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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'My Prediction': Michael Cohen Says Things Will Get Ugly Between Trump And Musk
Michael Cohen, former longtime personal attorney to Donald Trump, on Sunday predicted that the president's relationship with billionaire ally Elon Musk is about to take a turn for the worse. 'I said from the very start that this bromance was gonna come to an end,' he said on MSNBC on Sunday, days after Musk ended his role in the 'DOGE' effort to cut government spending. 'I'm gonna go one step even further, again, and I'm gonna say Trump will ultimately go after Elon's money next because it bothers him that he is the richest man in the world,' he said. 'Yes, he used him for his money.' Musk spent some $291 million during the 2024 election cycle, most notably to help Trump, according to Cohen also predicted that Trump will use DOGE to go after Musk, looking at 'how Elon, with his companies, took advantage of the United States of America.' He said Trump will look to 'claw back' money such as government subsidies for Tesla vehicles. 'He's gonna do to Elon Musk, my prediction, what Mohammed bin Salman did to the other members of the royal family,' he said, referring to the Saudi crown prince's moves to quickly consolidate power after being named next in line to the throne ― including arrests and detentions of rivals, even family members. Cohen was for years Trump's personal attorney and loyal fixer, but eventually turned on his one-time boss as he cooperated with investigators and testified to Congress. He ultimately pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, lying to Congress and other charges ― saying he did it all for Trump ― and was sentenced to three years in prison. Cohen used his own story as a case in point for how Trump treats even those who are loyal to him. 'Donald doesn't care about anyone or anything other than himself. Look at what he did to me, for God's sakes,' he said. 'Guy who was with him for a decade and a half, who literally would have taken a bullet for him ― but for him being the one pulling the trigger.' See more of his MSNBC conversation below:
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ricketts gets early ads from group tied to Senate GOP in potential Osborn race
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., speaks to supporters during his campaign kickoff event Aug. 23, 2023, in Omaha. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) OMAHA — U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., running for his first full six-year term in 2026, is getting early outside ad support from Senate Republicans that shows he and the party are taking a potential matchup with registered nonpartisan labor leader Dan Osborn seriously. One Nation, the best-known advertising arm of the Senate GOP's Super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, is announcing a seven-figure digital ad buy on Ricketts' behalf Friday, the Examiner has learned. It's starting with a positive ad. Chris Gustafson, communications director for One Nation, touted Ricketts' 'long and trusted record' of results in Lincoln and Washington, D.C., where Ricketts is already making waves as a major fundraiser for the Senate GOP. The online ad unveiled this week reminds Republicans and others about the Legislature's push while he was governor to remove income taxes from Social Security income and of his federal push to do the same with President Donald Trump. It's noteworthy in part because it appears aimed at shoring up Ricketts on Social Security, because Osborn, who made Ricketts' senior colleague, U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., sweat in a close 2024 race is mulling a 2026 bid against Ricketts. Osborn relentlessly hammered Fischer and congressional Republicans for doing too little to protect Social Security and has said he would make sure that the benefits were protected from potential budget cuts. He campaigned on the issue. It's also interesting because Fischer drew criticism from national Republicans for waiting too late in the race to spend money attacking and defining Osborn. She eventually sought help from Senate Republicans to beat him back with outside ads. Gustafson and other people familiar with the race agreed that Senate Republicans are willing to be more aggressive sooner in the Osborn race than is typical for a GOP-led state. Political observers saw it as a sign to donors to get and stay engaged. Osborn has shown the ability to raise funds, having raised and spent nearly $15 million against Fischer, according to But Ricketts is a prolific fundraiser, too. His family owns the Chicago Cubs, and his political team has a cut-throat reputation. Ricketts' campaign team had no immediate comment on the ad buy. Osborn is still building his campaign apparatus. But when Fischer needed outside help, Osborn said it was a sign the millionaires and billionaires were paying attention. Fischer and many Republicans have criticized Osborn for taking money from Senate Democrats and major Democratic donors funded through normal PACs and dark money groups — and then calling himself nonpartisan. She called him a Democrat in sheep's clothing. Osborn has denied being part of either party, pointing to his registration and willingness to hear people out. He has said he's more focused on the needs of working people than their political beliefs. Ricketts is known for cutting spending and taxes at the state level. He focused much of his time as governor on remaking processes for applying for government help to boost response times. Critics have said he slashed too much. In Congress, he has been a reliable Republican vote. He has said his goal is to bring the same approach he brought to Lincoln to Washington, D.C., saying that the federal government could be run leaner and more efficiently. In November, Ricketts won a special election to the final two years of former Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse's term after Gov. Jim Pillen appointed him to the office initially. He agreed to run again as part of the appointment process. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Charlamagne tells Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer to 'cut it out' over hypocritical oligarchy concerns
