco rubio. would you make of that? >> if they want to continue to push, that's fine but at the end of the day i would hope to look at the bigger picture look at what we are doing for the american people and taking the

tax rate, corporate ray, looking at deductions of raising the standard action and doubly knows, taking care of things we need to take care of. at a certain point in time you fight viciously for the tax bill, but at the end of the day the house and senate are coming together, my hope is they would put their personal agendas aside and look at the american agenda. trendy what would happen if paul ryan did leave in the beginning of all of this after the midterms? >> that is something the speaker talked about. paul ryan has done a great job in leading us through this, but what is really interesting is a lot of things are coming out. or maybe a lot of things on capitol hill, but tax reform is the thing right now and a lot of people like the status quo. they like having tax rate so they can spend the money. i want to stay focused on what will happen to the american people by next week. trade you read the rocket

launcher and house like a rocket to the other big way titles there. would you ever be interested in that job? >> i'm happy being back from northeast georgia. i'm happy being a help that the things they get distracted from and i want to stay focused on what the people sent here to do an honest reflect their values. >> that's a nice job. >> you've got a nice job, too. >> there you go. is it your sense, to that in the new year, working in the senate with the closer but still republican majority that they are wise to move on infrastructure. best for you can garner more democratic support and that would be a good way to kickoff the new year. what you think? >> i think it's a possibility of possibility of a cat. it's something we all believe in our infrastructure system, but also the broad and communities,

where im, part of the infrastructure we need to look at something we can find agreement on. not just spending money to fix problems, but finding the money within our budget and beginning the process as we can pass tax reform but never forget the fact that we've got to have that in deficit issues we've got a deal with and that's where we have to balance it as we go forward. neil: thank you. very good seeing you again. fcc meeting now back in session. it was obvious the heightened tension in the room and made the key vote on the net neutrality issue today that there's been a lot of back and forth. republicans in charge when barack obama was president and the talk is now so up in the role. some people like it. some people don't. the chamber is now on.

it is just allayed mightily here. we will be monitoring it. paul ryan has told confidants that he plans to retire after the 2018 election. of course his staff has put out a clarification that is not in the works, but it wasn't an absolute denial to "the wall street journal" trillion all sure. scott, let's say beyond the subterfuge, ryan days are numbered purely private with the high-pressure job. doesn't want to do it. then who does that? >> that's a good question. since the day paul ryan block in the congress come he's in the 18 men the republican party. he's been pushing the envelope on policy ideas. in some cases in the face of a very timid republican caucus and so he will be missed and i don't see anybody ready to take that

mantle. he will leave a huge void in the policy arena for republicans. neil: in the meantime we should stress this story coming from "politico." not everyone is fine including brain staff. they are saying it's just not happening. what do you think of all of this? >> i don't know. if paul ryan were to decide to go that it would present a great opportunity for members of the freedom caucus who are more thoroughly aligned and committed perhaps to the president's agenda that the american people voted for. i see some good is happening if that were the case. if it's not the case i hope all ryan will continue to stay the course and fight hard to push through the president's agenda and get his numbers. neil: it is a tough job. they aged nut job. i don't know what it is. gillian, the shutdown talk to seems to be roiling some in the marketeer that could take away the good news on tax cuts.

what he think about? >> this could've been prevented in september. lynch him cut a deal deal as pelosi and schumer that this is going to put in the middle of the tax reform before christmas. i would've much rather seen this happen after the 2018 elections. i guess you don't always get what you want. neil: would've wished to see what? >> it bumped back a little bit longer, the spending. tax reform has been a priority, second the airway from other projects. it is focused on growth prompting the shutdown, but getting the tax bill pass will get the gop is irrelevant to them. >> you blame. they are faulted for wanting to shut down because they are existing reining in spending because they are just as insistent on not doing that. i was find it curious that i digress. is it your sense now republicans will avoid that the part of the

