stuart: pretty good.get a restriction on the charitable tax deduction or it is eliminated i understand charitable contributions would probably o down. i can see that happening but doesn't that imply that the whole reason for giving to charity is to get a tax break as opposed to supporting the good that the charity does? >> that is a misnomer. so many people think we are giving something to the ridge and the wealthy by giving them a tax break. firstly, the charitable sector is $1.9 trillion industry, 5.5% to 6% of our economy, charitable organizations like the salvation army, the red cross, united way, 0.9% of their contributions over $10,000 are financed 15% of their budget -- stuart: i understand charity is big and i understand a tax deduction is an incentive to give to charity. >> look at their services. stuart: i don't see that. should we be -- what i am trying to get at is to get a tax deduction, that detracts from the motives to be charitable. not so much a good thing, thiss is a tax break. you know

stuart?hank you very much. >>> now i want to talk about the huge extra tax bill that will very probably hit everybody. it's called the alternative minimum tax. is that right, elizabeth macdonald? liz: that's right. stuart: unless a fix for the amt is included in any deal which may or may not come out of the fiscal cliff, unless you get a fix now, the alternative minimum tax kicks in full force tomorrow morning. liz: yes. stuart: and will hit millions and millions of people to the tune of 86 billion dollars. liz: correct. that's on top of tax rates going up across the board. so what we're talking about is -- let me just break it down because >> liz: that $1100 refund could turn into a $1400 tax bill instead. that's a big deal. stuart: there's nothing to stop congress when it reconvenes, the new congress when it reconvenes retroactively saying we've patched it, you don't have to pay. liz: they didn't patch it for 2012. the last time it was patched was in december 2011. so, you know, i don't kno

stuart: thanks.m all of this is the republicans will not accept higher tax rates and the president does not want to make serious cuts in spending. is a standoff and that is still true on the market where the dow is down 127 points. new subject. the nra's leaderships to speak today, one week after the mass shootings that killed 20 in connecticut. on tuesday the nra released a statement that said it would, quote, make meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again. let's address the company. i have an expert in a second the first of all the company. ssould the nra be saying anything at this point? gerri: i am not sure they said. peck of the point where people are so anxious and nervous and upset about something that you need to back away and now is the time to back away. stuart: say nothing. charles: they should say something. in the election we saw when mitt romney didn't stand up for bain capital was characterized as a vulture and vampire on society, he let that winger too long.

stuart: thank you very much. >> thanks stuart.oliday spirit on varney & company. [laughter] stuart: we will have menorahs on set. that will be coming up at 10:33. >>> president obama is heading right into the eye of the storm today. a big union fight in michigan. michigan the home of the powerful auto unions could become a right to work state. the governor is expected to sign a new law tomorrow, right to work, michigan, 24th state. unions have been protesting and bigger demonstrations are planned. listen to this: stuart: got pretty noisy. all right, all rise, judge andrew napolitano is here. judge, welcome back. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: now i think -- if a state becomes right to work, essentially that means that a union may not force its members to contribute dues. union membership becomes voluntary. am i right? >> well i would state it slightly differently, but we end up at the same point. in a right to work state, the state does not force people to join unions. stuart: okay. >> in a nonright to work state, it is a law that

stuart:.and my use of the word hipocracy for rich with guilty conscience. buy back stock and helped save that person save substantially on the higher taxes next year. warren is all for everybody else paying taxes and bails out this particular investor and so that he paid lower taxes, charles, have you got a number on this? >> all right, on the back of an envelope i came up with 105.6 million dollars, that was the savings. stuart: savings for the investor whose stock was bout back by warren buffett. 105 million dollars which did not go to the treasury. charles: right. stuart: and had the transaction taken place next year. charles: absolutely, absolutely. stuart: do you call that hipocracy. charles: of course i call it hipocracy, the worst kind of hipocracy and amazing that they can use warren buffett's name in this campaign against small successful people. stuart: carolyn, am i too harsh? >> you're not. berkshire hathaway has a billion dollars in backs taxes it's fighting and i don't understand