Charlamagne tha God called out Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for hypocrisy over their sudden concern about big money in politics. "I think it's ridiculous even when they try to say things, you know, all these conversations about oligarchy, oligarchy, oligarchy," Charlamagne said on "The Breakfast Club" Monday. "Now Bernie [Sanders] and AOC, they can go out there and say, 'Fight the oligarchy.' Hakeem Jeffries, you can't say that, okay, like, cut it out, we know that you've taken so much money from corporate donors." "So, it's just weird to see them, you know, push back against oligarchy now and say, 'Look at the billionaires controlling Trump.' It's like, really? You, Hakeem, really? Chuck Schumer, really?" Charlamagne added. According to some of Schumer's biggest donations come from corporations, including Blackstone Group, Nextera Energy, Newmark Group, and L3Harris Technologies. Schumer Refuses To Rule Out Impeachment: 'Trump Is Violating Rule Of Law In Every Way' Previous reporting from Fox News Digital found that Democracy PAC II, tied to George Soros, gave $2.5 million to Schumer's Senate Majority PAC in 2024. Democracy PAC II also gave $3.5 million in calendar year 2022, and $2.5 million in calendar year 2021, for a total of $6 million. Read On The Fox News App Jeffries' profile on is similar, with some of his largest donations coming from BlackRock Inc and Lockheed Martin. Furthermore, in February, Politico reported that Jeffries met privately with major donors in Silicon Valley. "I know there are some people that think Joe Biden should help rebuild because, as the most recent president, he is the de facto leader of the party. And to those people, I'd like to say: Hunter, lay off the crack," Charlamagne joked. "So who's supposed to be the leaders? Well, in Congress, you've got two people. The first one is this guy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries." He then showed a video of Jeffries wearing a suit with no tie and sunglasses outside the U.S. Capitol Building, talking about democracy. Charlamagne then called Schumer "Payless Obama's counterpart in the Senate," and said that he was "even less inspiring." Charlamagne has been critical of the two Congressional Democrat minority leaders before, recently mocking them as party leaders and saying they should be "thrown out of office." Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture On Sunday, Jeffries, along with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., held a sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to protest President Donald Trump's budget bill and cuts they claim will be made to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer and Jeffries for comment, but did not immediately receive a article source: Charlamagne tells Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer to 'cut it out' over hypocritical oligarchy concerns
Fox News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Charlamagne tells Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer to 'cut it out' over hypocritical oligarchy concerns
Charlamagne tha God called out Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for hypocrisy over their sudden concern about big money in politics. "I think it's ridiculous even when they try to say things, you know, all these conversations about oligarchy, oligarchy, oligarchy," Charlamagne said on "The Breakfast Club" Monday. "Now Bernie [Sanders] and AOC, they can go out there and say, 'Fight the oligarchy.' Hakeem Jeffries, you can't say that, okay, like, cut it out, we know that you've taken so much money from corporate donors." "So, it's just weird to see them, you know, push back against oligarchy now and say, 'Look at the billionaires controlling Trump.' It's like, really? You, Hakeem, really? Chuck Schumer, really?" Charlamagne added. According to some of Schumer's biggest donations come from corporations, including Blackstone Group, Nextera Energy, Newmark Group, and L3Harris Technologies. Previous reporting from Fox News Digital found that Democracy PAC II, tied to George Soros, gave $2.5 million to Schumer's Senate Majority PAC in 2024. Democracy PAC II also gave $3.5 million in calendar year 2022, and $2.5 million in calendar year 2021, for a total of $6 million. Jeffries' profile on is similar, with some of his largest donations coming from BlackRock Inc and Lockheed Martin. Furthermore, in February, Politico reported that Jeffries met privately with major donors in Silicon Valley. "I know there are some people that think Joe Biden should help rebuild because, as the most recent president, he is the de facto leader of the party. And to those people, I'd like to say: Hunter, lay off the crack," Charlamagne joked. "So who's supposed to be the leaders? Well, in Congress, you've got two people. The first one is this guy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries." He then showed a video of Jeffries wearing a suit with no tie and sunglasses outside the U.S. Capitol Building, talking about democracy. Charlamagne then called Schumer "Payless Obama's counterpart in the Senate," and said that he was "even less inspiring." Charlamagne has been critical of the two Congressional Democrat minority leaders before, recently mocking them as party leaders and saying they should be "thrown out of office." On Sunday, Jeffries, along with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., held a sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to protest President Donald Trump's budget bill and cuts they claim will be made to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer and Jeffries for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Miami Herald
21-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Former Edison executive, now a California lawmaker, seeks to cut rooftop solar credits