concession will be a little bit more on defense and to keep democrats happy, more spending on nondefense. anyone concerned about deficits are dead, good luck. >> yeah, that is probably right come and kneel. if you look at the history of government shutdowns, republicans always lose. newt gingrich shut down the government during that administration and we've really revived bill clinton's career from thereon. i don't think they want to repeat that. they are willing to make those concessions small and around the edges did they get them past this sort of fiscal cliff. neil: gina loudon, one of the things, the gist of it is based as he thinks polls are showing that tax bill might be unpopular, but similar polls had shown ronald reagan's tax cut was unpopular and it takes people a while to rally around it. that can take some time. are you worried about that?

>> no, i'm not worried about that. people don't never take these polls and they are working or producing and they are automatically that. at the same time, you give the american people more than a thousand dollars for middle-class families. they will catch on really fast with the growth that is to be made. as high as 4%. our economy is thriving better than it has in decades and people like these tax cuts and they might even want more. we will see about that. gillian hammond is to be a hard act to top. the economy and the markets thus far, it almost defies forget about basic gravity and the fact that the tax cuts themselves are going to add considerable momentum to bat. a number of firms have put out numbers with run-up in stock.

do you think expectations are too high? in other words, would you take them down? >> i think it's really good to have the lower corporate rates rather than bump it back a year. we've been in a sluggish one plate 9% stuck in a cycle for years and if we can push this beyond 3%, we will see a competitive economy going to have an effect on even people who are skeptical. larry lindsey writing for our pages, estimating he could obtain growth of that level you will see four, five, 6% wage growth. the labor sector will really benefit. expectations are a little bit low and we are seeing reflection in the polls. neil: it's anyone's guess. no one is wrong making a guess until we see real time. thank you all very, very much. we are getting confirmation right now on john coroner's office does plan to vote next

week whenever the tax measure, comfrey measure comes out for a bow, he is ready for a vote. the question is they seem to think he would be a day. if other measures as he think about a little bubbling up from the likes of ryan powell concerned about the spending package issue could lead into the tax cut. suzy collins concerned about the top rates makes it a little kid to the rich and marco rubio at the same concern. nothing is given. nothing is final. nothing is a done deal. ashley says. -- after this. has exposure to energy infrastructure mlps? think again. it's time to shake up your lineup. the alerian mlp etf can diversify your equity portfolio

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train to alright come the fcc after many delays here has voted 3392 to overturn a 2015 ruling that could change the way you access, pay and yet in this speed to get your internet service. anything on this one size fit all that republicans have complained in the body that is now 3-2 republican, reversing during the balmy airs saying one size does not fit all in a lot of big companies, big cable companies and service providers

have been saying it is not fair to them that they can't price according to usage here and offer you a menu of products. the one-size-fits-all approach isn't quite that simple. there are some roles that mazda will remain in place to make sure that time warner's, verizon and others can't gouge you, but that there will be a different style in this approach, this hands-off approach widely anticipated and there were great deal of protest ahead of this, hence the delay by a 3-to vote for measure is gone and it will unlikely soon change the way you access internet and the speed at which you get the service. the congressman is with us and he was on in the last hour talking about a different issue, bob mueller and whether he should come or go. you don't accept that they tell you when they got rid of, you

know, one guy. that was enough. >> gini ratio is 11 of the lawyers who is defending the clayton foundation. they sent out the e-mail server, which is one of the mohler program that is why we need to get rid of bob mueller and have a truly independent probe of the pollution that have been between the dnc, fbi and the fusion gps the russians. >> okay, i apologize them finding out more on the fcc decision that has repealed the so-called technicality rules today. bolton is working to get the implications of the large anticipated three neil: vote a couple years back in the obama administration meant to prevent price gouging of you paying disproportionately more because your service provider had favored company is wanting to push on you and you

didn't choose providers and ones you wanted would have that streamed to you at a slower speed and all that. it gets convoluted here, the bottom line the republican majority saying this is not utility. the internet is not to be treated like a phone company or like local utility when it comes to charging you for the power you are getting. the slippery slope could be dangerous to the big guys have won and they say in the end you will witness well. deirdre bolton will have more on this in a minute. what was not anticipated was the protests and demonstrations outside and inside before they came to their historical decision. i headed back on cincinnati republican ken blackwell and the thing of the president of the united states with us right now on the growing chorus call, to question legitimacy and fairness of bob mueller and his investigation. republicans are saying there is enough fire here to fire the guy.

