American Morning
Why Perry's 'flat-tax' falls flat among Republicans
Hoping to regain traction that he's lost on the campaign trail, Rick Perry unveiled his "flat-tax" plan yesterday, which proposes giving Americans a choice between their current income tax rate or a 20% flat tax rate.
The plan deals with some of the concerns of the flat tax plan initially proposed by Steve Forbes fifteen years ago, while simultaneously keeping some of the popular deductions that Republicans opposed eliminating in 1996.
Perry's plan preserves mortgage interest and charitable state and local deductions for families earning less than 500 thousand dollars a year. It also eliminates the inheritance tax, and lowers the corporate tax from 35 to 20 percent.
Today on American Morning, Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst, joins Christine Romans to discuss the likelihood that Perry's plan will gain traction among the GOP and to weigh in on how other Republican candidates feel about the flat tax.
What are the U.S. implications of the eurozone debt crisis? Eurasia Group founder weighs in
All 27 members of the European Union will meet today in Brussels for an emergency summit on the eurozone debt crisis, where they are expected to sign off on a plan to recapitalize euro-zone banks, beef up bailout fund and restructure Greece's debt.
The meeting comes a day after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government averted a potential crisis over economic reforms after reaching a deal with its main coalition partner about pension reforms.
Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, joins Ali Velshi on American Morning today to discuss the negotiations and the implications of the eurozone crisis for Americans.
AM Minding Your Business for Oct. 26, 2011
Today on American Morning, Christine Romans reports on the morning business news headlines.
Today we're watching:
* As of this writing, U.S. stock futures are trading higher. But markets took a hit yesterday, with the Dow dropping 1.7 percent as fears about Europe's debt kicked up towards the end of trading.
* Today, all 27 leaders of the European Union will meet in Brussels to come up with a grand debt plan. Details of the plan are expected to be announced this afternoon
* Former Goldman Sachs director Raja Gupta is expected to turn himself into the FBI this morning. Sources tell CNN he'll face federal charges related to the insider trading trial of hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam.
* Amazon shares are taking a beating after it announced third quarter earnings missed estimates.
* What's the 'it' gift this year for Christmas? A tablet computer, a new study shows.
* Apple's next big product may be a television that can do everything.
Tune in to American Morning at 6am Eastern every day for the latest in business news.
Talk Back: Can rich politicians relate to ordinary Americans?
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From CNN's Carol Costello:
According to a CNN/ORC poll, the majority of Americans think Wall Street bankers are dishonest, greedy and overpaid. Rick Perry capitalized on this sentiment yesterday on CNBC when he called Mitt Romney a "fat cat," a term that is toxic these days.
Although Romney is not a banker, with an estimated net worth of up to 250 million dollars, he's as rich as one. However, just because he's rich, doesn't mean he's heartless. Romney says his business savvy can create what working Americans need the most.
At a town hall meeting in Iowa, Romney told supporters, "For me, one of the key criteria in looking at tax policy is to make sure that we help the people that need the help most, and in our country, the people who need the help most are not the poor, who have a safety net, not the rich, who are doing just fine, but the middle class."
Talk Back: Can rich politicians relate to ordinary Americans?
Let us know what you think. Your answer may be read on this morning's broadcast.
Will President Obama's housing plan help struggling homeowners?
From Nevada, a state where 1 in 118 homes are facing foreclosure, President Obama announced a series of executive branch steps aimed at jumpstarting the economy this week, beginning with new rules to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
The White House said changes to the two-year-old Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will help homeowners with little or no equity in their houses refinance by cutting the cost of doing so and removing caps to give deeply underwater borrowers access to the program.
Paul Jackson, founder and publisher of HousingWire, discusses the president's housing plan and breaks down it's primary criticisms with Carol Costello on American Morning today.
Conrad Murray's defense team calls first witnesses – CNN contributor Paul Callan on what to expect
The defense in the Conrad Murray trial called their first two witnesses to the stand yesterday, Dr. Alan Metzger and Cherilyn Lee, a nurse, after the prosecution rested their case.
Both witnesses were called to testify that Michael Jackson had asked them for intravenous sleep medicine. The defense is trying to paint Jackson as a desperate addict and to build the case that he was shopping around for a doctor who would administer propofol.
Today on American Morning, Paul Callan, CNN legal contributor, discusses the strength of the prosecution's case and weighs in on what can be expected from the defense in the coming days.
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Welcome to the American Morning blog where you can get daily news updates from American Morning's reporters and producers. Join us for "the most news in the morning," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET, only on CNN.
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