Fox News Interview - Transcript

Interview

MS. SKINNER: So you want to buy a new car but you're afraid to in this economy, you don't have the money? Well, how about this: what if the government were to give you a real incentive, a gift you might call it? A new bill would allow you to deduct up to $7,500 on your federal taxes. How does that sound? It's Congressman Mike Rogers' idea. He's a Republican of Alabama. He hopes it'll become part of the president-elect's new economic stimulus package.

He joins us now. Congressman, good to see you. Explain, if you will, how this would work, just kind of in the broad outline of it. Would this be only if I buy an American car?

REP. ROGERS: No. The bill's purpose is to jump-start the economy, protect existing jobs, and try to ease consumer confidence -- restore consumer confidence. And the way it would work is this. It would have a nine-month life. In the first three months of the life of the bill, if you purchase any car in America -- car or truck in America -- doesn't have to be American-made, it can be another -- foreign-made if it's here -- you would get a $7,500 tax deduction on the purchase price; you would be able to deduct the sales tax on that transaction, and that can be one or two thousand dollars; and all the interest on your consumer loan. Now, that's on the consumer side.

We also have a problem in the lenders aren't lending money for cars. We put a provision in this bill that says if the lender will lend money for the purchase of a new car or truck here in America, they only pay tax on 50 percent of the earnings on that transactions.

Now, those elements are in the first 90 days, first three months. The second 90 days, everything remains the same except the deduction drops from ($)7,500 to ($)5,000. And then in the last 90 days, everything's the same except that the deduction drops to ($)2,500. And then the bill goes away.

This is purely a front-loaded incentive package to try to get people to these new-car dealerships and start buying again. We have a crisis of confidence in this country.

MS. SKINNER: So a limited-time offer, I guess. Yeah, a limited- time offer, I guess you could call it.

You know, Congressman, though, if you look in the paper, you talk to a car dealer, you walk in a dealership, they're willing to make deals out there. Why wouldn't the marketplace just take care of this, with great deals, rebates, et cetera?

REP. ROGERS: Because of what I talked about. We have a crisis of confidence in the country, and I think that we have to go the extra mile to stimulate that demand, that consumer activity. And this is a way I think will do it, and the dealers associations have assured me this would work.

And the problem, we have to remember, is these manufacturers are not getting any orders. So these manufacturing companies, whether it's big-three or one of the transplants that we have in the South, they're laying people off, and then their supplier plants are laying people off, all because this crisis of confidence in the country. So we're going to be doing a lot of things on the housing market in the stimulus package; I think we need to do something in the new-car market, which is one of two big buys every American makes on a regular basis, houses and cars.

MS. SKINNER: Congressman, I literally just have about 15 seconds, but that raises the question of, do we really want the government making sure we all can buy a house and making sure we all can buy a car? Is that what they're there for?

REP. ROGERS: No, we want the government to kick-start, to jump- start the economy. That's why this bill only has a nine-month life and it goes away. This is purely a stimulative piece of legislation.

MS. SKINNER: Congressman Mike Rogers, Republican of Alabama. We will see where it goes. Thanks, Congressman.

REP. ROGERS: Thank you.

END.

Source