what do you say? >> look, this is outrageous what is going on and it paints a picture of a banana republic and i actually think that one of two things will happen. one, dorothy a chorus of calls for his ulster and determination of this witchhunt or there will be sufficient evidence that he and rosenstein and a whole host of other people believe and at the end of the day if he in fact basically says it will take away all of the opposition to that decision. i would opt for the first strategy and that would be for us to use a clean broom and sweep out all of the shenanigans. trained to do you say be careful what you wish for because it

deeply insane for taxes soap opera digest at a time we are getting reports that bob mueller steam is done interviewing people at the very least. normally when you're done interviewing people is getting close to wrapping up. what you make of that? >> i would suggest particularly the latter point of view we just suggest that there is no there there ended spending wish list from the last game he will pronounce this case closed and there was no collusion. i tell you, there's a lot of work to be done whether it is by congress or special counsel to take a look at the uranium one issue that has surfaced as a consequence of this. at the end of the day, what they have done to the reputation of

one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the world is scandalous and that is what really concerns me is that we have an fbi that is known for its object entity, known for its evenhandedness and thoroughness and now you have these sort of stories coming out that would suggest coming out, and investigations have been recognized in a political way. that is really disconcerting. neil: thank you very much. ken blackwell, former cincinnati mayor. >> let me just say, just tell stuart that i have your back. my colleagues, we have some can only do are bringing in to the big apple on my next trip. neil: we are fine with that. or you have to pay for them

double. there is no net brutality going on here. in the meantime, and it is a big deal because it reverses in the eyes of many consumer groups protection for folks like you and me that we can be gouged by the internet service and the like. others say the heavy-handed government gouging consumers and twisting is actually in favor. bolton with all the details on this decision to reverse this policy is affected for a couple of years. what have you learned? >> indeed, indeed. the vote coming down 3-2 which was not expected. this is just the starting point. lineup and get ready for lawsuits arrive. a hotly contested topic. media companies, tech companies, they have been arguing since at least 2013. for consumers, what seems clear with this boat is we are all going to pay more. the companies that have to be

happiest about this repeal, this decision that came down, verizon, comcast and at&t are going to have the right to charge the netflix of the world, alphabetic, youtube for their heavy usage. they are supporting net neutrality rules in 2015 the ones that were reversed or repealed, but they are going to benefit from the devise of these rules. they have deep pockets. they can easily pay and increase fees that verizon or comcast or at&t might levy. really what is concerning here come a lot of analysts say the next generation of tech and media companies. if there is a future company out there to google amazon, facebook or netflix tried to build itself up now, the fledgling company just might not be what to afford fees verizon and comcast and

at&t now if this goes there and there's no lawsuits and challenges which is unlikely, but those companies would have the power to demand. consumer advocacy groups will calm, filing goods, but the fcc from doing this. members of congress, democrat likely to introduce legislation to overturn them. so he did in the business community, political community and as a side not on the politics we have the fcc chairman on our air. he is a libertarian and argument i have to cover both sides as the companies such as verizon, at&t and comcast make an argument they are not investing more in the infrastructure because they don't get anything about it. he is seen by lifting from a voting repeal petrology rules, they'll have more incentive and particularly highlighted areas either poor or very much in the

