CNN 2011-12-24

 One person who is well and truly in the_of tax cuts,payroll tax cuts is Glenn Habbord,the chief economic advisor 1 to the Presidential candidate Mitt 2 Romney.He says the US needs more,the permanent than the tax cut extension.And Gland 3 have you join me now from New York's Columbia University.You forgive me again.We don't get into the_of the details of this.I promise.Thank you.But on the bigger picture,the bigger picture,we'll come to the politics of your man in a minute.What is it you fundamentally think the US economy needs that it hasn't had so far? Well,first,we have to understand the problem,the real structural 4 issues with the US economy of needing to pivot 5 much more toward investment and encouraging exports than we have in the past.Underneath 6 all of that,we need policies that would put people back to work and in the first step is stop doing harms,stop creating policy and uncertainty 7.The political theatre now in Washington is really reflection of two fundamentally different versions of government and we are unfortunately seeing that play out in real time.I see,that's the point ,isn't it,because nobody would suggest that these aren't men and women of conviction,who have a fundamentally different opinion of how it should be settled.But we can't go through it until next November with this sort of paralysis 8.How come with it? No exactly,sadly we mind,but I don't think we can if we really want the economy to do well.The right answer is to clarify the long-term,make improvements in the country's fiscal 9 future by addressing long-term government spending problems.That would free a boom and move in a short term.Republicans may have things they want to do,the President may have things he wants to do.But you need to do that step.Right now we have no Presidential leadership and this is simply_.Alright,but at the same moment,let's take you to the republican party who came out of the budget battle,perhaps more bruise 10 because of their refusal to even countenance 11 increases in taxes or fees.What's that mistake when just about everybody to person seems to say,you can't do it all spending cuts along.Well,I think it's a two-part argument_.First,the main problem really is spending.If you look at the forecast of future deficits,they are principally driven by growth and government spending and any real negotiation 12 of course both sides have to give.And the question is can you have higher revenue without higher marginal tax rate,and the answer to that question is yes.Well,well,no somebody say no,you can't,and the evidence is that you do have had higher income taxes and nobody has successfully proven it in a workable way and the other way.Here's a clear example.The_plan which was bipartisan and appointed by the Democratic president of the US came out with a plan to raise revenue and lower marginal tax rates.Marginal tax rates are the same as the average tax rates.My little one_.We can raise revenue without raising rates.Assuming this goes forward,we're now seeing this bitterness.You are the economic advisor to one of the candidates,and your candidate at the moment is not leading.Candidate during this time do you think,and if not is he or you gonna have to adjust his economic policy? Well,I think governor Romney set a very clear economic policy from the beginning with a couple of points .One,this has to be about growth and he has a plan for encouraing economic growth and bringing back jobs.The second,is to reduce the size of government in a long-term and he has a very clear plan there.I think those're the right ideas whoever the candidate is.Right,but at the moment,that is not the idea that is floating the boat.So,are you going to go back to the drawing board or at least even tinker with governor Romney's plan that might give him a boost,say,over Newt Gingrich or whoever else might be the leader this year.I think governor Romney has exactly the right economic plan,he is the one he believes in.I don't see tinkering with it because of the polls.You sir,when you look at the economy_and briefly,the US has shown remarkable 13 growth and resilience in the last 3 months.Do you expect that to continue and if so,because of a threat to it,Europe.I do think Europe is a clear threat.The other threat to growth is simply the policy and uncertainty of the US.But the bottomline is the underlying 14 health of the private sector 15 is actually quite good if we can get rid of that policy and uncertainty here and across the Atlantic.