move some money around so we won t default on our obligations but nonetheless we are out of money. this means if a debt ceiling deal is not included any fiscal cliff deal, and it is not likely to be. gregg: then this debt mess continues for a few months. and we ve still got to argue that out in congress between congress and the president. heather: geithner said last thursday, he called them, trort nary measures would have to be taken to borrow money. yep. heather: breaking news in europe on the big 75% tax rate that the french wanted to pass for the rich. the breaking news that a french court said a 75% tax rate on individuals is unfair. so it has been rejected. the court court says unless you apply it to households it is not fair to single out individuals. that means 75% tax at this moment is not in effect. the french government and francois hollande says, it won t make any difference.
greg palkot is live for us in london with these details. hi, greg. reporter: hey, heather. you think the wrangle over higher taxes in the states is serious check out what is happening in france. just over the weekend the french constitutional court said a planned 75% tax on those earning the equivalent of $1.3 million or more a year should be thrown out as unfair. it had already been blasted by government critics as anti-entrepreneur and anti-business. one skeptic branding it as fiscal bludgeoning. the government trying to balance the budget on the backs of the rich. it sparked a anecdotal rush of high rollers from the french exits including a well-known actor gerard depardieu who will move next door to belgium. french president hollande is not really defeated. court through a tax out more on a technicality.
only question is the income cuttoff. now vice president biden is said to be about 100,000 a year apart. biden is willing to preserve tax cuts for families making up to $450,000. mcconnell holding out for $550,000. a year. south carolina senator lindsey graham is not happy about it. in 2010 we extend the all the tax cuts because the economy was weak. in 2012, 2013, we re not going to extend the tax cuts the economy is weaker. i don t understand the economics but i do understand the politics. the president won. the president campaigned on raising rates. he will get a rate increase. reporter: we focus on the tax rates but that is not the only issue. the bigger issue is what the money is used for. the republicans want to use it to reduce the deficit. the democrats want to ease spending cuts for another year or so. gregg? gregg: wendell goler, thank you very much, live at the white house. we switch to the other end of the avenue and there is house speaker john boehner
the middle class the hardest. gregg: every potential deal we are hearing today none of it affects the payroll tax, that will go up automatically on everybody no matter what. that is almost guaranteed. gregg: caps on personal exemptions and itemized deductions will be suddenly reinstated overnight. when you file your taxes at the end of the year what happens tkpwaeurpbgs th again, the childcare tarbgs th tax, the lower income tax. it s hitting the single mothers, not the quote unquote the rich. it affects all of us. gregg: obamacare taxes will begin for individuals earning more than 200,000 and couples morning here than $250,000. most people think this doesn t affect me. this could trickle down, a lot of people in this bracket are the ones who have small businesses. so if they are getting hit more with higher taxes i ll see possibly layoffs of one or two people, multiply that by tens of thousands small businesses