country and poor that are not being served maybe as well as the metropolitan areas. one thing is sure, we are just lining up now and the lawyers on both sides. neil: not too long ago when i had him on, we were talking about ajit pai, his big thing was you cannot look at the internet, a high-technology beast and treat it like a pickle utility or like your local utility that provides your electricity or whatsoever whenever that would slow down investment to your point is that has slowed a little bit. the flipside of that is for average folks who have a basic rate for internet service no matter what kind of service they have, and now there is going to be feared service. i can picture big digital demands and the like are faster streaming coming you are going to pay more for that versus

someone who doesn't need that, doesn't want that would pay less. >> that's exactly right. bringing us back to the cable company model. interestingly enough that it's an experiment live at the moment in portugal and that is exactly what is happening to portuguese consumers paying per bundle, per usage. if you watch a lot of movies on netflix you will pay more than somebody who just likes to see cat videos from time to time. neil: thank you very much. there is a flipside to that, to estimate how far the government does or doesn't go. there was a scare before this came in to the fact that the measure under barack obama that all of a sudden companies will go back to favoring their investment or their data streams for the companies that they like

and will not reward or slow down the services they do not own. that type of punitive behavior we are told will be closely scrutinized in this measure is not as technically been worked out by the ftc, which is technically from the fcc. i have no way to verify whether that's true or not but essentially the republican majority at the fcc, new majority in town, new cowboy in town, and so did the principal players here including netflix and amazon and also that. they are doing okay. either way they were doing okay. a little more after this. we've got auto insurance, homeowners insurance. had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police. usaa was there hands-on very quick very prompt. i feel like we're being handled as people

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eating. 3:45? uh, compliance training. 6:30? sam's baseball practice. 8:30? tai chi. yeah, so sounds relaxing. alright, 9:53? i usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. wouldn't it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do? yeah. introducing essential portfolios. the automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life. . neil: all right, 52.5 million bucks or theres about, ashley webster on why. reporter: a lot for it, disney paying $52.4 billion for stock

in twenty-first century fox or major parts of it. let's break it down what disney gets for that money. fox's tv and film studios and the rights to blockbuster movies such as avatar, x-men, dead pool, the fantastic 4, all of those, not bad. the fx network, "national geographic." fox's regional sports networks, 40% stake in hulu that fox has. we'll get to that in a little move depth in a minute. fox gets the remainder of the sky stake and owns it, it would be passed in entirety to disney, if not gets the 39% stake and star india with distribution across asia. want to get back to the hulu issue if we can quickly, as we say, they get -- disney gets the 30% stake that it's got from fox in hulu, adding to the 30% it already owns. disney with 60% of hulu is a majority owner. what is the future of hulu

based on that? there are those that say maybe disney takes over hulu completely and uses it as platform for all programming. others say, well, what if nbc slash comcast doesn't want to give it up, does comcast take it over in entirety? bottom line is whoever gets hulu, it loses a lot of money. it lost 560 million bucks in the first nine months of this year but certainly questions about hulu going forward. now, what do -- what does fox keep after disney walks away with all of that? we keep fox broadcasting. we keep neil cavuto, because we keep the fox business network, fox news channel. fox sports network, fox sports 1 and 2 and the fox television stations. there you have it. the remaining assets will be spun off. the new fox and the rupert murdoch spoke with maria bartiromo earlier today and the focus will be on live news and sports.

take a listen. >> the new fox will have fox news, fox business, fox broadcasting, fox sports, but the point is it will have a cash flow of at least $2 billion a year after everything, so we can see expanding that in opportunities and have another great company there. reporter: there you go. who knows what the future holds, but neil, bottom line, and you take a step back from all of this, disney, all about taking on the internet giant, all about taking on youtube, facebook and all the other platforms that the younger audiences today watch instead of traditional tv, but if you tune into fox business, they would understand how great it is. there you go. neil: they are streaming us, ashley, we are -- >> that's true. neil: i don't know what that means, but they are definitely doing a lot of that. reporter: we're very valuable, that's what it means. neil: thank you, my friend. >> my pleasure. neil: as always. speaking of disney.

