don't conservatives want this for our nation to ask our capitalist gains expert. let's not forget that we had an apartheid regime right. i think. he'd want to well. we never got that says they're going to keep you safe get ready because you're going to their freedom. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so please you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm sorry welcome to the big picture. welcome back to the big picture i'm tom hartman coming up in this half hour spent trying year for the occupy movement and especially for the journalists covering it how have police actions against journalists affect the freedom of the press in america also president obama talked last night about a critical trade off between tax rates and investment in our nation what was he specifically referring to and how could doing away with that benefit our economic wellbeing and which are really lot of person star just assist us who is starving because we just

what president obama was referring to there is the tax loophole known as the capital gains tax or what i call the capitalist gains tax it's how mitt romney can make twenty one point six million dollars and yet only pay a thirteen point nine percent tax rate far lower than most middle class americans right now the capitalist gains tax is at the lowest it's been since the great depression and as the president pointed out this low tax rate on capital gains is sucking money out of our nation's ability to pay for everything from schools to the military to our nation's infrastructure so should we have more capital this gains tax financed with debt or tax cuts rather or should rich people pay their fair share so we can educate a new generation of scientists engineers and doctors here to offer his take on this is david selleck a federal tax practitioner and pro-business advocate david welcome it's home thanks for having me on i really appreciate the opportunity to discuss this issue ok great david in one nine hundred eighty six ronald reagan equalize the capitalist gains tax with the ordinary

let's start with the capital gains deal. the president is making a big issue out of warren buffet secretary paying more tax than the billionaire does. in fact, the secretary debbie sat near the first lady and the camera zoomed in. once again, the president did not tell the folks the difference between income taxes and the tax on cap gains. he is lumping it all in together. >> tax reform should follow the buffet rule. if you make more than a million dollars a year, you should not pay less than 30% in taxes. >> bill: well, that's interesting because back in september 2008, i talked with president obama about the same issue. >> >> bill: listen, if you raise the cap gains tax that will inhibit investment. i won't buy as many stocks and many more people won't. if do you that it's going to come back to bite you, senator. >> if we went up to a prohibitive rated, you are right. >> bill: 30%, that's vegas, man. i'm not going with those odds. 15 i will pay. not 30. >> i didn't say we would go to 30. >> you said between 15 and 28. >> 2

tax i was called capital gains for. capital gains tax for people who like paris hilton you know earns a living city in her bikini on her butt around the pool waiting for the dividend check to arrive i don't get it it's the idea is that investment income from capital gains that these people are job creators they're going to go on and invest this money to create even more jobs for more people rockets ronald reagan thought that was a bad idea he brought both those tax rates to twenty eight percent he made them identical and he came right out and said that the capital gains should be taxed at the same rate as ordinary income. what do these republicans all have amnesia clearly they're not listening to what reagan said if they believe that under gingrich's tax plan romney would even be better off because gingrich has proposed getting rid of the capital gains tax entirely whereas romney let the i believe would at least leave it at charging something for capital gains tax you know it was twenty percent before george w. bush can

>> correct. >> where could i buy capitol gains, what are they? how do i get the romney rate. >> you just have to buy something that goes up in value. >> buy things that go up in value. that would be what? >> it's simple, like stock? >> stock would be a great example, if you could buy apple 10 years ago and sell it today you'd have a night big fat capitol gain and get to pay a really low rate of taxes on that. capitol gain could be 15%. >> ok, so the romneys are right in the sweet spot when it can ums to capitol gains. >> they have a very good mix of income to pay really low rates. >> a blind trust, they have one of those. i have a trustee that manages my investments in a blind trust. that's so i would avoid conflict of interest. he said that he wanted to diverse i didn't have. i paid full taxes. there's nothing wrong with that. >> it seems really rich, powerful people have blind trusts. usually the people that set up blind trusts are involved in some kind of political or government position where they might be in a situation where they'd have som

rick santorum has been gaining in popularity in the polls. he's been a figure on the amount of annual spending that he'd like to see. >> in addition to a balanced budget, the balanced budget amendment that i prefer and that i will fight for will put a limit on overall spending in washington, d.c. it won't just be you have to balance the budget. you can do that and just have huge government and big taxes to support it. we need a budget that is balanced and is limited as in what i support is 18% that we set the total amount of spending that the government can spend at any one year is 18% of the overall economy. >> last minute voters in iowa, rick santorum. smaller government means smaller tacks of course. veteran republican newt gingrich has one big plan for kick-starting the economy. >> on taxes, i go to zero capital gains tax, which would bring hundreds of billions of dollars into the u.s. to create factories and new businesses. i go to 100% expensing on all new equipment. whether a farmer, factory or business, everything you bought you could

