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American Morning
Minding Your Business: Will a Tax Cut Create More Jobs?
Aired April 30, 2003 - 07:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's time to talk money and jobs. President Bush says that his tax cuts will spur job growth, but will it be enough?
Andy Serwer has a job. He has a lot of jobs. His job here is making him work nights right now.
Gerri Willis, though, we're pleased to have her, working mornings and "Minding Your Business."
Good to have you with us again.
GERRI WILLIS, "SMARTMONEY" MAGAZINE: Good to be here.
KAGAN: Taking a look at what the president is saying, does it -- how does it really work in terms of the tax cuts and job growth? And how is that all supposed to work?
WILLIS: Well, you know, what's so interesting about this whole debate is there is a whole lot more heat than light, lots of confusion, lots of people saying things that are kind of true but maybe not completely true. I think you have to look at the president's plan. He says that eliminating the dividend tax and dropping income tax is going to make people spend more money, either for stocks or at Wal-Mart and it's going to boost the economy, creating 1.4 million jobs.
But, you know, guess what? When you really look at those income tax cuts, you know who gets the biggest benefits here? People making over $1 dollars will save $27,000 a year. And the president is fond of saying that if you're a family of four and you're making $40,000, you're going to save a little bit over $1,000 a year.
So, you can see that comparison kind of skews to the wealthy end of the spectrum.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, do the economists right now you're talking to, do they believe that it could spur job growth?
WILLIS: Yes, but the thing is over time. And that's what the Democrats here are saying is that this is a long-term game plan if you're going to create jobs by cutting taxes.
HEMMER: Yes.
WILLIS: It takes a while to percolate through the system. And what's more, it's going to bump deficits like you can't believe. But, you know, the other side of that is, you know, the government has got to spend money to get us out of this situation, and that's going to create bigger and bigger deficits.
HEMMER: Thank you, Gerri. Talk to you next hour.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired April 30, 2003 - 07:55 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's time to talk money and jobs. President Bush says that his tax cuts will spur job growth, but will it be enough?
Andy Serwer has a job. He has a lot of jobs. His job here is making him work nights right now.
Gerri Willis, though, we're pleased to have her, working mornings and "Minding Your Business."
Good to have you with us again.
GERRI WILLIS, "SMARTMONEY" MAGAZINE: Good to be here.
KAGAN: Taking a look at what the president is saying, does it -- how does it really work in terms of the tax cuts and job growth? And how is that all supposed to work?
WILLIS: Well, you know, what's so interesting about this whole debate is there is a whole lot more heat than light, lots of confusion, lots of people saying things that are kind of true but maybe not completely true. I think you have to look at the president's plan. He says that eliminating the dividend tax and dropping income tax is going to make people spend more money, either for stocks or at Wal-Mart and it's going to boost the economy, creating 1.4 million jobs.
But, you know, guess what? When you really look at those income tax cuts, you know who gets the biggest benefits here? People making over $1 dollars will save $27,000 a year. And the president is fond of saying that if you're a family of four and you're making $40,000, you're going to save a little bit over $1,000 a year.
So, you can see that comparison kind of skews to the wealthy end of the spectrum.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, do the economists right now you're talking to, do they believe that it could spur job growth?
WILLIS: Yes, but the thing is over time. And that's what the Democrats here are saying is that this is a long-term game plan if you're going to create jobs by cutting taxes.
HEMMER: Yes.
WILLIS: It takes a while to percolate through the system. And what's more, it's going to bump deficits like you can't believe. But, you know, the other side of that is, you know, the government has got to spend money to get us out of this situation, and that's going to create bigger and bigger deficits.
HEMMER: Thank you, Gerri. Talk to you next hour.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