"star wars: the last jedi" coming this weekend. they cleared the path of virtually any other films because there's no way to compete with this, even though to me, the promos, they got the saber thing again, how unique? paul dergarabedian joins us, the senior media analyst. he breathes this stuff, knows it so well. paul, everyone is saying a big blockbuster, probably understatement. attaching $200 million opening weekend to it, what do you say? >> that's right, neil. this is a huge movie. one of the most anticipated movies of the year, and if you recall about two years ago, "star wars: the force awakens" posted the biggest opening weekend of all prime in north america of $248 million. its opening day for "the force awakens" earned $119 million. that's one day. so this movie is following up on that two years later, and

you are right, the anticipation is for an opening weekend in that 200 million plus range in north america, and much bigger than that around the world. but this is a movie that will, i think, take us out on a high note, in a box office year that's definitely had its ups and downs, and keep in mind too, that "the force awakens" two years ago earned $652 million in the final two weeks of the year alone in north america. so this movie could put half a billion dollars into this year's box office mix, and we need it because we're running about 4% down in north america. so the global box office is running ahead of last year, so it's truly a global business. neil: now i know i'm out of the mainstream and obviously going to tick off people. but paul, the whole thing looks stupid to me, and the whole saber thing, been there, done that, that's exactly how they promoted the very first one in the 70s.

jimmy carter was president. >> 1977 when the first movie came out. neil: can't we stop this? what do you think? >> well, i think, what this movie is for people is touchstone for younger generations, they heard of the "star wars" movies. for those of us who are much older, we remember the first film when it came out in '77 blew everybody's minds and we were all excited about it. for this many years on decades on, for the "star wars" franchise as relevant as it is, and potentially post biggest opening weekend of this year is pretty darn impressive. neil: no denying that, i'm wondering why it's so impressive and after all this time, the sabers haven't changed even remotely? >> you know what? the sabers, those are part of the mythology. you don't want to change it too much. although, this movie, i will tell you, i've seen it, there are goose bump inducing moments. remember, i'm a total film nerd, this is what i live for.

when you see this movie in a movie theater with the other people, there's that collective electricity that happens and so many just moments that take your breath away in this movie, and i'm not going to give anything away because a lot of spoilers in this movie, and plus, you know the carrie fisher factor comes into play. it's "star wars." people love it. and this weekend is a big weekend at the movie theater. neil: i'm sure you are right about that. paul, great seeing you again. thank you so much. >> all right, neil. thank you. neil: i'm already getting nasty hate mail, actually from my staff! small businesses are looking at this tax plan, and so far, so far they're of a mixed mind on this. gerri willis? reporter: that's right, neil. big benefits for small business and tax reform as we are starting to see some of the details of the plan that the house and senate have put together. two big benefits that small business organizations are

applauding. first a 20% deduction against income, this is the income tax cut. it works like this. small business operator that paid taxes of 39.6% previously would find effective tax rate reduced to 29.6%. basque the envelope here, you take the 20% deduction against the top rate of 37%. the change comes out of the senate proposal which wanted a 17% deduction but that number moved higher after senator ron johnson complained the bill didn't do enough for small business. that's not all. small business operators get immediate and 100% expensing. a writeoff of 100% of capital investment. so whether you're upgrading the building which you do business or buying software, tools, delivery van, a painting for the entry way, you are going to be able to write that off right away, and we're still waiting to see what the guardrails are to prevent the shifting of wage to business income and will be

excluded from the lower rate, service industries, lawyers, accountants, were excluded from the house and senate bills, but have to see what the final bill really says, but i have to tell you in the meantime, all the small business organizations in favor of this. they like this. they see this being very beneficial for small business, neil? neil: fingers crossed. thank you, gerri willis. boy, just a few minutes ago before i chatted with gerri, commenting on the upcoming "star wars" film. there are a lot of fans out there. yoda 120 writes -- [laughter] pretty good. we'll have more after this.

