melissa harrison. as we re at our thanksgiving tables and thinking of values, our nation s values are clear in the tax code. it is the most collective way that we measure what our vl us are. approximate you look at the tax rate for millionaires, at the end much world war ii, for a moment of the generation and the expansion of the middle class, the tax rate on millionaires was 66.4%. democrat and republican presidents and congresss have been cutting, cutting, cutting that. it s now at about 30%. so what we see now with the shrinking middle class and with a glance at our tax code, there has been an enormous shift in american priorities over the course of the past 60 years away from an expansion of the middle class. we know for a long time that the middle class has been squeezed. now we re getting census data documenting that the middle class is shrinking. there are fewer and fewer people
uncertainty. what about home ownership? it is continuing the downward spiral, as well with a percentage of homeowners, actually dropping to 66.4%, i believe, from a high of 69.2 in 2004. what is the answer to getting those numbers back on track? is that significant? well, it is significant. the government artificially stimulated the housing market, with disastrous results, fannie mae and freddie mac and the federal reserve printing too much money and we know what happened on wall street and the key thing is for the government to pull back and let the market clear, a lot of people should be renting and not trying to cling to a house. people who are unemployed and have a stake in their house, lenders usually are willing to work that out because they know people have a stake, and will work to keep it from being lost and let the market work this thing out. and you will see a come back. we do need new house and a normal economy, heather. 1.5 million new houses a year and in a couple yea
i can experts say the homeownership rate could decline farther. perhaps to the level of the 1980s or even earlier. last year, 66.4% of americans owned a home. down from a peak of about 69% in with our. housing prices fell in march to their lowest levels since the great recession began. this is all according to the standard and poors case shiller price home index, considered one of the best indicators. according to a survey from real estate websites realty track, 54% of americans say they think that real estate market will recover in 2014 or later. that s up from a third that gave the same answer to the same question last november. the outlook is bleak. unemployment, bad credit, preventing a lot of americans from buying a home. others are struggling to hold on to what they already own. eether under water in their homes meaning the home is worth less than what they owe on the
columbia. that s why we are reporting from outside. there are major developments involving cell phones, information that you need to know from the world health organization about the possible danger of cell phone use and cancer. stand by. elizabeth cohen has a full report. we re also watching bin laden and the black money trail. new information coming in on money and bin laden. stand by for that as well. we ll have the latest on anthony weiner, the congressman from new york. our own dana bash is following up on this story. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. but we begin with major developments involving cell phone use and you. information that you need to know right now. the world health organization for the first time has raised a serious possibility of a link between cell phone use and cancer. here s our report. what did this world health organization report conclude? the who concluded that cell phone are a possible carcinogen for humans. this is a really