Taxes no matter how the fiscal cliff works out. And Larry Ellison knows it and pays to avoid a dividend tax. Gets 200 million dollars. Im still shaking my head. Ambassador anna wintour . Varney company is about to begin. [ male announcer ] this is steve. He loves risk. But whether hes climbing everest, scuba diving the Great Barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the marke hgoes with people he trusts, which ishy he trades with a company that doesnt nickel and dime im with hidden fs. He caworry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isnt rocket science. Its just common sense, from td ameritrade. I heard you guys can sp ground for ss than the ups store. Thats right. Ive learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camput. You know weve be open all night. Is this a trick to t my st . Male announcer break frothe holiday stss. Save on ground shipping at fedex office. Ambassador anna wintour, its got an interesting ring, does it not . A new report says that president obama is considering the fashion Magazine Editor for the ambassadors post in london or paris. Shes a top obama fundraiser, a celebrity. Very wellplugged in on the left and she ran two big fundraisers for the president this summer. Im anna wintour, and im so lucky in my work im able to meet some the most incredible women in the world. Women like Sarah Jessica parker and michelle obama. Stuart anna wintour reportedly an absolute terror to work for. Remember when she was played bye meryl streep in the devil wears prada. Portrayed as a monster. What are you doing here. Came to be a journalist and so you dont read runway. No he. And before today you had never heard of me. No. You have no style or sense of fashion. I think that depends on what youre no, no, that wasnt a question. Oh, i think we should set her on the french. And remember when jon stewart from the daily show made fun of me for this . Vogue editor anna wintour holds exclusive for Stuart Varney thats a little i go annoying the president is doing fundraisers, you dont have to put on that accent. Anna wintour, you dont need to put that on to make fun of anna wintour. Hi, im anna wintour. I take it back, i take it back, varney that was a pretty good impression of anna wintour. I had no idea. Stuart all right, that was funny. We will have a lot more on ambassador anna wintour later, indeed throughout Varney Company today and including one from the judge, on why the ambassador roles frequently given out to big donors and political allies. All through the show, we promise you. Look, weve been debating the fiscal cliff, new taxes that could be coming. There are an entire list of taxes that will be coming guaranteed all part of obamacare and now the irs is paying the role of tax cop. And of course, the opening bell, were expecting a pretty flat opening to the market and watching facebook of course. Back in a moment. I put away money. I was 21, so i said, hmm, i want to retire at 55. And before you know it, im 58 years old. Timeent by very fast. It goes by o, too fast. But i would do it again in a heartbeat. [ laughs ] here comes the opening bell a minute from now. Theyre trading and expect a flat opening for stocks. However, i can tell you now the price of gold is down. Way down, actually. Down about 1 , but that puts it below 1700 an ounce and we also have a drop in the price of oil. Down about a buck and a half at the moment. And id urge you to watch facebook this morning, its moving and some kind of new app available so that you can get into facebook without being a member and get somebodys phone number. Im not sure i understand it, but all will be revealed and made clear on Varney Company this morning. And 20 seconds to the opening bell, again, looking for down side, no. An and actually dead flat, maybe two or three points higher at the opening bell, but, again, its going to be a very slow trading session as we run into december. Running to christmas here and the holiday period and weve still got this fiscal cliff. And 2000 miles apart and dont expect a great deal of heady volume trading today. Its not going to happen unless theres a headline on the fiscal cliff that jolts everybody back to the trading floor. Were open and running and the dow industrials are running higher in the first 15 seconds. Now this, Larry Ellison, top guy at oracle a check for 200 million before the end of the year because oracle is paying a big dividend this year. By taking the money now, ellison actually saves 56 million bucks. 56 million the treasury will not be getting. So, nicole, the stock price, please. Well, the stock is slightly lower, but its just such a statement by all of these companies, not only oracle, but all of these companies quickly accelerating dividends in order these payouts in order to beat the fiscal cliff and keep the shareholders happy and in turn, some of these leaders of the Companies LikeLarry Ellison, as you noted. Getting 200 million dollars. So, this will be his payout and whats interesting though, he wasnt involved in the vote because he owns 1. 1 billion shares, now, i wonder if he said, ill have this one out. I wonder, its another story of the rich avoiding the tax the rich policy. Okay. And actually, nicole, hold on a second because ive got another special dividend to tell you about, Just Announced and this time its a cruise ship operator carnival and the Company Announced special dividend 50 cents a share paid out, go ahead. Yesterday i was watching fox business and i cant remember, maybe you remember, the ceo of a company. Maybe home depot and he actually was very pro the raising of taxes and such, even on dividends and yet, his company set up the dividend payout and the what is it, costco. Stuart costco. Some of the ceos are torn, whether to pay it, not pay. Stuart jim sigler is his name jim senegal. A big obama supporter and his company sped up the dividend payout. Stuart and they borrowed the money, 3 1 2 billion dollars in order to make the 7 per share dividend payout. And somebody downgraded their debt because of that. Oh, see, now the plot thickens, that doesnt sound good. Stuart its called hipocracy, thats just mine coming out there. And and dead flat at the opening. The head of the Cheesecake Factory he says that obamacare will be very costly for small businesses. They will either have to pass the costs along to their customers or cheapen the product, heaven forbid and david overton, im quoting now, for those businesses that do not cover their employees, they will be in for a very expensive situation. The price of Cheesecake Factory up so far this year, down almost 3 , back to 33. The irs is about to release 159 pages of new tax rules, tax rules that will help pay for obamacare. They include, a 3. 