. neil: all right, technology stocks are paring initial gains after the fcc has voted to repeal the net neutrality rules or the guarantees that you couldn't have or pricedout depending on the streams service or digital service or downloading that you're getting right now.

now could enter a tiered service, if you use a lot of data, you are a data hog, you are paying more than someone who is not. it isn't quite that simple here, but some of the big beneficiaries are the big players like at&t and verizon that provide the service to you in the first place. some of those that didn't like the idea of being charged more because they add a lot more bandwidth stuff to download like netflix and the others, they're going to feel it. apple getting into the downloading movie business itself in a big way. it is those issues including google and alphabet and all those names that are well off earlier highs today. there is a sense here that not everyone benefits, but i suspect some of the major players you're looking at there in the heavy data content business, they are still going to benefit appreciably and have the wherewithal to pay the higher bills. we'll keep you posted on that. hearing separately that marco rubio who has been concerned about lowering the top

corporate rate or the top individual rate is a no. he's coming out as a no on the tax plan the way it stands right now. now we told you earlier in the broadcast that he was concerned that this was tilting too much to the well to do and that even with the elimination of the writeoff you get for taxes and all, that was removed. the fact of the matter is that he didn't like it and felt that this was askewing too much to the wealthy. thought they could cobble together some agreement to keep him happy and keep him a yea vote. we haven't heard from susan collins of main, similarly concerned about the top rate. there are other issues here, if you add the likes of senator corker, concerned how this is not helping the debt or the combination of a lot of deficits throughout the year, this thing could be torpedoed to say nothing of a number of very ill u.s. senators who

might not make it for the big vote next week. john mccain is going to make it and presumably is a yea, we have no guarantee of that. cochran battling ailments, that is not such a guarantee. this would be a sudden and stunning development here if that is indeed the case. waiting for the white house briefing to get going here. elements that will likely come up. former rnc spokesman kevin sheridan what he makes of all of this, also a former adviser to paul ryan. a lot of news around him he might step down after next year. he denies it, politico is reporting it. good to see you. >> good to be here. neil: what do you think about the development on marco rubio, a no as things stand now? >> that's discouraging news because it looks like the republicans are on the one-yard line here, and if marco rubio is going to hold it up over his provision that he wants in there, you know, it could doom it. but i think they're going to ultimately get on yes on this, i think they will make a

concession to him or beg, plead and twist his arm. neil: they already have. he has the child tax credit that was originally a thousand and there's got to $1600 and now around $2,000, you could argue that they've more than adhered to his wishes. what do you think? >> you are totally right. so what's the case marco rubio is trying to make here politically speaking for his long-term future if he's the one guy who holds up tax reform when republicans are so close to doing it. i don't think he's going to in general do a lot of goodwill doing that. i like marco rubio a lot. i supported him in the primaries last year. i don't see the play here. i think it gets resolved soon, it's too big for the party. neil: he's concerned about the top rate but coming back according to the "washington post" with rubio that he thinks it should be more generous and the credit would go per child, and really represent those who

don't even pay income taxes, they pay payroll taxes but critics say that is a slippery slope, why don't you move to lower the payroll tax if that's your beef. i imagine this would cause agita with fellow members. >> it's not even necessarily very conservative, of course, it's pro-family, or something, which has been his concern all along. he's going to have to make that case with his colleagues, and i'd be surprised if this doesn't ultimately pass, it's way too important right now. neil: kevin, you've seen the politico reports, i apologize, that your former boss paul ryan is thinking of stepping down after the midterms. what do you think? >> yeah, i take his word, he's been saying publicly for a long time this is not his dream job. he's doing it the best he can. if he ultimately decides to step down after 2018, it would be a good time to do it.

