Tag: tax
Fox Hacks Push Trump Budget Hard (While Hiding What's Really In It)

Fox Hacks Push Trump Budget Hard (While Hiding What's Really In It)

Fox News’ propagandists aren’t terribly interested in the contents of the Republican tax and spending bill the Senate will vote on on Monday, or on the devastating impacts it might have on their viewers. But they know that President Donald Trump wants it to pass, and so they’re greasing the skids with their viewers to help it over the finish line.

An exchange between two of the co-hosts of Fox & Friends — the morning show beloved by the president — exemplifies how the network, and the broader MAGAspere, has treated the legislation, which agglomerates much of Trump’s domestic agenda in a single bill.

“It’s not perfect, but it does need to pass if we want this tax cut,” Ainsley Earhart told viewers.

She then offered up some pablum about the bill’s contents: “It’s the largest tax cut in history. And also no tax on tips or overtime, which is great for the working class, and that’s what Donald Trump ran on. … It funds border security and deportations, it funds our military, it begins to reform Medicaid.”

That sort of surface-level support for the legislation is commonplace on Fox and its counterparts — the president’s propagandists tend to back whatever version of the bill is under discussion without much consideration for its impacts.

MAGA media revolves around Trump and his desires, but its personalities tend to be more invested in waging the culture war than in the nitty-gritty of policymaking. Views on economic issues like tariffs or national security ones like the U.S. military strikes on Iran can shift rapidly to align with whatever it is the president supports at any moment. Fox hosts like Earhardt likewise tend to be supportive of the bill but haven’t dwelled on it.

Why is there so much urgency to pass this bill right now? Earhardt doesn’t say. But the reason is that Trump has imposed a deadline for the final legislation to pass both houses of Congress and come to his desk by July 4 as “a wonderful Celebration for our Country.” Congressional Republicans could be working to improve a bill that Earhardt acknowledges is imperfect, but the party and its propagandists are prioritizing Trump’s desire to get a win on schedule.

By passing the bill quickly, Republicans hope to minimize the grueling political damage caused by enacting legislation that is wildly unpopular — and likely to become more so as the public finds out what is in it.

Fox’s job is to ensure that viewers remain placid about the impact of the bill before it passes. The messaging dilemma for Trump supporters like Earhardt is that bumper-sticker claims of the bill being “great for the working class” and working to “reform Medicaid” won’t hold up to scrutiny. Here’s who benefits from the bill’s tax cuts, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

And here’s how The Associated Press sums up the latest score of the Senate bill from the Congressional Budget Office, including its impact on Medicaid:

The CBO estimates the Senate bill would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion from 2025 to 2034, a nearly $1 trillion increase over the House-passed bill, which CBO has projected would add $2.4 to the debt over a decade.

The analysis also found that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law, an increase over the scoring for the House-passed version of the bill, which predicts 10.9 million more people would be without health coverage.

So the Senate bill blows an even bigger hole in the deficit than the House version does, and its cuts to Medicaid would knock more people off the health insurance rolls, all while providing tax cuts weighted toward the wealthiest Americans.

Earhardt’s co-host Brian Kilmeade offered a hand wave of a response to these deep flaws in his reply. In the program’s sole reference to the Senate bill’s CBO score, he followed the GOP strategy of attacking the agency.

“Democrats are holding on to the CBO — their report says it adds $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years,” Kilmeade said. “But they look at growth at 1.7%. … Under the bill, what they want to do, growth is going to be a lot higher than that. And you gotta think if interest rates go down, that’s why … Republicans say, through dynamic scoring, they’re going to have a more accurate account. They say, once again, the CBO will be wrong."

This amounts to an admission that all he has as a rebuttal to the CBO’s devastating score is “nuh-uh.” In reality, it is the Republican growth estimate that is out of step with the consensus.

The brand of tap-dancing seen on Fox & Friends can get the hosts through the show without criticizing Trump’s priority — and perhaps help the bill to final passage. But people will notice if they suddenly lose health insurance, or their local hospital closes. They will notice if the funds they use to feed their kids disappear, or their electricity bills soar.

And if the bill passes, the goal of MAGA media will pivot from telling viewers that the legislation needed to pass to hiding its role in those crushing impacts.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Democrats Slam Trump's Tariff As Burdensome Tax On Working Class

Democrats Slam Trump's Tariff As Burdensome Tax On Working Class

Democrats are calling out President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China as exactly what they are: an economic disaster.

Alarmed Democratic lawmakers began releasing forceful statements on Saturday, immediately after Trump signed the executive order that even the right-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized for kicking off the “dumbest trade war in history.” Economists and pundits alike agree that the tariffs will increase prices on everything from groceries to gas to car manufacturing.

“Let’s call these tariffs what they are: Trump’s Taxes on Working Families,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement. “If these tariffs remain in place, it will jack up the price of groceries and goods, make gas more expensive, and raise utility bills. While Donald Trump is making millions off his corrupt crypto schemes and memes, working families will pay the price.”

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for vigilance and action.

“I’m concerned that President Trump will give cover to giant corporations to use his tariffs as an excuse to raise prices on working families while doling out waivers to billionaires and well-connected insiders,” Warren said in a press release. “Congress will conduct rigorous oversight of what the President does and we—and the American people—will hold him accountable.”

Leaders in states whose economies rely heavily on auto manufacturing are worried Trump’s unwieldy tariffs could lead to mass layoffs and shutter production lines. According to the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, Michigan’s auto industry contributes $304 billion to the state’s economy, with nearly one-quarter of all U.S. auto production happening there in 2022.