8 sur tax on Investment Income of all kinds on upper income people starting next year and. 9 Health Care Tax on wages for the rich. Above 200,000. Thats defined as rich year. And those taxes together will raise roughly 320 billion dollars over the next decade. All to pay for obamacare. And joining us now art laffer, former reagan Economic Advisor and the best looking 72yearold i have ever seen. [laughter] thank you, thank you very much, stuart. Stuart now, look, these Obamacare Taxes, these are totally separate from the fiscal cliff debate. These are taxes which are going it take effect no matter what. And here they come. You can see it. 320 billion over ten years. And you think thats going to have an impact on the economy . Of course it is. It is well its not the same as extending the bush tax cuts. Its part of the fiscal cliff, because just like all of these other things, stuart, people are trying to move income out of 2013, into 2012, which makes this year look a little bit better than it should, but what it means is that when we hit january 1st, 2013, the economys going to collapse as far as i can tell. Stuart whoa, whoa, collapse is a strong word, art. Collapse as low as we are, i agree. Stuart now, the Obamacare Tax change is a change in the tax rate. Yes. Stuart thats something that the president s absolutely insisting on. He wants tax rates to go up for the top two income brackets and thats being forced by the republicans. They dont want the rate to go up. Theyll pay more in overall revenue, but dont want the rate to go up. Your comments please on the president s standfast position on raising tax rates . Well, rates are where the real action is, i mean, if you broaden the base and lowered rates, tax revenues on the rich went up. Youd have far less and the when youre growing the economy and profession of vobs and output, employment production. Stuart why is he doing it . I dont know, maybe because he thinks he can. He won a big election and push it on whether its right or wrong. Stuart i think he had a round of golf with former president bill clinton just the other day. Yeah. Stuart and bill clinton was you voted for him, twice. I sure did, he was a good president. Stuart do you think theres they chance that some of the moderation of blirn will rub off on the leftism of president obama . No, i think that clintons leverage is gone totally. He supported obama totally in the election. Without clinton i dont think that obama would have been reelect and thats what he did for him. And what clinton could do in the future, i dont know. I dont know why obama is so insistent on higher tax rates except it fits his rhetoric. Stuart at the end of the day, i think that the republicans will actually submit on the issue of higher tax rates. It may be just tax rates higher for those making half a million a year, i think theyll retreat a little bit. I think, too, what id like to see the republicans do, id like to see them pass a bill extending tax cuts below 250,000 and everyone agrees those should be put through and then put through another bill that extends the tax cuts on those 250,000 and above and let the democrats take ownership because you know, theyre going to be held responsible for the Economic Performance of 2013 and come 2014, you can actually get a political change that might make a difference. Stuart well wait and see on that one. Art laffer, always a pleasure. Bye now. Stuart the republicans submit their fiscal cliff solution. Now, that plan put out by speaker boehner, includes 800 billion dollars in extra tax revenues and that would come from limiting deductions and not from higher tax rates. And there would also be 1. 2 trillion dollars worth of spending cuts and the white house immediately dismissed that plan, saying, the lower tax rates for the rich and quote, fix the middle class with a bill. Again, we come back to this. The main Sticking Point is the tax rate issue. The president insists more revenue comes from higher rates, not deduction limits. Pits a standoff and it contins less than four weeks to go until the deadline. Be careful what you say in a local police want a law, new law requiring that Text Messages be saved for two years. How do you feel about that . Ever texted something you wish would go away right now . There is of course the privacy issue as well. Well, here comes the judge. He will be new at 10 on this one. Got it. Shares of darden restaurants, theyre down today and theyre the company that runs olive garden, red lobster, and theyre down a lot. Why is that, nicole . This is not good news here, they did a ton of promotions and now theyre saying the promotions didnt work and in turn theyre expecting numbers for the earnings season that will be below the analyst expectations and theyre expecting sales at the olive garden to be down 3. 2 . And at red lobster, 2. 