of those. republicans complained about the price tag. it s now been reduced from $265 billion down to $185 billion. it would mean about $1,500 in the average family s pocket if this tax cut extension goes through. and the surtax on millionaires that you mentioned, it s going to change from 3.25% down to 1.9%. again, a compromise. senate majority leader harry reid said today republicans have to take. republics in congress dismiss it at their peril. i repeat. republicans dismiss this at their peril. the american people are watching what my republic colleague also do. not so subtle political threat there that s why it really appears for the first time perhaps in this whole jobs debate the president has the upper hand over republicans in terms of public opinion in the debate. they finally think they have republics in the corner because they don t want to see this tax cut expire, especially around christmas, shep.
poplar politician in russia, shep. shepard: usually to get more popularity you can always just give out money. that s what they plan to do. foreign policy experts say vladimir putin will actually increase spending on social programs. and it s interesting because one of the fascinating parts about this election was the fact the communist party did so well. the communist party pulled 20% of the vote. that is double what it pulled four years ago and remember 20 years ago everyone thought the communist party was dead and gone. experts say that highlights russia s growing divide between the rich and poor. listen. i think the lesson, unfortunately, is that as long as putin and his supporters supply the material benefits that russians want, the value or the priority that they assign to democratic elections is pretty low. which is clearly not surprising because russia has a very long history of using public money to prop up politicians. shep?
off so net net you might save money even with the interest charges. taking advantage of big deals seems to be the big reason that consumers are pulling the plastic out of their wallets this holiday season. and maybe even giving the economy a little boost in the process. overall, spending was up significantly. so, what that shows is consumers are willing to buy across a broad range of categories if the price is right. so the key trick former chants is going to be focused on getting the prices right. getting the promotions aligned properly and that probably is going to lead to higher overall sales. and according to first data, the average ticket, the average sale, credit or debit card was down 1% on black friday suggesting that saving money by buying products at disownts are what consumers are really after here, shep. shepard: peter, interestingly, a new push to do away with atm fees.
reference to his ex-wife s demons. i just think that she should probably go talk to somebody and spend some time getting her life back before she tries anything else, before it s too late. i m going to tell him i love him very much. give him a big hug. mccready has a history of depression. a reported suicide attempt and, of course, rehab. but billy mcknight feels if she were to seek professional help and emerge successfully then some day she might be able to regain partial custody of her son. given these events that s not going to happen overnight. you wonder, greg, if she is going to face charges here do. we have an indication? she could. very well. after all mccready did violate, shep, a court order and could be prosecuted for parental abduction even though she may have felt justified in taking zander. but mccready s mother, again, who had custody, told us she does not want her daughter arrested over all of this. so, it s possible the judge
the air. the other big thing looming over all of this, is that unemployment benefits are about to run out at the end ever the year for 1.3 million americans. the president saying today congress must extend that as well, shep. shepard: ed henry at the white house tonight. thanks very much. new numbers out suggest americans are back to using credit cards in a big way. the firm first data reports that credit card spending increased in each of the first three quarters of this year. up more than 10.5% in the third quarter. and nearing levels that we saw back before the recession. there was a smaller rise in debit card purchases because while credit cards offer perks like airline miles and cash back, they often come with sky high interest rates. that s money in the bank for the bank. peter barnes from the fox business network is with us and live in washington. is there a consensus about whether this is a good thing for consumers? well, it can be if you are using a credit card to take adv