White House meeting exposed: Trump officials scramble over Epstein bombshell
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Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says 88% of US retirees will now pay zero taxes on Social Security — but can the ‘big beautiful bill' hurt you?
Back on July 1, the White House issued a statement claiming that '88% of all seniors who receive Social Security — will pay NO TAX on their Social Security benefits' because of President Donald Trump's new 'One Big Beautiful Bill.' However, the White House cited the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers, a branch of the President's office, as the source for this claim. Don't miss Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Independent experts at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), meanwhile, have taken a closer look at the megabill's actual impact on the Social Security program and found that the claims could be 'false and exaggerated.' While the debate rages on, understanding why experts disagree with the Trump administration on this issue could help you and your loved ones figure out if the new bill actually helps your finances over the long-term or if it'll hurt you instead. Targeted deductions The White House's calculations hinge on the megabill's new and raised tax deductions for many seniors. Starting this year, seniors aged 65 and above can claim a new deduction of up to $6,000 per person. For couples filing jointly, that could mean up to $12,000 if both spouses qualify. These deductions reduce taxable income for older Americans. However, even the White House acknowledges that about 64% of Social Security recipients already paid no federal tax on their benefits before the new law, thanks to existing deductions and exemptions. Eligibility isn't based on age alone — modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) also matters. Individuals earning $75,000 or less can claim the full deduction. It phases out above that and vanishes at $175,000. For joint filers, it starts phasing out at $150,000 and disappears entirely at $250,000. It's also worth noting that the White House's figures consider only beneficiaries aged 65 and over, but Social Security can be claimed as early as 62, meaning a portion of the recipient population is excluded from their estimate. In total, fewer than 24% of all current Social Security recipients will see a reduction in taxable income directly due to the new law. According to the CBPP, this falls far short of Trump's campaign promise to eliminate all taxes on Social Security. Not only does this new deduction fall short of promises, it also has second-order effects that could actually expose many seniors to lower benefits over the long-term. Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. Temporary deductions, faster trust fund depletion The new senior deduction is temporary and only applies through 2028. Most older Americans who benefit from it will have just four years to take advantage of the savings. At the same time, the cost of all the tax deductions and reductions in Trump's megabill could reduce federal tax revenue from Social Security benefits by $30 billion annually, according to the CBPP. 'This is enough to accelerate the insolvency of the Social Security retirement fund and Medicare Hospital Insurance fund to 2032, a year sooner than the program's trustees projected just last month,' the report stated. In other words, the new law offers short-term tax relief for some seniors, but at the expense of the long-term stability of Social Security and Medicare trust funds, which affects all beneficiaries. If you are retired or planning for retirement, it may be wise to consider a broader outlook. If you're eligible, you could use the new deduction to boost your personal savings, and talk to a financial advisor about preparing for the possibility of smaller Social Security checks in the future. What to read next Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Here are 5 simple ways to grow rich with real estate if you don't want to play landlord. And you can even start with as little as $10 Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Chicago Tribune
12 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Tracy Ullman: Chicago knows Jeffrey Epstein's game all too well thanks to John Wayne Gacy
The brouhaha over questions regarding what really happened in the Jeffrey Epstein case has a fascinating historical reference. That much was clear considering the investigation into the John Wayne Gacy case that resulted in the 2021 Peacock documentary I produced, 'John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise.' The series reveals that Gacy — once thought to be a lone-wolf predator — was a convicted felon who served only two out of 10 years for sodomizing a state politician's son in Iowa and who had come into contact with police several times before his final arrest in December 1978. Getting a pass for a pattern of illicit behavior is even more striking when we see the photo of Gacy with then-first lady Rosalynn Carter during spring 1978, taken just months before the remains of dozens of young men were found rotting under Gacy's house. People later questioned how Gacy could have been wearing a Secret Service pin that allowed him access to the president's wife? It's because Gacy was the director of Chicago's Polish Constitution Day Parade. He was recommended for the job by Col. Jack Reilly, Mayor Richard J. Daley's right-hand man and leader of special events. 'John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise' also reveals that Gacy's prosecutors believed he may have had two accomplices, the late David Cram and Michael Rossi. When Rossi was arrested and confessed that he dug holes in Gacy's crawl space, former Cook County State's Attorney Edward Hanrahan showed up to represent him. Although Rossi went on to be convicted of other crimes, he was used by the prosecution as a witness against Gacy. The notion was that, as a teenager when he met Gacy, he had been groomed. The parallels to Jeffrey Epstein are uncanny. In March 2005, Epstein was accused by a 14-year-old girl of sexual abuse in his mansion, and a police investigation found several more girls who explained they had been abused with the same modus operandi. It was not until October 2005, under pressure to prevent further sexual abuse, that police finally searched his home. Several computers suspected of having child porn on them were missing, possibly due to a tip-off. Meanwhile, other accusers come forward, but Epstein remained free to do as he pleased. Epstein was able to use his ill-gotten fortune to pay a dream team of attorneys and private detectives, who harassed already-traumatized accusers and their families. The court system should have been working on behalf of the young girls, but back door deals were made so Epstein served only 13 months in the private wing of Palm Beach County Jail. As a bonus, he received work release six days a week for 12 hours a day. It wasn't until 2019 that Epstein's connection to powerful political people was exposed. A follow-up documentary to 'John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise' will premiere Aug. 17 on Investigation Discovery and HBO Max. It focuses on a sex trafficking ring in Houston. Titled 'The Serial Killer's Apprentice,' its centerpiece is 60 hours of interviews with Elmer Wayne Henley, an accomplice of businessman Dean Corll, who was known as the 'Candy Man' killer. Henley killed Corll in August 1973 and then led law enforcement to the remains of Corll's victims. Henley, who was 14 when he met Corll, was groomed — much like Gacy's accomplices and Epstein's companion Ghislaine Maxwell, for that matter. After Corll's sudden death, another young man in Dallas who was supposed to be sent to 'work' for Corll alerted Dallas police that Corll was part of a sex trafficking ring whose leader was John David Norman. Norman's apartment was raided, and a massive amount of child pornography was discovered. Since child porn is big business, Norman posted bail, then went on the run to Chicago. It is here that he is linked to Gacy through one of Gacy's employees. Birds of a feather flock together, right? If people are upset about Epstein right now, it's because they've seen this game before, and they're desperate to prevent more vulnerable children from being sucked into a machine in which the powerful are free to explore their perversions. The agencies meant to protect families are weaponized against them, and the media outlets broadcast messaging that makes anyone who questions the scenario a conspiracy theorist.
