we are developing, again, tax cuts 2.0, we re touching base with all the key people in the administration but larry, it seems the president took 2.0 off the table yesterday. well, he didn t. well, he did. we have the tape. look at it again. i m not looking at a tax cut now. we don t need it. we have a strong economy. so if you re keeping score, that s four flip-flops in four days. larry kudlow went on to say that the president was only talking about short-term tax cuts to boost a sagging economy. like a payroll tax cut which the president said he was looking at the day before. the administration just, i don t know, he says the administration doesn t buy those kind of short-term cuts to boost the economy. just seconds later he laid out a timetable for these cuts that he says they are looking at that certainly appear short term. forgive me for interrupting, but how soon i mean, might we
something like a payroll tax cut or not, which has gone back and forth. but, anderson, really what that shows you is that there is a high level of uncertainty in this white house over how to respond to these warning signs that are flashing of the potential of an economic downturn. there s been some disagreements inside the west wing of the president s economic team which we reported in the past. they have very different views from each other. now today you see larry kudlow proposing something like unveiling new tax cuts before the 2020 election, which really truly is not that far away. but, of course, even if that is something that they do try to propose in the next year and a half or so, it s not something that s going to pass congress likely. basically zero chance of passing especially with the fact that democrats control the house. but you are seeing different ways that the aides are trying to give the president signs, they are trying to stave off what could be a downturn or a dip i
behavior. are white house officials saying anything about this behind the scenes? the fact of the matter is publicly they are saying we re not worried about the economy. when it comes to this issue specifically, they re saying we have a lot of optimism, we don t see a recession in the future. that s what larry kudlow said not long ago a few moments ago. in reality the people behind the scenes are paying attention to what these trends are showing. they are worried about it and they re telling the president that, they re being honest with him and he s responding in kind. he knows a lot of his re-election hinges on the economy. that s why you re seeing the president lash out in ways about the economy. yes, i m considering this, and then when one aide shows the president that actually, remember, president obama is someone who instituted that payroll tax cut in 2012, that s something the president then came out against yesterday, citing what president obama did. so they re trying to propo
think about and a lot of people would like to see that. i m not looking at a tax cut now. we don t need it. we have a strong economy. certainly a payroll tax cut, president obama did that in order to artificially jack up the economy. that s not 2016 and 2019, that s tuesday and wednesday. what does that erratic messaging do to the world markets? it leaves everyone really unclear. a lot of uncertainty, but that s not just uncertainty about the idea of fiscal stimulus or not, there s uncertainty every day about whether the trade war is on or not, whether it s getting worse or getting better. i think the problem is that it s not just the direct cost of the tariffs which we can kind of quantify, it s all these indirect costs. how do you measure the uncertainty caused by the trade war? business owners just don t know how to plan for the future, this he don t know if they should be hiring more or laying off workers. the problem is as resilient on a relative basis as the u.s. economy
payroll taxes with a cut? you ve heard from the white house initially a denial that was being considered and then the president said it was off the table. meanwhile, larry kudlow had this to say about potential taxes. we are developing tax cuts 2.0. i thought he took the off the table yesterday. more tax cuts before the election? be met before the election, yes. sandra: so will we or will we not see a payroll tax cut for any other tax cuts from this administration? i think it s quite likely that we will see a tax cut of some sort. i don t think it will be payroll taxes because the effect of those things is temporary and rate cuts are much more popular. it s very interesting to hear that they are considering this idea which is to give a middle-class tax cut equivalent to the extra high prices that people are paying now because of