“A 25 percent tariff will hurt American auto workers and consumers, raise prices on cars, groceries, and energy for working families and put countless jobs at risk,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Trump’s middle-class tax hike will cripple our economy and hit working-class, blue-collar families especially hard.”

On Sunday, Trump admitted on his Truth Social site that Americans should probably prepare for extra misery thanks to his reckless executive order.

“WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!),” Trump screamed in the post. “BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.”

The U.S. economy is already feeling the consequences of Trump’s tantrum. When the markets opened on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted, the Nasdaq dropped, and the S&P 500 Index declined in the wake of Trump’s latest ego trip.

The market drop reversed later on Monday when Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a deal that will halt tariffs on Mexico for one month after they had a “friendly” conversation on border security. But the stock market volatility is just one way that these new tariffs are already impacting the U.S. economy. That’s cause for concern for Americans who are already tired of Trump 2.0-–especially those in reliably red states like Kentucky, where Trump’s 2018 tariffs on European steel and aluminum prompted a 25 percent retaliatory tariff on American whiskey that cost the industry $580 million, according to the Kentucky Distillers Association.

Meanwhile, U.S. food prices have not gone down—they’ve gone up. Higher price tags on everything including all-important eggs are a stark reality in grocery stores despite Trump’s central campaign promise to lower prices.

“I won on groceries,” Trump boasted during an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press in December. “Very simple word, groceries.”

Democratic leaders are hammering Trump for not fulfilling his pledge to Americans and only making things worse.

“Republicans have failed to deliver on their central promise of lowering costs,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement on Saturday. “Instead, they have freed violent felons, attempted to end Medicaid as we know it, and plan to enact massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors.”

Jeffries made sure to include Trump’s loyal GOP minions in his scathing rebuke.

“The tariffs imposed by the administration and strongly supported by House Republicans will not lower the high cost of living for everyday Americans,” he said. “Instead, it will likely do the exact opposite and make life more expensive.”

Trump’s latest tantrum is just another distracting move in his scheme to seize more power and rule with reckless abandon, leaving Americans as unwilling passengers while a madman drives the global economy into the ground.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Matt Gaetz

New PAC Attacks Gaetz Over Ties To Convicted Sex Trafficker

An outside group called Florida Patriots PAC is spending over $880,000 to tie far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz to former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, a onetime Gaetz friend who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor in 2021. The offensive comes ahead of Gaetz's August 20 primary battle against Navy veteran Aaron Dimmock.

"Gaetz allegedly grooms Greenberg for higher political office and makes payments to him," a voice-over narrates. "Greenberg reportedly uses a 'sugar daddy' app to find college girls and pays for sex on Congressman Gaetz's behalf."

Greenberg, who was often described as Gaetz's "wingman," was at the center of a federal investigation over alleged sex trafficking of a minor and other accusations. However, while Greenberg agreed to cooperate with prosecutors as part of his own plea deal in 2021, the probe into Gaetz ended two years later without any charges.

The House Ethics Committee, though, announced last month that it had reopened its own investigation into Gaetz in 2023, after pausing it at the request of federal prosecutors. The committee said one of the things it was still looking into was whether Gaetz had engaged in "sexual misconduct." ABC News' Will Steakin recently reported that Greenberg is cooperating with the ongoing probe.

Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and is trying to fend off Dimmock to win renomination in Florida's 1st District, a dark red seat located in the Pensacola area. One person rooting hard for the challenger is former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is reportedly trying to unseat Gaetz as part of a "revenge tour" against the eight Republicans who voted to oust him as leader of the House last fall.

Florida Patriots PAC, whose donors are not yet known, is also airing ads touting Dimmock's service flying missions over New York City following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The advertising blitz comes shortly after Gaetz began attacking Dimmock on TV as a "raging liberal" who supports Black Lives Matter and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Paul Ryan

Ex-Speaker Ryan: Trump 'Betrayed His Oath' And Is 'Unfit For Office'

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) told Fox News on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump is unsuitable for another term in office — and that he believes the former president isn't loyal to upholding the Constitution.

"I voted for him in 2016, hoping that there was going to be a different kind of person in office," Ryan told host Neil Cavuto. "And I do think character is a really important issue. If you put yourself above the Constitution, as he has done, I think that makes you unfit for office."

"But what happened?" asked Cavuto. "What turned you off? Was it the whole January 6 thing?"

"That's a part of it, I think it's a contribution of factors," said Ryan. "But I think it really is his character at the end of the day, and the fact that if you're willing to put yourself above the Constitution, an oath you swear when you take office, federal office, whether there's president or a member of Congress, you swear an oath to the Constitution. And if you're willing to suborn it to yourself, I think that makes you unfit for office."

This comes as Ryan, who helped Trump pass his signature tax cut legislation in 2017, has gradually become more outspoken against him, calling him an "authoritarian" and a "narcissist." Ryan has also said he cannot vote for Trump this year, which has caused the former president to rage against the former speaker on social media.

In one such rant last month, Trump proclaimed: "Rupert Murdoch should fire pathetic RINO Paul Ryan from the Board of Fox. Ryan is a loser, always has been, and always will be. He was the WEAKEST & MOST INCOMPETENT Speaker of the House in its History. Fox will sink to the absolute bottom of the pack if Paul Ryan has anything to do with it!"

Watch the video below or at the link here.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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