some people would say that, stuart. stuart: charles said that, maybe he's right.nk you, nicole. we're dead flat. down 1.69. let's not forget about the phantom pigs. zynga makers of farmville, may not be making enough money off the phantom pigs to keep investors happy. there's a reason to be optimistic, look at the stock, it's up this morning, after news that zynga is trying to get a gaming license out of nevada, that's where the real money is for zynga. it's hoping that a flood of proposed gambling regulations would open up an on-line market. and shares are down so far this year, but up a little bit today. there are the phantom pigs. back to apple. the reisn't stock price, a huge drop due mostly to the tax situation, that's my opinion, but there's also some serious competition out there now. we have the ipad and the iphone, are they less cool? joining us is steven beck, a branding strategist with management consulting firm. cg 42. >> good to be here. stuart: is apple still cool in your branding opinion? >> the interesting thing. last time i was here we were mentio

stuart: okay.. now to the big story. timothy geithner puts the ball in the court of the republicans. he says he cannot guarantee we will not go over the fiscal cliff. >> no, i cannot promise that. that is a decision that lies in the hands of the republicans that are now imposing increasing tax rates. stuart: okay. if the republicans do not agree to higher taxes on the rich, it is all there fault if we go over the cliff. got that. this is what john boehner had to say. >> the day after the election, i found the results. i went to the cameras and made it clear. the republicans were willing to put revenue on the table if there were serious spending cuts and reforms put in place. we have talked about it. the president and white house have three weeks. this is the best we've got? stuart: as of this monday morning, the white house wants the republicans, forces the republicans to agree to raise taxes. the republicans thus far seem to be saying we will cut deductions, but not raise tax rates. >> what is so

stuart: courier? courier? >> yes. stuart: not bad. may shift in this country where people once again say i don't want to rent, i want to own because it is so much, so expensive to rent and so many parts of the country -- >> it is. i always maintain any property i have is the best one in its market class in that area. even when you take a downturn my properties have always stayed 95% unoccupied and that is important. people forget that one aspect. stuart: you like scottsdale. you like tempe. >> if you have got a lot of business there it is more stable market than downtown. stuart: i know candor is your third market in arizona. you keep coming back to arizona. why arizona? >> i ended up there eight years ago and watched it take a big debt. a lot of opportunity comment and when everything took a dive in 2008, i had enough cash. stuart: now is the time to buy because anybody sitting on any profit wants to sell now. >> capital gains. stuart: going up next year. is that factored into your low return? >> no. "imus in the morning" it is not.

stuart: merry christmas, david. >> happy holidays stuart. stuart: are you offended?it. stuart: wait a minute. you're a big guy, 6 foot tall, 200 pounds. are you offended? you're offended. come on. >> as you know, i don't celebrate the holiday and you say merry christmas. of course it is meant to offend. stuart: that was a total stranger. full of goodwill. merry christmas everyone. are you offended? >> a little, i will tell you why. stuart: how can you possibly be offended? merry christmas. >> let me explain. stuart: go. >> it presumes christianity, and that's why the salvation army has changed their tune. this christian organization has realized that -- stuart: does nothing of the sort. >> it does. christian organization has realized that inclusiveness is good ethics and good business, and saying happy holidays without the presumption of christianity includes the jews, the muslims, the atheists -- atheists who donate to their cause. it's a good idea and good ethics. stuart: a man like you couldn't possibly be offended by the mere words. let me move on to point number

stuart: you're right. and that is that women increasingly are buying firearms. >> yes. stuart: they are the fastest-growing market share, i believe, in the weapons industry, so to speak. so does that run counter to the idea of women leading the charge on gun control? >> it's interesting because i think there's a real dichotomy between women who are interested in protecting their lives and the lives of their children and the self-defense and the more liberal women. the more liberal women are coming into the senate. >> it also has to do with some of the language. when you refer to something as assault weapon, it's political language, it is to scare people, i think it hits women a little harder, when you see pictures of this machinery, i think it hits women's sensibility, going into the maternal instinct and protective instinct. i think the terminology is part of the problem as opposed to the gun control policy. stuart: fair point. i'm going to stay with this issue. i'm going to switch now to female senators.

