LESTER HOLT, anchor:
With all that hot air over the
East Coast
this weekend, it's hard to imagine the temperature in
Washington
could go much higher, but it's about to. Another bitter partisan fight is brewing, this one over taxes and the national debt.
NBC
's
Mike Viqueira
reports from the
White House
.
Mr. TIMOTHY GEITHNER:
You are seeing a recovery. You're seeing private investment expanding again.
MIKE VIQUEIRA reporting:
Today on "
Meet the Press
," Treasury Secretary
Tim Geithner
said the
Obama
administration will work to extend the
Bush tax cuts
for all but the
wealthiest Americans
.
Mr. GEITHNER:
I think it is fair and good policy to allow those
tax cuts
that only go to 2 to 3 percent of the highest earners in the country to expire as scheduled.
VIQUEIRA:
But
Republicans
say anything less than a full extension of the
tax cuts
will stall the recovery.
Representative JOHN BOEHNER:
Mr. Speaker, the
American people
are asking where are the jobs?
VIQUEIRA:
If the two sides cannot agree and the cuts do expire, it could mean an across-the-board
income tax
hike for virtually all Americans, lowering the per-
child tax credit
from 1,000 to $500, an increase in capital gains and dividend taxes, and a return of the so-called marriage penalty.
Geithner
also asserted that, for the economy, the worst was over.
DAVID GREGORY reporting:
You do not believe in a double-dip recession, that it will get worse before it gets better?
Mr. GEITHNER:
No, I don't. I think the most likely thing is you see an economy that gradually strengthens over the next year or two.
VIQUEIRA:
But that growth will not likely be strong or fast enough to bring unemployment down to prerecession levels. That means with a still fragile economy allowing taxes to go up, even for just the wealthy, could run an economic risk.
JOHN HARWOOD reporting:
In the long run, everybody agrees taxes need to go up as part of a comprehensive solution to very high budget deficits, but in the short term, an economy that's weak and limping along needs all the stimulus it can get.
VIQUEIRA:
And,
Lester
, complicating matters for the president, there are some key Democratic senators, many of them from Republican-leaning areas, who favor a full extension of the
tax cuts
of the
Bush
era, at least temporarily. And, meanwhile, it's all about the economy for the president this week, traveling to
New Jersey
and
Detroit
to tout some good news from the auto industry on
Friday. Lester:
All right,
Mike
, thanks.
HOLT:
“ ”