7 so sales are weakening, the earnings per share below what they anticipated and so, now, the ceo, so interesting, we need to come up with a new plan and we are going to work on different promotion because the Current Quarter is disappointing. Do you think . Well, nicole, hold on a second. The promotions im not sure which restaurant chain did it, but they promoted 2 for 20. Two people oh, that was applebees apparently. All right. Stuart my chains and let me ask you a question, general petraeus and broadwell, do you think they were texting . I know they actually set up a Gmail Account and write notes to each other in the draft and log on and see the other persons notes without sending them. Maybe try texting. Stuart you wouldnt want me speculating on a personal relationship now would you . No. Stuart thank you. All right, nicole youve said enough. The dow still is up 14 points and im call it a dead flat market. What else weve got. What does anna wintour get for throwing those big fundraisers for the president . Shes being considered for an ambassadorship to either england or france. You can bet i have something to say. And i really do. California tax pain could be arizonas gain. We talked to a mayor whos trying to lure businesses away from the formerly golden state. A reporter with the sporting news doesnt like tattoos. And says most quarterbacks do not have them. Now, hes being labeled racist because of those remarks. Well talk to him next hour. Yeah, hes here. Remember, we want to hear from you, send you emails varney foxbusiness. Com and please comment on tattoos. I personally hate them. Now, seven early movers somebody is olling their eyes off camera. And pep boys post a loss on weak sales and down it goes. The drug maker jereon, says it has stopped developing its treatment for brain cancers and cut the work force by 40 , there it goes. And dividends for the next three quarters and all of them early, the stock is now up. And profit rises at the home builder, Toll Brothers and the company said new orders rose sharply. Up goes the stock. And tellabs, another special cash dividend. Up it goes. The medical supply Company Baxter is going to buy swedens gambro he for about 4 billion dollars, down it goes, not much. Autozone, keeping costs low, posted a higher profit and that stock is down a fraction. And all right. The dow industrials up 23. Obamacare, it is coming, like it or not. And weve heard that Electronic Medical records are going to save millions, maybe billions of dollars, really . How is that possible . A man who runs a medical records company, he will tell us and hes next. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you wont just find us online, youll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 50 branches nationwide. So when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. Because personal Service Starts with a real person. [ rodge] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. Our support teams are nearby, ready to help. Its no wonder so many investors are saying. [ all ] im with scottrade. You know how painful heartburn can be. For fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. Only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up relving the pn quickly. Try fast, long lasting viscon®. [ gine revs ] [ male announcer ] the mercedesbenz winter event is back, with the perfect vehicle ats just right for you, no matter which list youre on. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho [ male announc ] lease a 2013 c250 for 349 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Let me introduce you to Athena Health. Its a Software Company in the digital medical records business and were joined now by the chief executive officer. His name is Jonathan Bush. Some relation to the bush political dynasty, i do believe and he joins us from watertown, massachusetts. Is that correct, sir . Well, i think of them related to me and the free world. Stuart youre a nephew to george w. A nephew of one and cousin to the other and theyre gone now, but thanks for having me on. I want to just correct i think the problem with health care in terms of Information Technology is that most of it is in Software Companies and Athena Health is a cloudbased service, a National Network nobody has to buy software and information requirements changes. Stuart and you are in the business of putting medical records on electronically, right . Thats what you do. Thats right, medical records, communications and bills, all of those sort of footprints. Stuart were told that within obamacare, this is going to save a lot of money, okay . Ill give you 20 seconds, go ahead. Give me a commercial, if you will. I want 20 seconds how you are going to save the medical system billions of dollars, go. Were not going to theres going things that we do, all right, one is that were going to eliminate the duplication and today, amazingly, 48 of what a Doctor Orders either doesnt happen, or happens and get lost and later gets repeated. So the number of taxes repeated is off the charts, actually if there were charts to track and we know that. So thats the first thing, the good medical records will do. Internet based medical records will eliminate duplication and the second thing theyll do is by connecting the Health Care Supply chain together. It will create that age old american strong suit, shopping. It will be possible for doctors to look up and down the supply chain, and choose the best place to send the pattent. Okay. And say they have no idea how much stuff costs and when they do, they dont get any benefit from it, and the things that change in obamacare. Ive heard some negatives here and im going to throw some negatives at you. There are many. Stuart there are indeed. Fraud, for example, hacking for example. Power outages, for example. Lets first of all deal with hacking, i dont want my medical records hacked into and chucked out there for the world to see. What are you going to do about it . No question. As you aggregate and improve the quality of information, it becomes more valuable. Its a lot easier to hack a stack of charts behind gladdist in the doctorss office than no, its not.