stuart: last point.led the time machine, you go fast forward in history the people who had no responsibilities forgot how to do everything -- the lack of accountability cuts across all of this stuff. nike puts out a $200 sneaker and it is nike's fault that people run over security guards and kill them for these sneakers. i think you can campaign. it can't be someone worth 300 million whose father was a millionaire. someone can get this message across. it was done before. if it's not done, we're all going to sink. stuart: excellent stuff. mark steyn would you come back and visit us? you're the christmas carol guy, aren't you? that music we played earlier. >> yeah, yeah. it used to be that my political commentary had to subsidize my music career. but since november 6th my music career has to subsidize my political commentary. >> thank you very much. stuart: now one city wants to prevent you from eating in your car. is there no end on how far they will go to control your behavior? the judge will be here and

stuart: played the organ music. the highlight reel is next. stuart: here it is.t reel. >> 350,000 people that left the workplace. this is not america. this is not what we should be experiencing. >> if you look at the revisions being negative, this is a mildly positive report. stuart: in other words, unemployment has come down because people have dropped out. that is it. >> i think the economy is getting stronger. >> the unemployment picture is not getting any better. stuart: i was all about the jobs report and now this. lowest jobless rate since 2008. everything is just fine and dandy. that is not accurate. >> technically, it is accurate. 7.7 rate is the lowest we have seen and quite a while. we know the reason it is there is because the labor participation rate is now under 64% which is at the lowest rate since early 1980s. people have just given up and dropped out of the workforce. stuart: scott page, you have another 22nd to try to tell me that this economy is growing just fine and dandy. >> i think people are getting burned out with all the fiscal cliff top.

stuart: did you call me varney? my name is stuart. >> stuart. and you called me lloyd before and.east i have it. that's the one thing. stuart: that's true. >> now what and talk about this necklace here, i love my wife and one day i get ready to get something nice for her, don't have to buy it, here you go. stuart: i've got tears in my eyes. cliff floyd, right? >> yes. >> there you go stuart. stuart: cliff, anytime you want to come back a seat for you here. >> you know what, merry christmas to you. merry christmas to you, thank you very much indeed. time for the gold report. 9:50, where are we this morning? stocks flat, gold flat. a woman busted for disability fraud, she was faking an ankle injury. find out exactly what investigators caught her doing in a park. very interesting. liz macdonald, an all-star trial lawyer the man we hate to love mark lanier is here. both of them are in the studio already, watch out. . [laughter] ♪ saturday in the park, i think it was a fourth of july ♪ [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. governor of getting it done. you know how to dance... with

stuart: wow.i mean, this is a job creator that they're chasing out this have country and by the way, you know what else is going on, and the children of the rich are shipped out. even the rich in spain, the children all of them are saying to their kids study and live abroad. their foundation for the future is eroding. stuart: that number, 145 million euros, that's that's about 180 million bucks, he's paid that in his lifetime and the french government says that's not enough, we want more. >>. charles: according to hollande, it's not his fair share. >> and why, if the government is going to take three quarters of it. stuart: a patriotic duty to pay your fair share. you know i don't mean that-- >> and how our spending has gone up and plus the latest and most important read on the housing numbers. breaking numbers for you at the top of this hour. >> announcer: you never know when, but thieves can steal your identity and turn your life upside down. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if y

i will see you later stuart. david: stop mentioning macau, stuart.prised anymore when i see a professional athlete covered in tattoos. check out the arms of new san francisco 49ers quarterback. now that ink is the source of controversy. here's a quote from a controversial column: stuart: whitley was attacked on the internet over that story. he joins us now from orlando. sir, welcome to the program. you are a controversial guy, aren't you? really stirring it up there, r. whitley. >> that wasn't my intent. i just have always looked at tattoos as sort of an odd thing to put on your body. stuart: i agree with you. i'm 100% with you. i don't like tattoos. don't want my kids to have tattoos. donald trump doesn't like his five or six kids to have tattoos. we're with you. but i want to know why were you called a racist because you made the statement about tattoos on a quarterback? >> well, i think had i do it all over again, i started the column about making a line about san quentin and how the inmates there have tattoos, just to point out that your average