campaign trail calling for tax cuts ott millionaires and taking aim at mitt romney, paying 15% capital gains rate and s dnc deputy finance director, david mercer, welcome to everybody. >> okay. john, a 15% flat tax for everyone, is that how to get everyone working again? >> i mean, i think that there's some sense in that. i think that americans should stand up and cheer for the presidential candidate who says i'm going to give you a big, fat flat tax. and give you the same tax rate basically, that mitt romney has. and people are villainizing mitt romney for paying 15% on the investment that he made in the past, but i think that americans should be looking for that and presidents from kennedy to reagan, to bill clinton, to george bush cut taxes and stimulation to employment and lowering of unemployment and one of these candidates should take hold of that. >> brenda: david, you say it doesn't necessarily bring jobs? >> well, it's a conceptual frame work and would be phil graham who ran for president or steve forbes and we know where they went and to refer to romney, which i'm glad was, he in f

and gain trade goods, gain plunder from war, gain scouts, gain prisoners or captives that they could sell for goods and add to their power and strengthen their own position. so they joined the war for their own reasons, to be sure. one of the natives who was a catholic who had been converted to catholicism -- some of those who joined the effort were living in their own villages and had been converted to christianity or catholicism. others who came from the great lakes and especially the far western region were not christian at all. and this man who was catholic said to the western indians, my brothers, we domesticated indians, this is translated from french -- we thank you for having come to help us defend our lands against the english who wish to exploit them. our cause is good and the master of life favors it. we admire the fine deed you have just accomplished on the lake, lake george, the french called it the lake of the holy sa sacrament. it is stained red with the blood of englishman, mostly men from the province of new jersey were decimated by the natives in their canoes who to

with gingrich gaining nine points. in addition to the horse race, we have been looking closely at the issues and what the candidates would do if elected. tonight, what romney and gingrich would do about taxes. first, dean reynolds with the former speaker of the house. >> reporter: gingrich has his eye squarely on the economy as the number one issue so his tax plan is geared to creating one thing-- thing-- what's your plan on taxes? >> i want to create jobs very dramatically. so we have zero capital gains tax to brings in hundreds of billions of dollars of new investments. >investments. >> reporter: capital gains tax is payed on income from investments. it's 15%. that's why taxes are low on billionaires like warren buffett, but gingrich says not low enough. in addition to eliminating the tax on capital gains here, would abolish estate taxes. for corporations he would cut income taxes from a maximum of 35% to 12.5%. individual taxpayers would have the choice to file under the current tax policy or choose a 15% flat tax.

but the gains were trimmed in the last two hours of trading. no surprise on a day with two big banks reporting earnings, the financial sector was the biggest drag. this exchange traded fund follows the s&p financial sector. it slipped almost 1%, led by citigroup, down 8%. we mentioned the disappointing earnings report at the beginning of our program. the shares are down more than 35% since the one-for-ten reverse stock split last spring. what did work for investors today included the energy, technology and health care sectors, each moving up by seven tenths of a percent. after the closing bell tonight, the co-founder of yahoo severed ties with the company. jerry yang resigned from the yahoo board of directors, as well as the boards of yahoo japan and alibaba, which is partially owned by yahoo. yang co-founded yahoo in 1995. the company has come under increasing pressure to turn itself around. yang said it was time to "pursue other interests." shares of yahoo closed down a fraction ahead of this news. but they rallied more than 3% after the clos

stock averages logged big gains. the dow gained 179 points, the nasdaq added 43, and the s&p 500 was up 19.5 points. trading volume picking up steam as we come off the holiday-- 853 million shares moving on the big board and 1.7 billion on the nasdaq. the pick-up in share prices and trading volume comes as many smaller investors continue on the sidelines. suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: it's cleanup time in manhattan from this weekend's new year's eve celebration. but today on wall street, the partying was still going strong, making for a beautiful beginning to what could be a better year for stock investors. many market pros remain guardedly optimistic about 2012, but with the lackluster performance of stocks in 2011, it's questionable whether small investors will even tiptoe back in. and if this manhattan ameritrade office is any indication, at least some are taking a wait and see attitude. >> i don't feel that confident in the market just yet. maybe in a few years, the market will turn around, but as of yet, i

and he only pays 15% on capital gains.hurt him is he has seen somebody to make a decision whether a simple question like should i release the tax returns or not. that guess to what you are saying which is that this is something, this is morphing from a question like how rich is mitt romney. we all know the answer, very, to a question of how he is running a campaign. and what kind of leadership he is showing. >> bret: what about the $300,000 plus in speeches that he ends the sound bite saying not very much? >> well, you know, took that as well, i don't want to brag -- read it either way. i thought santorum was going overboard there. >> i think santorum read it the way that it will be read. which this is a guy out of touch. that is how it will be understood. somebody running in a state like south carolina, 10% unemployment with medium per capita income in the mid-30 mid-30s. to say what he got from the speech was $370,000. is not a lot is like george w. bush at the check-out counter. a guy who is reach and not in touch. that