i do think that the report is people believe he will step down, it's not a report that people who talk to him say he's going to. i have no firsthand knowledge he's going to do it. he has a young family at home that's very important to him. he actually means that, he would like to spend time with kids before they go off to college, i believe, and on the precipice of doing accomplishments. he's been in congress since his 20s. he's going to get tax reform. if he can get onto entitlements next year, how do you not walk away then? that would be a great time to go and do something else. we'll have to wait and see. neil: he's a very good man, and he does have, there is that difference between the house and the senate, the house certainly has been busy as a bee, one of the most productive houses in the first term of an administration, but -- >> he got health care. neil: absolutely and all the senate trouble.

what do you know of his relationship with president trump and whether that might be coming into play, what do you think? >> it is not easy to share the ballot with president trump for many republicans. president trump runs his own kind of offense, and it's not in line always with every republican in the house and senate. that said, though, they have had a very good working relationship legislatively. i think their staffs talk a lot, they're very close with vice president pence, and i think a lot of the direction that president trump ultimately chose to go in was the conservative agenda of paul ryan and mitch mcconnell in early 2017, and they've gotten at the end of 2017 with all the criticism that they've gotten all year long, we're about to see repeal of the mandate for obamacare, and tax reform once in a generation tax reform. so you can't dump on that. that's pretty good legislative accomplishments right there. neil: yeah. you know, i'm just thinking,

for republicans in general, if this is a sign of things to come with marco rubio, and this somehow falls apart, their goose is cooked next year. >> they can't go back to the american people with nothing legislatively. they've gotten regulatory reform. they've gotten a lot of run-up in the stock market. that will quickly go away as i'm sure you would agree. neil: absolutely. >> if tax reform doesn't pass, we're going to see a massive drop in the market right away. they've got to do this. they have to get tax reform, what republicans came to congress to do. they're not going to be able to go back to the voters with nothing. neil: kevin sheridan, great seeing you, thank you very much. >> great seeing you, neil. neil: the dow down 15 points. you would think bigger falloff on the prospect the possibility this thing could be falling apart. gary kaltbaum on if indeed that happens, what do you think, gary? >> after what i watched over

the last few weeks where all the high-tax corporations soared to the upside. if that dynamic changes, they're going to come right back down to the downside, so i'm hoping they get something done here. this is quite surprising but also tells that you it is not done yet and there's going to be more horse trading. neil: for those of you tuning in here and wondering what's going on and the excitement ahead of this white house briefing, this was an unplanned, unscripted development as they say. marco rubio who had been raising concerns how the top rate had gone down but didn't see comparable relief for lower and middle income payers, even though inserted in this measure is a benefit for just that group, in terms of the child care tax credit that would effectively double from a thousand dollars per child. not good enough. he wants it more generous than i think the $2,000 they're talking about now. the thing is about that. if you think about it, gary, is that would extend the people

who don't pay any income tax at all. they pay payroll tax, and i don't mean to minimize how that sounds, if that is your beef, lower the payroll tax for them. >> shay should. don't think for a second that people like marco rubio has been hearing all this messaging and the media reporting how this is just a tax cut for the rich and nothing for the middle class, so this i think is in reaction to it, and i wouldn't be surprised if there are others in the back rooms right now talking about this, about trying to move back towards the middle and lower income class even though a lot of them don't pay taxes at this point in time. so it's going to be quite interesting. i got to tell you, i'm surprised it is now thursday, we're getting closer towards the holidays and they're still going back and forth and just tells you it's a tough road ahead. neil: as you reminded me any time you want to get something done in washington, you better move fast on it, letting the grass grow under your feet,

