and there is a principle involved. >> steven ratner, is there a principle, or just bloody mindednessrepublicans, led by grover norquist, we shall not pay anymore taxes ever? >> at some point, there are too many taxes, but we're a long away from that. let's just look at earned taxes, lower than they were under president clinton put in place ten years ago. and all president obama is saying let's go from 35% to the top earners, to 39.6%, same as it was under president clinton, the economy did well. it is more than just a drop in the bucket. just raising rates on people making over 250,000, would be a trillion deficit -- >> a trillion dollars, henry, is nothing to be sniffed at. some urged the party to extend the bush-era tax cuts, for the households that earn less than $250,000, to insure the taxes don't go up. who cares anyway? >> sure, there is a point in there. i might dispute the numbers. i would argue as the members of my party, i would argue that we have a spending problem. as opposed to a revenue problem. to my friend steve's remark, about the clinton tax rates, that sounds great

and thoroughly plugged in to democrats top hierarchy, i'm talking steven ratner. he wants, a near doubling of the capital gains tax rate for the rich, 28%, no problem. raise the tax rate on anyone making more than $250,000 a year, just pay up. and get this, he says those people, 250,000 or more, they don't need tax-free health insuran insurance, mortgage interest rate deductions, you just don't need it. the rich can afford it, says mr. ratner. and the government needs the money. this is pure politics. the government will give you everything, and the rich can pay. that won the election, idn't it? but let's be clear, mr. ratner's wealth, his own wealth will not be taxed. he made his pile as an investment banker with lehman brothers. you know, the firm that went under and set off the global panic and the wall street bailout. the wealth he is sitting on will not be touched in any significant way by his proposals. and when he passes, he will have an army of lawyers to avoid the estate tax. no, it's the strivers who will be taxed, the people working hard to climb the fo

and steven ratner, advisor to the president obama on the auto bailout and formally wrote for the "new compromise in the next seek w s weeks. >> i think so, nobody wants to dive off this fiscal cliff. i didn't think the president's little talk today, his speech, was all that conciliatory. he said it seemed more like a l club than an olive branch. republicans say if we don't do the fiscal cliff, and we suspend those fending kwut cuts, we want some kind of an agreement in place that we will cut the spending later, we won't just keep letting this debt go up. >> the president repeatedly insists he wants to raise the highest income brackets from the current 35% rate to what it was in the clinton administration, the 39.6%. the republicans say that's unacceptable, you can have them pay more taxes but not by raising that rate. is there a compromise? >> i think you heard the president say in the clip you just showed that he is open to compromise, open to new ideas, as long as they meet his principals which is that the wealthy bare the burden. and i think there are many ways to accomplish that.