capital gains are taxed and carry interest. wages and salaries go up to 35%.t's understandable -- one reason something, you put your money in -- stock, and you leave it there 30 or 40 years, and the -- it may not grow and -- it grows in inflation, that's why they don't tax it -- >> exception and they get no tax -- tax at all are the munis, municipal bonds as many that true? is that the only thing -- [everyone talking at once] >> that's the only one i know of. >> capital gains has not always been at 15%. when reagan came to town, the rates were high and he got money as movie actor so he wanted to bring those down, which he did. when the bushes came into office, they wanted to reduce capital gains because a lot of their main came from investment income. the 15% we arrived at when w bush was in office and it has not always been that well, and i'd like to know why mitt romney has so many bank accounts in so many places around the world. he -- [everyone talking at once] >> what is the meaning of that? >> the meaning of that is -- >> checking accounts? >> well, he h

jon: capital gain is taxed at... >> 15%. >> jon: no matter how many millions it gets to?, that's, that's... yes. that is why, you know, everybody who is in private equity is really mad at mitt romney right now. they're furious. >> jon: because he's shining a light? >> this had been an issue early in the obama administration, should these guys be taxed like everybody else, like warren buffett's secretary. the issue then faded, kind of went away. and now, hey, it's back on the front page again. and it's, gosh, it's such a political issue that newt romney thinks... jon newt romney? newt romney is something that's been made in a lab. >> a product of private equity. imagining the next horror movie series. >> jon: here's what makes me upset, and i'm not quite sure to, question whether or not these growth and capital gains have metastasized and got out of balance with their value to the economy, because there is a value to capital and investment and risk and the economy. but to question that is somehow conflated with to question the basic underpinnings of capitalism. to suggest

the president wants to raise the capital gains tax rate. if he does so he will kill job creation in this country to some degree, depending how much he raises it. with regards to my own taxes, i would like to also point out in addition to the 15% i paid to the government. if you add them all up, along with charitable contributions, bits 40-42%. >> sean: you did a lot better than joe biden that he gave $367 one year and obamas made two million and they only gave $10,000 in those years. let's go to the nomination campaign and the battle with you and former speaker gingrich. ad wars have heated up in florida. this is part of the exchange in the debate the other night. >> we of congressmen who say you lobbied them and congressmen say that you came and lobbied them with regards to medicare part "d" at the same time your center was taking contributions. >> i publicly advocated, medicaid "d". it has saved lives and includes medicare alternatives which gave people choices and i did it publiclyly. you've been walking around the state saying things no

an income rate and that is the capital gains rate. your art is this will hurt investment. >>guest: it will be devastating. it is accumulating capital, and it is savings, your savings, my savings, the savings of anyone in america who manages to say after taxes that is what is invested in america to lunch a new business, to expand an existing business, for business to borrow, or to raise eke -- equity, and the president is saying, no, have the government take that money and we will spend it. that is the alternative, so, less capital available for american jobs and american business and that is why it will impede economic growth. >>neil: the agent for racing is fair is fair and income is income and you distinquish it because someone about to invest in a risky enterprise, startup, say, a future apple and steve jobs widow is going to be with the president's wife tonight, and they would be less inclined to invest in such an enterprise if they knew the starting fee was so high. >>guest: a couple of things. there is less money available to be invested if the government is taking m

he's already in south carolina trying to make gains there. he may do okay. he's the only southerner in the race. so expect terrell to hear a lot about his faith and about his root. >> susan mcginnis in new hampshire. good to see you. >>> the candlelight vigil capped an emotional day the remembrance. it was one year ago that a gunman opened fire killing six people and wounding 13 others, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords. ines ferre reports. >> congresswoman giffords seemed -- she led the plenl of allegiance at a vigil for victims of the shooting that nearly killed her one year ago. >> one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [ applause ] >> giffords and tucson have come a long way in a year. it was just after 10:00 a.m. on january 8, 2011, when life there changed. giffords was making an appearance outside a safe way store when a gunman started firing on the crowd gathered in the parking lot. the congresswoman was shot in the head. among the dead, a federal judge and nine-year-old christina taylor green. another girl was s

