After their most recent meeting to negotiate a budget deal that would keep automatic spending cuts and tax increases from going into effect January 1, President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner are still far from agreement. However, both sides have made some concessions.
For his part, Obama has offered to keep the Bush-era tax cuts in place for those making up to $400,000.
Boehner in turn offered – as a stopgap measure – raising taxes on those with incomes of $1 million or more. The president is also lowering his revenue goal from $1.6 trillion to $1.2 trillion with the Speaker raising his to $1 trillion.
Critics from both sides of the aisle have already called foul with some Democrats blasting the president’s acceptance of deeper cuts to Medicare and Medicaid to pay for the drop in revenues.
Meanwhile, a number of conservatives have complained that the speaker is willing to raise taxes at all.
Host Carmen Russell-Sluchansky spoke with Duke University Law School tax law professor Lawrence Zelenak to discuss the tax end of the deal, what it means for those in the middle class and the upper 2 percent.
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