This morning on "Starting Point," Rep. Steve King (R-IA) weighs in on President Obama’s plan to extend a portion of the Bush-era tax cuts, saying that it's a move that's 'playing into' an election year.
King says Obama's tax cut plan is a 'class-envy move'and many non-working Americans are shirking their responsibility by not doing their fair share to contribute to the United States GDP.
In the clip below, Rep. King explains why he thinks President Obama's tax cut extension plan is a political move.
See transcript after the jump.
On Monday, President Obama announced his plan to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for Americans making less than $250,000. While Republicans are advocating for a tax cut extension for all Americans, President Obama is saying he will veto any such bill that comes his way.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) says raising taxes on the wealthiest 3% of Americans would be detrimental to the economy, he tells Christine Romans on CNN's "Starting Point."
"You don't raise taxes in times of such uncertainty," Rep. Chaffetz says. "We're just saying let's keep the taxes the same."
Rep. Chaffetz adds, "One of the things that I think President Obama fails to recognize is that when he calls for the extension of taxes for just one year, it creates more uncertainty in the market place."
Rep. Chaffetz also says Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney should not cave to Democratic pressure to release more tax returns. Rep. Chaffetz says, "He's been very successful. He's released everything that he's required to release...Governor Romney's been very successful, get over it."
Watch more from Christine Romans' interview with Rep. Chaffetz from CNN's "Starting Point."
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) on President Obama's plan to extend Bush-era tax cuts to middle class Americans.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on President Obama's proposed plan to extend Bush-era tax cuts for middle class.
President Obama is scheduled to announce an extension to some of the Bush-era tax cuts at the White House Rose Garden this morning.
The President will be calling for extensions for Americans making less than $250,000 a year and will be joined by working-class Americans at the announcement. Meanwhile, Republicans are criticizing the President for not extending the cuts for all Americans.
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) tells Christine Romans on CNN's "Starting Point" this morning that President Obama will ultimately not raise taxes on America's wealthy. "At the end of the day, I think the President is going to understand that he's in a really bad economic position, he will cave, and we will not see the tax increases he hopes for."
Rep. Brady also responds to criticism about Texas' controversial Voter Rights Act, which would require voters to carry identification to polling centers.
"The Department of Justice is cherrypicking the numbers and the political groups they want to use for that data.," Rep. Brady says. "We want real ballots from real people and this law does that."
Watch more from Christine Romans' interview with Rep. Brady on "Starting Point" this morning.
The Congressional Budget Office predicts that if Congress doesn’t vote to stop the automatic tax increases and spending cuts that start on January 1, 2013, the United States could topple off a “fiscal cliff” and back into a recession.
Despite these warnings, Congress can't seem to agree on how to address the problem.
On Starting Point today, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and author of "Debacle," explains how he thinks that Congress can prevent the economy from falling back into a recession, reiterating his refusal to increase taxes.
Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin caused controversy this week when he announced that he was renouncing his U.S. citizenship and moving to Singapore, a move that may allow him to reduce the taxes he pays on the social network's IPO launch by an estimated $67 million.
In defense of his actions, Saverin released a statement that reads: "I have paid and will continue to pay any taxes due on everything I earned while a U.S. citizen. It is unfortunate that my personal choice has led to a public debate, based not on the facts, but entirely on speculation and misinformation."
Nonetheless, two senators on Capitol Hill are so outraged by Saverin's decision that they've introduced the "Ex-Patriot Act," legislation aimed at making people like Saverin pay.
The bill would would impose new penalties on those seeking to renounce their citizenship for tax purposes and bar them from re-entering the U.S. if the reason they renounce is to avoid taxes.
On Starting Point this morning, Sen. Bob Casey, one of the senators who introduced the act, says that Saverin's case is one of the "most egregious examples we know of" and stresses that people who try to evade paying taxes in this way "must be held accountable."
Some relief at the pump this week. It may not last long. This morning gas prices are down six cents from a week ago and it's two cents lower than a year ago, continuing yesterday's trend when for the first time in two-and-a-half years when the current price dropped below the price a year earlier. But analysts expect they could increase again before Memorial Day weekend. They do every year, right?
This morning on "Starting Point," BP Capital Management founder and chairman T. Boone Pickens explains why no one person is responsible for the gas prices. He also explains why the tax code needs fixing and why the Keystone XL pipeline makes sense. Read on to see his comments.
BP Capital Management chairman T. Boone Pickens on why the Keystone XL pipeline is important to U.S. energy independence.
BP Capital Management chairman T. Boone Pickens explains why the tax code needs to be simplified.
DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz says the Bush tax cuts will be addressed after the November election.
Rep. Steve Israel discusses his opposition to the Small Business Tax Cut Act of 2012 sponsored by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and explains why he thinks that it is "yet another unfunded, unpaid for giveaway" for millionaires.