American Morning
Rep. Ron Paul: 'We can't blame China for us spending too much money'
As the House of Representatives prepare to vote on health care reform repeal today, President Obama has released a statement signaling that he is willing to make improvements on the bill but is not in favor of a full repeal:
"So I’m willing and eager to work with both Democrats and Republicans to improve the Affordable Care Act. But we can’t go backward."
But congressmen on Capitol Hill like Representative Ron Paul, R, Texas, believe that repeal is the only option. He tells Kiran Chetry that the bill going to vote today "tells us what we should do in the future."
Representative Paul is also unhappy with the way we are treating our relationship with China. He says that more government intervention in China is not the answer and "we can't blame China for us spending too much money."
Watch his complete interview below:
What to expect from the 112th Congress
Today marks the first day of the 112th Congress, and with it, a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is promising that House Republicans will run "a cut-and-grow majority" in the upcoming year, planning to reduce the amount of federal spending while simultaneously growing the economy.
Number one on the House Republicans' agenda is a vote on repealing President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul. Some Republicans say they were elected to repeal the legislation. But a recent CNN/Opinion Research Poll finds that only 37 percent oppose the bill for being too liberal, and that any possible legislation passed would meet a veto from President Obama. Does that mean Republicans' efforts are a waste of time?
Kiki McLean, a Democratic strategist, and Ed Rollins, a Republican strategist, talk to American Morning about the Republican roadmap for healthcare repeal and the other upcoming legislative battles facing the new Congress.
Bush-era tax cuts: What's really at stake?
Those tax cuts – should they expire for everyone? Or just the rich? And if that's the case - is that fair? It depends on your perspective.
What if you're married, with two kids and make $70,000 a year? Right now you pay $2,300 dollars in taxes. If the Bush tax cuts expire, you'll pay $4,900 dollars. That's $2,600 dollars more per year...or $7 a day. Put another way: That's roughly three gallons of gas.
Salary: $70,350
You Pay = $2,300
Expire You Pay = $4,900
$2,600 More Annually = $7 a day = 3 gal. of Gas
If you're married, with two kids and make $325,000 a year, you now pay $63,000 in taxes. If the tax cuts expire, you pay $71,000 - that's $7,400 extra. Or $20 a day. Two movie tickets and a small popcorn.
Salary: $325,000
You Pay = $63,600
Expire You Pay = $71,000
$7,400 More Annually = $20.00 a day = 2 movie tickets & Small Popcorn
If you make $5 million? You pay $1.3 million in taxes right now. If the tax cuts expire you'll pay $1.6 million. That's $276,000 more or $757 dollars a day. Or a 32-gig IPad with WI-FI.
Salary: $5 Million
You Pay = $1,320,200
Expire you pay – $1,596,600
$276,400 More Annually = $757 a day = 32 gig IPad with WI-FI
The information comes from Deloitte Development. They put this together using a “composite tax payer” based on IRS data for 2010. These figures are based on a married couple with two kids and includes wages, capital gains, dividend income, and common deductions.
We want to hear from you. After seeing a breakdown of these figures, what do you think should happen with the Bush-era tax cuts?
Should President Obama...
* let them expire across the board?
* extend them only for the wealthy?
* extend them for a year and reevaluate?
Sound off in the comments section below.
“President Dude might have shown a little more respect…”
(CNN) – It was the first time a sitting president made a visit to Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show and Jon Stewart didn’t pull any punches. So how did it go? What did it accomplish for the President, Stewart? Might it impact the viewers – and more importantly, voters? CNN American Morning’s John Roberts & Kiran Chetry talk to media critic David Bianculli to get his insight on a little TV history in the making.
“Two parties are more polarized than ever before”
(CNN) – American Morning’s John Roberts and Kiran Chetry talk to John Avlon, CNN Contributor and Columnist for the Daily Beast, about the continuing rise of Independent voters and why they may hold the keys to which candidates win the midterm elections.
Valerie Jarrett on 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' and President Obama's campaign swing out West
This morning, Kiran Chetry talks with Valerie Jarrett, senior White House adviser, about the White House’s take on the latest “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” developments. Also, Jarrett weighs in on how the White House is preparing if the GOP takes control of Congress as President Obama hits the campaign trail out West.
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