president will be joined by workers who will talk about what possibly losing $40 a paycheck means to them. yesterday, president obama phoned house speaker john boehner to urge that lawmakers pass the two-month stop-gap measure while negotiating a longer extension. >> hard to believe something won't happen before the end of the year. but we'll see. >> it is hard to believe. even as the tax battle rages, congress is still proving it can spend money like a procrastinator on christmas eve. one senator is out with a new report about congressional pork projects. it makes for some pretty infuriating reading. abc's jon karl has the details. >> reporter: amidst all the dysfunction -- >> mr. speaker -- mr. speaker -- >> reporter: -- there's one thing congress can still do. waste taxpayer money. senator tom coburn documented $6.5 billion in spending this year on what he says are frivolous or unnecessary projects. remember the bridge to nowhere? if you thought that alaska project was dead, you were wrong. we spent $15.3 million on it