CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-06

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Dan Rather and welcome to the

[0:02] CBS Evening News online edition. Just

[0:05] ahead, a preview of this winter's

[0:07] heating costs and it isn't pretty. Also,

[0:10] the tax cuts. They're a big campaign

[0:13] issue, but where exactly do the

[0:14] presidential candidates stand? CBS's

[0:17] series, What Does It Mean to You takes a

[0:20] look. And shock jock Howard Stern's fans

[0:24] will now have to pay to hear him. Why

[0:26] the radio personality is moving to

[0:29] satellite radio. It's all starting now

[0:32] on the CBS Evening News online edition.

[0:35] The US government is warning higher

[0:38] energy costs are about to hit home.

[0:41] If you're looking for an energy villain,

[0:43] start with Ivan. The September hurricane

[0:46] destroyed offshore drilling platforms in

[0:48] the Gulf of Mexico, dropping US oil

[0:50] production to its lowest level in more

[0:52] than 50 years. and repeated attacks

[0:54] against pipelines in Iraq and Nigeria

[0:57] have diminished world supplies at the

[0:59] same time that booming economies like

[1:01] China's are driving record demand.

[1:03] >> What it means is higher prices um tight

[1:08] supplies, low inventories, increased

[1:10] demand

[1:11] >> and pain for consumers. The US

[1:13] Department of Energy today warned winter

[1:15] heating bills are going up for everyone.

[1:18] Electricity produced by coal and nuclear

[1:20] plants will cost 6% more this winter.

[1:23] Natural gas used in 60% of American

[1:26] homes will rise 15%. Propane costs are

[1:29] expected to jump more than 21%. And

[1:32] heating oil a whopping 28%.

[1:34] >> So go to church, light a candle, and and

[1:37] pray for mild weather

[1:38] >> because mild weather, says energy

[1:40] analyst Bill O'Grady, is the best hope

[1:42] for keeping heating costs in check.

[1:44] Supply is just meeting demand, and oil

[1:47] producers are pumping at full capacity.

[1:49] As demand increases, there's simply no

[1:52] more oil to be brought to market and the

[1:54] price goes up essentially vertically.

[1:57] >> And consumers will see exactly what that

[1:59] means when their winter bills arrive.

[2:02] Heating oil customers, for example, who

[2:04] paid an average of $953 last year will

[2:07] pay more than $1,200 this heating

[2:09] season. But that's only an estimate, and

[2:12] it may be conservative. Energy analysts

[2:14] warn a colder than normal winter

[2:16] predicted for much of the east could add

[2:18] another $200 to the tab. Bob or CBS News

[2:22] Washington. Everyone wants to know what

[2:24] the presidential election might mean to

[2:26] their personal balance sheets. For

[2:28] instance, would your taxes go up, down,

[2:32] or stay the same depending on who wins?

[2:34] CBS's Mika Bzinski looks at where the

[2:37] candidates stand on taxes in the IO

[2:40] America election series. What does it

[2:42] mean to you?

[2:44] >> I don't give grades. You earn them.

[2:46] >> Helen Cook is a passionate teacher.

[2:48] >> Is this for real or not? Am I playing

[2:50] with you?

[2:51] >> And passionate in her belief that

[2:52] President Bush's tax cuts only help the

[2:55] rich.

[2:55] >> If you want to give out tax breaks, if

[2:57] you want to prime the economy, then do

[2:59] it for working people. Don't do it for

[3:01] privileged people who have millions of

[3:05] dollars in the bank. Everybody with me?

[3:07] I don't want to lose you. She talks like

[3:09] a working stiff, but in reality,

[3:11] >> honey, I'm upper class. I actually have

[3:13] two houses. I have a sailboat. I summer

[3:16] in Martha's Vineyard.

[3:18] >> In fact, she inherited millions and is a

[3:21] member of the group responsible wealth,

[3:23] advocates for narrowing the gap between

[3:25] the rich and well, everybody else.

[3:28] >> Without lifting a finger, I am keeping

[3:32] 20% more money than I did the year

[3:35] before. John Kerry says he'd repeal the

[3:37] tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

[3:40] >> We can roll back the Bush tax cuts for

[3:42] those at the top. And we can cut taxes

[3:44] for middle class Americans.

[3:47] >> That might not sound like much, but

[3:49] according to the Congressional Budget

[3:50] Office, households in the top 20% of

[3:52] income earning an average of about

[3:54] $24,000

[3:56] pay more than 80% of all income taxes.

[3:59] That's why others say it's no surprise

[4:02] that they received 2thirds of the tax

[4:04] cuts.