stuart: everybody is. the mood of the country, furious nothing is happening here and politicians are dithering at the last minute. why is it? it doesn't look like a deal is going to get done. a total stop gap and as you say it's not a good deal anyway. why hasn't the stock market fallen out of bed? we're still at 13,000 on the dow. why are we still there? >> what i think usually when congress doesn't do anything, that's a good signal for the market. two, i think the market is very sphisophisticated and whether ot we get a deal is not going to make a dent in the grand scheme of things and still have the fed printing money. if you put all of that together the markets have been behaving. at some point in time though they're going to get frustrated and everyone is going to say listen, we need to get a deal done even if it's for theatrical purposes because if we don't make meaningful strides we will get downgraded in terms of our debt and that will be a huge issue for the market. stuart: i think you and i agree

stuart: you do?oblem is you say women have mothering instincts they might look at things in a different way, you might think that's a positive thing, but i might keep in mind that for decades and women were told that because we were supposed to be mothers, we were supposed to be staying at home and not even voting let alone becoming a part of the political system. stuart: well said kelly jane. thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate your input on this. >> thanks for taking about this. stuart: yeah, well, you know, it is a good subject. 20 women, it's a record high will be in the senate next year. the washington post says they will bring certain characteristics with them and maybe we will get some kind of compromise. i frankly disagree with that because i'm not sure i want a compromise along the lines that the washington post wants to compromise on. that's my own point of view. kelly jane, thank you very much indeed. >> thank you. stuart: all right, scott, go ahead, ruin my day. go. >> you k

stuart: okay.n b goes into effect this week from speaker boehner, got it. shifting topics, significant shift in topics. how about this, one man 1 million miles of air travel this year alone and he's loving it. that's a change of topic, is it not? i will discuss it in a moment. ♪ stuart: now speaker boehner is taking questions. let's listen in. he's proposed going to plan b, voting on the tax side of his proposals in the house. let's listen in. >> -- sequestration, the cuts that will happen automatically, unemployment benefits going away, would you incorporate any of that into this plan b legislation? >> we're going to continue to look at how we would address those issues, as we put this bill together that we would expect to be on the floor later this week. but dealing with the issue of the alternative minimum tax, dealing with the death tax, could likely be part of the bill that we would bring to the floor. we would not deal with the sequestering. >> how close would you say the president's plan is

stuart... - i want you to get a closer look. grandma, it's mr. stuart and lassie!night! - night! night, you guys. ... night. - merry christmas to everybody! ♪ merry christmas to you, jimmy. - ... uh, yeah. merry christmas. ♪ i didn't expect you so early. is the tree in the car? no, i'm just showing the boys where to deliver them. rusty daniels. frank daniels. mrs. davis. - i'm so happy to meet you boys. i can't tell you what this means to us, what you're doing. i mean, jimmy's been so excited; he's talked of nothing but christmas for days. all those lights, and the decorations... i'm sure you boys know what i mean. god bless you for helping to make our christmas so happy. well, we've got other places to go. we'll see you later. - bye! and thank you! and merry christmas to all of you! - merry christmas to you! good night. ♪ see that house over there? ♪ that's the larkin home. mrs. larkin takes care of five orphans. spends all of her time and money making sure that they have the necessities. there's a lot of love in that house, but there's not enough money for

archaeologist george stuart. stuart: this is a color facsimile of the dresden codex -- actual size, real colors. it's made on, like the others, on bark paper sized with lime plaster, on which the images were painted with fine hair brushes and pigment in about, oh, five or six different colors. keach: many of these books were discovered by the sixteenth century spanish. they were said to be filled with genealogies, prophesies and religious beliefs. but to the spanish conquerors, they were blasphemous. in 1562, bishop diego de landa ordered them destroyed. "we found a large number of books in these characters, "and as they contained nothing "in which there were not to be seen "superstition and lies of the devil, "we burned them all, "which caused them much affliction." ironically, a book by bishop landa himself proved crucial to the understanding of maya writing. stuart: and in it is everything that he observed in yucatan about the maya, about their ceremonial cycles, their ritual calendars. he even had pictures of

