American Morning
Rep. Ackerman explains why Democrats got 'screwed'
Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, explains to American Morning's John Roberts why he and other fellow Democrats opposed the tax plan presented by President Obama and Republicans.
Rep. Bachmann: Tax deal increases deficit, spending too much
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. and founder of the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives, joins American Morning's John Roberts and Kiran Chetry to explain her opposition to the Tax Deal Compromise.
Obama and Republicans' tax package explained
Yesterday, Democrats in the House of Representatives rejected a 900 billion dollar tax plan that President Obama negotiated with Republicans.
Wondering what exactly is in the tax plan?
Chrystia Freeland, global editor-at-large with Reuters, joins American Morning's John Roberts and Kiran Chetry to break down the plan.
Axelrod: Americans 'going to get screwed' if tax hikes not prevented
(CNN) - President Barack Obama vigorously defended his agreement with Republicans to extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts on Tuesday, arguing that it was a price that had to be paid to spare the middle class from crippling tax hikes. The president promised disheartened Democrats that the fight over the cuts for the highest-income Americans would continue over the next two years. He also urged them to take a long-term view of the bitter policy fights now taking place in Washington.
Today on American Morning, President Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod responds to Democrats upset over the agreement, and how the decision affects Obama politically.
Notably, Axelrod tells AM's John Roberts, “I say the people who are going to get screwed [… ] are the American people if we don’t act to prevent their taxes from going up January 1.”
For more, watch the full interview:
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.
Kristof: 'We have so much inequality that it suppresses economic growth'
Obama and Congressional Democrats were talking a lot over the weekend about whether to extend the Bush tax cuts for America’s highest earners. Much of the discussion is over the budget and deficit, but New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof says they’re missing something.
Kristof joined Kiran Chetry this morning to talk about what he says the leaders aren’t talking about—the gap between the rich and the poor.
He explains why it’s a crucial part of the discussion.
For more, check out his column from this Sunday's Times.
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