[4:05] President Bush wants to make all of his

[4:07] tax cuts permanent and now he's talking

[4:10] about simplifying the tax code.

[4:12] >> I will lead a bipartisan effort to

[4:15] reform and simplify the federal tax

[4:18] code.

[4:19] >> Former IRS Commissioner Fred Goldberg

[4:21] says something has to be done.

[4:23] >> Tax reform is an imperative at this

[4:24] point. I think the current system is is

[4:27] broke beyond repair.

[4:28] >> But it's not going to be easy.

[4:30] Fundamental tax reform will bring the

[4:32] lobbyists out of the woodwork like

[4:34] cockroaches.

[4:35] >> That's because the current tax code

[4:37] includes incentives for social policies

[4:39] that we've gotten used to, like

[4:41] deductions for home mortgage interest,

[4:43] charitable donations, even the purchase

[4:46] of fuelefficient cars. The simpler the

[4:48] tax code, the less likely all these

[4:51] special exemptions will be in it.

[4:53] Fundamental tax reform will bring some

[4:55] of those politically motivated uh social

[4:59] policies to an end.

[5:00] >> For Helen Cook, tax reform is simple

[5:03] math.

[5:04] >> Those who have more can pay more. Those

[5:06] who have less pay less. That makes sense

[5:08] to me.

[5:08] >> From one millionaire who says, "Give

[5:10] someone else a break.

[5:12] >> You all need to listen up."

[5:13] >> In Washington, I'm Ma Brzinski for Eye

[5:16] on America.

[5:17] >> We close tonight with word of a big

[5:18] change coming for millions of radio

[5:20] listeners. A possible trend setting in.

[5:24] Howard Stern says he is leaving Infinity

[5:26] Broadcasting over the airways free radio

[5:30] owned like CBS by Viacom and moving his

[5:33] runchy talk show to the new world of

[5:36] satellite pay for it as you listen radio

[5:39] which depending on your point of view

[5:41] may or may not be such a bad thing. As

[5:43] CBS's Lee Cowan reports,

[5:47] >> we're back with the Howard.

[5:48] >> Damn right we're back. Instead of

[5:49] changing his ways, Howard Stern has

[5:51] changed the rules. Not surprising for a

[5:54] man who now claims he's going to kill

[5:55] off the media that made him.

[5:57] >> I am done with broadcast radio. Death to

[5:59] broadcast radio.

[6:00] >> His decency battles with the FCC are

[6:02] legendary. He's claimed for years he's

[6:05] been overregulated. So now he's gone

[6:07] over their heads.

[6:08] >> We're being regulated to death and it's

[6:11] not fair and it's got to change.

[6:12] >> Howard Stern moves to serious. taking

[6:15] his top ranked show to satellite radio

[6:18] where there are virtually no decency

[6:20] rules and no station groups who can pull

[6:22] the plug.

[6:23] >> It will be whatever he wants to take it

[6:24] to.

[6:25] >> And that has decency groups a little

[6:27] nervous.

[6:28] >> From a moral perspective, it it's it's

[6:30] bad. So it may be that Howard Stern will

[6:33] get even worse.

[6:34] >> The only comfort, says Bob Peters, of

[6:36] morality in media, is that now those who

[6:39] hear him will have to pay to do it.

[6:41] Adults are choosing to bring that

[6:44] into their homes.

[6:45] or not, it's that kind of choice

[6:48] whether to pay for their entertainment

[6:49] that Americans are increasingly making.

[6:51] Whether it's satellite radio or cable

[6:53] TV, Americans seem to believe that they

[6:55] get what they pay for. In just the last

[6:58] decade, viewership for pay TV has more

[7:00] than doubled, while the free networks

[7:02] have collectively lost more than 20

[7:04] million of their once hearty fans. Shows

[7:07] like HBO's The Sopranos have not only

[7:09] won awards season after season, but

[7:11] they've also delighted critics

[7:14] who routinely complain that free TV has

[7:17] simply grown too stale.

[7:18] >> Its

[7:19] >> cable can't take chances and do things

[7:22] that network television is afraid to do.

[7:25] >> Howard Stern may say he's blazing a new

[7:27] trail, but in reality, he's following a

[7:29] trend. A trend that says he's far too

[7:31] popular to be offered up for free.

[7:34] Lean, CBS News, New York.

[7:37] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:39] don't forget to join me on television

[7:41] for the onair edition of the CBS Evening

[7:43] News. On Thursday's broadcast, we'll

[7:46] give you an inside look at the West

[7:48] Virginia prison Martha Stewart will soon

[7:51] call home. For CBSNnews.com,

[7:55] I'm Dan Rather.