jobs for america. here are some of the elements in there. we have the to lower the top corporate tax rate to 25%. we have to suspend taxes on repatriated profits. we have $3 trillion generated by multi national companies that one come home because it will be taxed a second time. one of the most important elements, make them permanent. uncertainty is whats killing the economic engine that drives this economy. gretchen: that s an interesting point. there is so much uncertainty. your plan will not have more stimulus dollars. i don t even use the word stimulus. i call it my economic booster plan. this economy is like an engine with box cars on a caboose. everything this administration has done as loaded up the caboose but it hasn t put
recession, and that companies are going to start hiring and the companies need to know what they re facing next year, so pass the tax cuts, make them permanent, don t raise taxes on anyone. i think we ll start to see economic growth, hiring, and the american people this christmas and holiday season will go out there and maybe buy a little more and that s always a good thing. bill: how does the president get okay, he has said for years now, going back to his time as a senator when he was campaigning, if you make more than $250,000 a year, you re going to pay a little more, if you make less, you re going to get a little money back. how does he get himself out of that corner? he s already broken that pledge, because when they rammed through obamacare, it has a tax on anyone, young people in particular, who don t have health coverage, that s approved by the federal government. so i think they ve already gone back on that pledge. and one of the things you need to do when you re the pres
it s nice to see you. we have yet another task force in washington. is that a good thing? to me, it s pretty simple. we don t want to raise taxes on anybody in the midst of a recession. just pass the law extending the taxes. we don t need a commission to do that. but if they get things done in the next week and in fact extend the bush tax cuts, then i think the american people will be happy and the economy will be well served. bill: you do think that, right? i i think it s very important. and i think having people have certainty as to what s going to happen next year and beyond is important, so they should pass the strength of the tax cuts, make them permanent right now. bill: i m thinking americans haven t had good news going back to august of 2008. that s 2 1/2 that s two full years where you ve had people waiting for optimistic news about where the economy is going. yeah. bill: if you give it the shot in the arm that it needs now t. does what? i think the american peop
you say you think we may see a compromise on this bush tax cuts issue by the end of today? i don t know about the end of today but this is so important, and the penalty for failure to reach a compromise is so grave that the pressure is really on to get a compromise. and moss people think there will be a compromise. at the moment, though, martha, everybody is staking out a negotiating position. nancy pelosi says do not extend them for the rich, we can t afford it, we have senator schumer saying extend them for the rich but not for millionaires, david axelrod and the president say middle class cuts, make them permanent, extend them for a limited time for the rich and republicans say make them all permanent. these are all negotiating positions, maybe moving towards the center which would be permanent middle class tax cuts and an extension of 2-3 years for the rich. if they don t get that agreement, everybody who pays tax sees their tax rate go up on january 1st.
martha: big headlines and this question: tax relief in january? fox news is confirming that the white house is ready to accept an extension of the bush tax cuts, across the board, but they would not, they are telling us, make them permanent for everyone, only for the middle class and these developments clearing up comments, published this morning by the huffington post from president obama s top political advisor, david axelrod, who sat down store an interview in his office and here s what he said during the interview and it is a simple statement, we have to deal with the world as we find it. steve moore is a senior economic writer with the wall street journal and joins me now, steve, basically, it sounds like david axelrod is saying, we will not get what we want on this, and we are not willing to give up the middle class tax cuts and, politically that is our only choice, to go along with it. martha, i was excited last night when i heard the news, and, woke up in such a great moo