stuart had one of your cards. you know where stuart is? i have to find him. that's his private stuff. it's all right. i've been talking to him about private matters. yeah, like what? if i told you, it wouldn't be private anymore, would it? wait a minute. is this some kind of anonymity thing? are you one of those a.a. guys? is that what this is all about? are all those people that you hang around with drunks? i used to be a priest. i still talk to people about their souls. if you care about stuart sanderson, you'll tell me where he is. just tell me this. where does he go when he's upset? this is...this is where i proposed to my wife. i was just sitting here, thinking how it was the one thing i've done in my life that was good... and i realized that if i'd never met her, she'd have been someplace else that day. one thing leads to another, you know? she'd still be alive. it's done. all the death, all the destruction, it's over. the only question now is what are you going to do about it? you're wrong. it's not over. it's just starting. what are you talking about?

. >> rose: we conclude this evening with a conversation with stuart stevens former chief strategist and advisor to governor mitt romney and the romney campaign. >> working for governor romney was an extraordinary privilege. and it really was an arar. and i think that he was in this race for the right reasons. he was in it out of a sense of what he could do for the country. to be a small part of that was a great privilege. but i think that republicans need to, we have a good menial, we have to do a better job of getting it out. we need to look at how we need to adjust. >> rose: julianna goldman and stuart stevens when we begin. captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. begin this evening with politic. less than a month remains for lawmaker to reach a deal before the fiscal cliff deadline. the whitehouse open sists tax rates must rise on higher incomes in order to balance spending cuts but republican leadership remains committed to extending the bush tax cuts for all a tax bracket. brainer offer his response to the president. in a

when we come back stuart stevens one of the principal strategists for the romney campaign. stay with us. stuart stevensess here, he served as mitt romney top campaign strategist in the presidential elections. he wrote a piece in "the washington post" last week called a good man, the right fight. in it he argued when mitt romney stood on stage with president obama, it wasn't about television ads or whiz bang turnout technologies, it was about fundamental republican ideas versus fundamental democratic ideas. it was about lower taxes or higher taxes less government or more government, more freedom and less freedom. and republican ideals mitt romney carried the day. stevens was a controversial figure throughout the campaign. he drew criticism externally for being too cautious in defining his candidate and internally for being a sometimes divisive and material figure. in august a new republic profiled him as friendship with mitt romney. the article was published under the title the square and the flare. i've known stuart stevens for a long time and i am pleased to have him here

[cheering and applauding] >> thank you, stuart. that was spectacular.red your uncle there. thank you. we're going to close with the san francisco gay men's chorus performing, singing for our lives. i had a couple of announcements. i hope you will all join us on the candle light march up to the castro. we have candles over here if people didn't bring them, so, you can pick them up at the start of our march. i also want to thank the san francisco police department who is going to help facilitate our march by closing blocks as we move up. so, they are going to be helping. and the chief is here, greg, you're out there someplace. (applause) >> thanks, there he is. thanks very much, fred. we love having a progressive police chief in town. so, i want to thank all of my speakers here, all of our speakers tonight with some very inspirational words. and i want to thank each and every one of you for coming. i hope you will join us in the march, and we are going to end with the san francisco gay men's chorus performing "singing for our lives." thank you. >> let me

liston what he has to say at 10:45, a christmas message from stuart. meanwhile, we are headed towards the fiscal cliff and if congress doesn't act soon the the u.s. economy could take a nosedive right off it. all this have comes as capitol hill, could a value-added tax be in the pipeline? are we slowly turning to europe. david, good to see you. and we already see us moving in terms of spending to the european model. will we move in terms of tax policy to the european model, specifically to a value-added tax like they have in most of europe? >> personally i think we should. >> on top of what we have, on top of an income tax. >> we need to cut back and what i would cut back is replacement for the medicare tax, but also, corporate tax rates should be part of the deal, too. >> what frightened milton friedman the value added tax. there's no way it would replace it, it would always be tacked on top of other tacks and look at the history and that tends to be the way we go. >> although when the europeans brought it in they did cut the other taxes. >> that didn

diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of ideas, i took a long while for me to say yes when stuart and ann asked me to talk a bit on the day that marks the death of george and harvey. and the reason became clear when i sat down to write my words. i'm exhausted by talking about death. i know that's not the subject of today's memorial, but it always happens on the day that george and harvey were shot. and i think i'm tired of remembering them on the worst day of their lives. i wonder that if indeed there is a heaven, and if george and harvey got in, or perhaps they made it to somewhere a little more hip, a little more happening. they might be sitting up there on november 27th of every year and think, oh, lord, not this again. i mean, it's hard for me to imagine that this would be the day that george moscone and harvey milk would want to remember each and every year. don't get me wrong. i'm deeply touched that people remember my father and i do speak for my family in this regard. we are always and every day grateful that we live in a city that does not forget. but there's just something w

stuart? [cheering and applauding] >> thank you. it's very interesting thanksgiving this week.g to the moscone family did not fall on this remembrance. and therefore, the milk family, we were all together and we actually had a little bit more joy because we did have a week that separated it. it's a very tough time for my family since 1978. it's difficult to try to explain. i don't think i could have done as good of a job as jonathan, how tough that is. harvey was a part of every milestone, large and small in my life, for 17 years. and i just can't attempt to explain that loss in words. but there is a connection with the emotions that jonathan shared and that i have shared with rebecca that goes beyond my ability to put the warmth of these remembrances here in san francisco, the meaning of that. for me it has been a bright spot that in sometimes frigid temperatures i've been here and you all have come out and warmth we've come out. we've walked actually together to the castro and we've walked back from the castro here. we've interchanged that over the years. but that does give a

stuart? [cheering and applauding] >> thank you. it's very interesting thanksgiving this week.g to the moscone family did not fall on this remembrance. and therefore, the milk family, we were all together and we actually had a little bit more joy because we did have a week that separated it. it's a

. >> stuart? >> can i just ask you, ed, if there's any deal you've heard of that's bandied around here, any deal at all from either side which would cut spending on tuesday morning, new years day? >> no, not a deal that's on the table right now, stuart. that's a good question. now, the white house would argue in the negotiations with speaker way speaker boehner he, the president put a trillion dollar in changes, medicaid, medicare and changes that nancy pelosi and speaker don't want to see. the and white house's defense is look, if the republicans are not going to play ball on revenue and tax increases they're fnot going to put the spending cuts on the table. this started out as a discussion about cutting the debt, cutting the deficit and now what's going to happen is the smallest plans on the table are going to-- are not really going to cut the deficit in the long run and don't have major spending cuts and i noticed at one point when he was asked about the sequester, not just the tax side, but th

stuart: you know, that really is extraordinary, isn't it? well, now, japan has elected a new government. the country's new prime minister vowing to pull the country out of its 20 year recession with another huge stimulus program. keith is going to join us at 10:35 this morning. we will ask him if this new print money and stimulate more, if that new plan is going to work in japan. clearly, there's been a very big drop in gas prices over here recently, and it's happened all across america. the national average for a gallon of gas is now $3.24 a gallon, according to triple a. that average has fallen 10 cents in just the past week. the lowest state average in america, missouri, $2.95 a gallon. tennessee, south carolina, oklahoma, they could fall below $3 in the next couple of days. all right, big deal. that puts money into the

there are two axises as stuart said. down one axis is the academic achievement index, and that is a come combination of your grade point average and your s.a.t., and there are boxes like the boxes here. tear down one axis -- they're down one axis this way. and then there are another index which is -- and that consists of a single number when you get t that score. race is not involved in that at all. then there's what's called the personal achievement index. there are six factors coming to a total of six points. race is not a specific factor, although it is recognized to be included within one factor, the factor called special circumstances. those factors are combined in a single number. it is my understanding you don't get a point or for each of the factors so that things like leadership, athletic ability, music and other things like that, all of which go into these circumstances. you get a number, a total number at the end. and then the numbers at the bottom are, go across this way. the numbers go up this way, and it's