." >>> coming up, stocks posting solid gains this month. does the january barometer signal a sustained rally ahead? or will it lead investors in the cold this year? >>> plus, metal mania. gold, silver and copper have all been rocking this year. and we'll show you how these heavy metals can keep producing profits for your portfolio. and will the kindle fire fire up amazon's earnings? the results are coming up. you're watching cnbc. first in business worldwide. >>> welcome back. sharon epperson at the nymex. we dropped below the $100 a barrel level. we're watching what's happening in terms of refiners, because we are seeing a little bit of pop on ex ppiration on oil. possible strike could be possible, and that could impact futures in the coming days. we're also watching what's happening in terms of the gold price, where gold over the past month has served 11%. a lot of buying action there. key levels being reached. gold, silver, even greater, up 19% so far this month. back to you guys. >> a perfect segway, sharon epperson, thank you. because

we did see there gains of around 15% on the year. still, with a strong yen and the natural disasters of last year japan's auto industry is really trying to gain back market share from the likes of the u.s. big three. also south korean firms and some of the german automakers as well. so still quite a ways to go there. ai? >> and ramin, while switching gears to currencies, we are yet again seeing a stronger yen, especially against the euro. tell us about that. >> yeah, definitely. let's have a look at the currency levels this thursday morning. trading in tokyo time there. you can see there the key one to focus on, euro/yen. look at that. 99.18-23. the euro really remains a focus for global markets, ai, as it has lost ground against the dollar and the yen. in the coming days the bond auctions in the euro zone countries is going to be another major focus. today, for instance, france is going to be coming out with new bonds. next week spain and italy are going to be coming out with new bonds. and also the euro zone financial stability fac

but look at the gain since august. seeing the biggest monthly gain since that time. >> thank you very much, sharon. >>> stocks trading lower but the s&p is poised to close january with a 4% gain. that would be its best month since october. in fact, investors received a pretty bullish sign earlier. the s&p 50050-day moving average moved above the 200-day moving average. this is what's known as the golden cross. it usually indicates a shift in momentum and gains in the index six months from now. so are better times really ahead? let's bring in uri landisman and michael farr. uri, better times six months down the road? >> i pay a little bit of attention to it. it's a commonly followed index so it's being discount add little bit. what we think is going to happen, there is significant resistance here on the s&p at 1,360. my gut is we don't break through 1,360 meaningfully right now. if we do -- i mean, on a day we get a rip-up to 1,375. then you bring 1,425, which i think is the high for the year into play right now. if we

the law says it's capital gains. you have have an argue about whether you want to change that law and tax certain income as income, ordinary income versus capital gains. again, this is the second time he's patd taxes on it. it's possible some of his income was capital gains to start with. some was ordinary income. this is not the first time he's paid taxes on these dollars. >> that discussion about the way the tax system works is a separate discussion from the qualifications -- >> and political discussion. >> policy discussion which is separate from what do you think of this guy who has met his obligations to society and volunteered to pay, again, even more in charity than he paid in taxes. >> good question for adam put m putnam, florida chairman for romney for president, he is in florida this morning. thanks for joining us. do you feel like, okay, the taxes will be released in roughly 90 minutes. it will put this issue to rest, done and done? >> you know, i think i understood you, the question about the release of h

the president wants to raise the capital gains tax rate. if he does so he will kill job creation in this country to some degree, depending how much he raises it. with regards to my own taxes, i would like to also point out in addition to the 15% i paid to the government. if you add them all up, along with charitable contributions, bits 40-42%. >> sean: you did a lot better than joe biden that he gave $367 one year and obamas made two million and they only gave $10,000 in those years. let's go to the nomination campaign and the battle with you and former speaker gingrich. ad wars have heated up in florida. this is part of the exchange in the debate the other night. >> we of congressmen who say you lobbied them and congressmen say that you came and lobbied them with regards to medicare part "d" at the same time your center was taking contributions. >> i publicly advocated, medicaid "d". it has saved lives and includes medicare alternatives which gave people choices and i did it publiclyly. you've been walking around the state saying things no

its gains on friday at the end of the last trading session the ati has shed a half a percent. almost twice as much. gold as trading at one thousand six hundred sixty nine dollars per ounce up point fourteen percent on monday it had already gained more than six percent since the beginning of the year and business analyst mitchell miller danka looks at the prospects for the precious metal. is gold on track to become the investment choice of the year now with sovereign debt problems still looming in europe it could be just the right thing the precious metal as seen their remarkable performance over the past decades take a look at the graphic since two thousand and one the trend has been perfectly positive the peak price was reached last year when gold hits nineteen hundred and twenty dollars an ounce but then we saw a nosedive of twenty percent and just a few sessions as the u.s. credit rating was downgraded a lack of liquidity deflated the bubble somewhat since banks desperately required cash they sold whatever they could and it's at that point that the tables turn for the metal