also lets the critics come to the fore, and that's what's going on here, you know? >> oh, they have been hearing it left and right. a watch a lot of the media, they've been driving to the hoop, neil, on this -- how this is -- they've been doing it since i've been bar mitzvahed, any tax cuts to the rich and doesn't help the small guy. neil: you were bar mitzvahed under millard fillmore. >> not that far away. the big point here is i believe the markets have factored in a ton of this. they better recognize it, and i got to tell you --. neil: they haven't factored in a failure. they have not factored in this thing getting dropped on the one-yard line. >> you know what i don't hear a lot of? trump's poll numbers are so low right now with the market soaring, with the economy strong, what happens if the markets start heading south? then real trouble going into 18, beside the fact if they don't get anything done, double

trouble, so keeping fingers crossed they get their act together but this is a big surprise to me. neil: rubio spokesman has confirmed all of this on him, gary, that's correct. senator rubio is consistently communicated that his vote on final passage would depend whether the refundability of the child tax credit was increased in a meaningful way. i think it's $2000 underlet latest plan, maybe that was rejiggered down in the conference. but it is effectively double what it is now. so it's fairly generous, but what do you think? >> it already is but confirms my thoughts, i think the republicans, at least rubio, i'm sure others have been listening to the messages, have seen the poll numbers on this. a tax cut should have pretty decent poll numbers, i think it's in the 30s right now. i think -- neil: i tell you what, buddy, i'm as old as you are, probably older, it is double the support that ronald reagan's tax cut had in 1981 going into 1982

when it was 18%. people forget when tax cuts are proposed, similar numbers george bush's, there is not a clarion call to leave, right? >> it's amazing telling people you can keep more of your money is a bad thing. when it's the exact opposite, it's the best thing going, you starve the beast in washington. keep more of their hard earnings, that's what drives the economies in the long-term. i don't know maybe the messaging, sir. >> i hear you, buddy. thank you very much, gary kaltbaum. charlie gasparino, hearing all of this, this is a sudden development not many were anticipating. what do you think? >> this is via my producer brian at fox business, hinging on the child tax credit and apparently that's not in this bill, thus senator rubio appears to be, according to his spokeswoman, a no on the tax vote. neil: it was in the bill, just wasn't as generous. >> i'll read what you the spokeswoman told us.

senator rubio is consistently communicated to senate tax negotiators that his vote on final passage would depend whether the refundability, that's what we're talking about here, of the child tax credit was increased in a meaningful way. >> i just read that. >> and either or he's a no. now -- neil: do you think it's a real no? or is he posturing? >> now you are asking me to get inside his head right now? neil: no, just asking what you think? >> it could be anything. but this is a bigger point. they have to pass this bill before doug jones is seated in that alabama seat because this thing is slipping away, and based on what we know about it, particularly on the personal side, maybe it's a good thing because this is going to lead to so much havoc particularly in certain states that have republican house members that you could see how the republicans could lose the

house of representatives in 2018 if this tax bill gets passed, there is not a meaningful salt deduction. neil: thank you very much, sarah sanders is there obviously responding to the fast moving developments. a no vote for marco rubio that could doom the taxpayer. >> efforts to reduce red tape in federal regulation. within ten days instructing the office of manage amend and budget remove two regulation for everyone. washington scoffed but the administration acted. these efforts and the rest of the president's agenda fueled economic growth including all-time highs in the stock market, 17-year low in unemployment roles, new highs in manufacturing and consumer confidence and much more. as the president said yesterday we're at final stages of historic tax cuts and reforms that will provide massive relief to middle class families, lower

tax rates on american businesses to make us more competitive and make our tax code simpler and fairer for the first time in decades. to begin lowering tax bill in americans paychecks starting next year where americans who faced mick headwinds for eight years will have the wind at their back as they seek the american dream. with that we'll get started. we're on a short time frame. i will get to your questions. jonathan. >> what is the president's message to those americans including some in the middle class who will face tax increase under this tax bill? >> look our focus to make sure as many as americans as public get a tax break, particularly those in the middle class. will continue to be our focus in the process. i said time and time again. reporter: message to those face increase. every analysis shows, some people, including middle-class americans will face increase. >> overwhelmingly the middle class will get a