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American Morning
Minding Your Business: Coming in the Mail, Bigger Tax Refund Check
Aired November 14, 2003 - 07:47 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Can you be getting a hefty tax refund next year? And where in the world was Bill Hemmer last night?
Here with answers is Andy Serwer, who is "Minding Your Business" and Bill's apparently.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, a lot of ground for me to cover, Anderson. I'm looking after taxes. I'm looking after Bill Hemmer. I mean, who could do this job?
Tax refunds are probably getting bigger for most Americans next year. That's according to a new study by Pets Enterprises (ph), which is a tax advisory. The average tax refund is probably going to be going up 27 percent. That's the difference, Anderson, between the 2003 figure there of 1973 and 2,500 in the next year, 2004.
Eight million American families who didn't get refunds last year will likely get refunds this year. Who really benefit? Probably married couples who make between 46,000 and 56,000. Their tax bracket goes down from 26 percent to 15 percent. And this is all probably good news for the president, because it will likely boost spending and help the economy. There's a real strong correlation there between consumer spending and how good you feel about the incumbent president. Of course, it will likely increase the budget deficit, and the Democrats will point fingers and back and forth. And it's a political football.
COOPER: Do you think it could happen?
SERWER: I suspect it will.
COOPER: OK. All right, let's talk about Bill Hemmer. While I was preparing for this program last night, studying late into the night and burning the midnight oil...
SERWER: Yes, yes.
COOPER: ... what was Hemmer doing?
SERWER: Hemmer was out there at the Victoria Secret lingerie show. Now the truth can be told. He was out there watching this and looking at this. We talked about this yesterday, the toughest ticket in town. And who was there? Our own Bill Hemmer was there.
COOPER: Where? Where is he? SERWER: Well, let's see if we can see him in some tape coming up. We want to watch this a little bit more, Anderson. And the camera pans. And the camera finds...
COOPER: There he is.
SERWER: ... Bill Hemmer, right there, sitting next to...
COOPER: The Donald?
SERWER: ... the Donald. He's there on murderer's row, celebrity's row. There is Mary J. Everyone is there. You know who was also sitting in that front row? Tommy Lee, Puffy, Denzel, Amad (ph), Kareem (ph), and Bill Hemmer.
COOPER: Wow!
SERWER: You can't keep track of this guy. Last seen, by the way, going backstage.
COOPER: Are you serious?
SERWER: That was the last we saw of him, according to Tom Boner (ph), our producer here.
COOPER: And then -- so wait, he was last seen going backstage at Victoria's Secret.
SERWER: Yes.
COOPER: And then he doesn't show up to work today?
SERWER: And then he doesn't come to work. I mean, something is suspicious. Coincidence or not? And it's his birthday today.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I was going to say, and it's his birthday today.
SERWER: Come on, right?
O'BRIEN: Wow!
COOPER: I want to know what his present was.
SERWER: This is from the department of some guys have all the luck, I guess. But not a bad one, right?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COOPER: Well, maybe he'll hook us up next year, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It sounds like jealousy speaking in a really big way over there.
SERWER: No, we're serious journalists over here very, very, very serious. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Refund Check>
Aired November 14, 2003 - 07:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Can you be getting a hefty tax refund next year? And where in the world was Bill Hemmer last night?
Here with answers is Andy Serwer, who is "Minding Your Business" and Bill's apparently.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, a lot of ground for me to cover, Anderson. I'm looking after taxes. I'm looking after Bill Hemmer. I mean, who could do this job?
Tax refunds are probably getting bigger for most Americans next year. That's according to a new study by Pets Enterprises (ph), which is a tax advisory. The average tax refund is probably going to be going up 27 percent. That's the difference, Anderson, between the 2003 figure there of 1973 and 2,500 in the next year, 2004.
Eight million American families who didn't get refunds last year will likely get refunds this year. Who really benefit? Probably married couples who make between 46,000 and 56,000. Their tax bracket goes down from 26 percent to 15 percent. And this is all probably good news for the president, because it will likely boost spending and help the economy. There's a real strong correlation there between consumer spending and how good you feel about the incumbent president. Of course, it will likely increase the budget deficit, and the Democrats will point fingers and back and forth. And it's a political football.
COOPER: Do you think it could happen?
SERWER: I suspect it will.
COOPER: OK. All right, let's talk about Bill Hemmer. While I was preparing for this program last night, studying late into the night and burning the midnight oil...
SERWER: Yes, yes.
COOPER: ... what was Hemmer doing?
SERWER: Hemmer was out there at the Victoria Secret lingerie show. Now the truth can be told. He was out there watching this and looking at this. We talked about this yesterday, the toughest ticket in town. And who was there? Our own Bill Hemmer was there.
COOPER: Where? Where is he? SERWER: Well, let's see if we can see him in some tape coming up. We want to watch this a little bit more, Anderson. And the camera pans. And the camera finds...
COOPER: There he is.
SERWER: ... Bill Hemmer, right there, sitting next to...
COOPER: The Donald?
SERWER: ... the Donald. He's there on murderer's row, celebrity's row. There is Mary J. Everyone is there. You know who was also sitting in that front row? Tommy Lee, Puffy, Denzel, Amad (ph), Kareem (ph), and Bill Hemmer.
COOPER: Wow!
SERWER: You can't keep track of this guy. Last seen, by the way, going backstage.
COOPER: Are you serious?
SERWER: That was the last we saw of him, according to Tom Boner (ph), our producer here.
COOPER: And then -- so wait, he was last seen going backstage at Victoria's Secret.
SERWER: Yes.
COOPER: And then he doesn't show up to work today?
SERWER: And then he doesn't come to work. I mean, something is suspicious. Coincidence or not? And it's his birthday today.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I was going to say, and it's his birthday today.
SERWER: Come on, right?
O'BRIEN: Wow!
COOPER: I want to know what his present was.
SERWER: This is from the department of some guys have all the luck, I guess. But not a bad one, right?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COOPER: Well, maybe he'll hook us up next year, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It sounds like jealousy speaking in a really big way over there.
SERWER: No, we're serious journalists over here very, very, very serious. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Refund Check>