CNN
12 minutes ago
- CNN
Icy roads ahead: The creative — and controversial — ways people are warning of immigration raids
It's summer in south Florida, the land of eternal warmth. Driving in Palm Beach County — home to Mar-a-Lago — the windows are up, and the AC is blasting to counter the oppressive heat and humidity outside. A warning pops up on the Waze navigation app: 'Icy road ahead.' There is no actual danger of frozen water — instead, this is one of the ways communities are getting the word out of potential deportation operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, universally known by their acronym, ICE. User-driven services like Waze and Ring camera alerts as well as more traditional social media like Facebook and WhatsApp groups are being used across the United States to warn of government agent activity amid the ongoing crackdown on people living here without documentation. It's a phenomenon that's grown since the second inauguration of President Donald Trump and his administration's focus on mass deportations, first of those already in ICE custody and then arresting hundreds of people every day. 'I heard from a friend that it's pretty icy over by Mission Donuts today,' one user posted on Reddit, in Oceanside, southern California in June. 'Icy conditions 🧊 🥶 SIZE: between 4-7 officers,' someone commented in another forum for Cleveland residents. Chicagoans are used to icy roads in winter, but the sudden number of alerts in spring and summer led to a whole thread explaining what was going on. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS last month found a majority of Americans — 55% — said the president has gone too far when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the US illegally, up 10 points since February. And while the genesis of these reports on social apps may have been people trying to be helpful, both the government and migrants' advocates say there can be issues. 'This sure looks like obstruction of justice,' Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement to CNN. 'Our brave ICE law enforcement is already facing a nearly 1000% increase in assaults against them. If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' Any prosecution, however, would run up against a considerable body of legal precedent saying that it is First Amendment-protected speech to warn people of potential arrest. The concern of Francisco Aguirre, an immigrant applying for asylum in Oregon, was that public apps can have misinformation about ICE operations that can spread anxiety needlessly. 'We make sure that the information up there is truthful,' he said. If it's not, 'We alert our community, 'Hey, stop sharing this post. It's not true. This is not happening.'' The goal is to lower the temperature, avoid unnecessary animosity toward ICE officials, and ensure warnings focus on factual events rather than fueling hysteria. Social media is a key platform as is a radio show that Aguirre hosts from the basement of a church in Portland where he once sheltered from authorities. When he hears of a raid or a detention, he said he heads to the location to broadcast, even though his own status could put him at risk. 'I am afraid,' he said. 'I will lie if I say no, I'm not afraid. But I have no option. People are getting attacked by these people in masks. And there are kids that they woke up asking for their dad, their moms, and their mom's already in custody, you know? So I have to do it.' Aguirre has lived undocumented in the US since the mid-90s, having fled violence in El Salvador. After prior arrests, he and his supporters say he is a reformed character now, a family man and stalwart of the community, who's studying to become a pastor and is already helping lead his Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church's Spanish language services. And he says despite his activism, he is not opposed to all the work of ICE. 'We are OK with the government enforcing the law and detaining those who come and do bad in the country,' he said. 'But that's not what is happening. We are detaining families who sustain this country.' CNN reported in June that internal data showed less than 10% of immigrants taken into ICE custody since October had serious criminal convictions. Aguirre said immigrants would continue to monitor his radio, social media, and community-driven apps, along with other methods he did not detail. In his view, keeping those channels private is important because, he said, 'no matter how hard those authorities try, our community also is strong, powerful, and they will do whatever they can to defend their families. But let's be clear. We're not in favor of violence. We are not a violent community. We are a community of peace and love and unity. We will never use violence.' The reaction of Aguirre and others to the immigration crackdown has been ongoing and evolving for months. In the days after the 2024 presidential election, immigrants, their employers and groups that work with them started gearing up ahead of Trump's second term, believing that his promises of mass deportations would arise. The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigrant Justice Center all said they were preparing funds and lawyers for legal battles. LULAC said it saw platforms like Waze and social media as digital lifelines that could give real-time information. 'Far from being a disruption to law enforcement, this kind of digital organizing is an act of survival — a modern expression of the right to community defense,' said Brenda Bastian, the group's chief content officer, in an email to CNN. She continued: 'This is more than a digital issue. It's about civil rights. And we won't let the digital space become another tool of oppression — we're making sure it remains a tool of resistance.' For its part, Waze said in a statement to CNN: 'Intentionally submitting false reports in Waze is against our policies. People can flag inaccurate reports by downvoting or submitting a support ticket – once they're identified, we'll remove them from the map.'