Nearly 2 million California rooftop solar owners could lose the energy credits that help them cover what they spent to install the expensive climate-friendly systems under a proposed state bill. The bill's author, Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, D-Whittier, is a former executive at Southern California Edison and its parent company, Edison International. She says the credits that rooftop owners receive when they send unused electricity to the grid is raising the bills of customers who don't own the panels. Assembly Bill 942 would limit the current program's benefits to 10 years - half the 20 year-period the state had told the rooftop owners they would receive. The bill would also cancel the solar contracts if the home was sold. Southern California Edison and the state's two other big for-profit utilities have long tried to reduce the energy credits that incentivized Californians to invest in the solar panels. The rooftop solar systems have cut into the utilities' sales of electricity. The legislation, which applies to people who bought the systems before April 15, 2023, has outraged some Californians who invested tens of thousands to install the solar panels. "We're just trying to reduce our carbon footprint and you're penalizing me for that?" said David Rynerson, a Huntington Beach resident who spent $20,000 to install the panels. "That's just absurd." Until she was elected in 2020, Calderon spent 25 years at Southern California Edison and Edison International. Her last position was as a government affairs executive at Edison International, where she managed the utility's political action committee. Calderon declined to be interviewed. In a statement, she said that she wasn't acting on behalf of the utility companies. "I introduced this bill with one goal in mind: to help lower the cost of energy for Californians," she said. Calderon said if her bill was enacted it would reduce electric costs for customers who do not own the panels beginning in 2026. According to which tracks political spending, Southern California Edison and the other two big investor-owned utilities are among Calderon's most generous corporate donors. Last year, the the company gave Calerdon's campaign $11,000. Sempra, the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric, also contributed $11,000, while Pacific Gas & Electric provided $8,000. Southern California Edison spokesperson Kathleen Dunleavy said that the company supports rooftop solar but it also supports efforts to reduce the amount of costs that have been shifted to customers who don't own the panels. She said the company's political contributions to elected officials "are based on their shared interest in how best to safely serve SCE customers reliable and affordable energy." In her statement to The Times, Calderon said that "political contributions have no bearing on any policy decisions I make." Calderon is a member of a political dynasty that has held power in the blue-collar neighborhoods east of Los Angeles for four decades. She is married to Charles Calderon, a former state Assembly speaker and former state Senate majority leader. She was elected to the Assembly seat that had been held by her stepson Ian Calderon. Under California's rooftop solar program, owners get a credit on their electric bills for the solar energy they produce but don't use. The credit is based on the current retail electric rates. The value of the credits has increased rapidly as the state's Public Utilities Commission approved rate increases requested by the companies. In December 2022, the big utility companies successfully pressed the commission to slash financial incentives that rooftop solar owners could receive by about 75%, starting with those people purchasing the systems on April 15, 2023. The commission left in place the program for owners who purchased the panels by that date. The agency says the value of the credits given to those owners is now a leading cause of the state's rising electric bills - a claim that has been disputed by the rooftop solar industry and dozens of environmental groups. In a February report to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the commission suggested reducing the number of years that rooftop solar owners can receive credits at the retail electric rate - similar to what Calderon's bill would do - as a remedy for escalating power costs. California now has the country's second highest electric rates. The commission says the rooftop customers are not contributing their fair share of the costs to maintain the electrical grid, so the expense is shifted to those who don't own the panels. Dozens of environmental groups sent a letter this month to the chair of the Assembly Utilities & Energy Committee opposing Calderon's bill and pointing out that the state has long said the solar contracts would last for 20 years, which is the expected useful life of the panels. "The CPUC's new proposal, to break energy contracts mid-stream, would be patently unfair," the groups wrote. "It would punish the very people who California encouraged to invest in solar energy. And it would gut consumer confidence and trust in government." The groups pointed out that when Californians bought the systems, they signed a state-mandated legal agreement with their utility that details in the terms that the customer is eligible to receive the credits for 20 years. In California, under a policy known as decoupling, utilities don't make more money as customers use more energy. Instead they make most of their profit by building infrastructure, including poles, wires and the rest of the grid. In their letter, the environmental groups pointed to an analysis that economist Richard McCann performed for the rooftop solar industry that found that electric rates had risen as the utilities spent more on infrastructure. Even though homeowners' solar panels helped keep demand for electricity flat for 20 years, the three utilities' spending on transmission and distribution infrastructure had risen by 300%, McCann found. "To address rising rates, California must focus on what's really wrong with our energy system: uncontrolled utility spending and record utility profits," the environmental groups wrote. A hearing on the bill is scheduled in the Assembly Utilities & Energy committee on April 30. Cherene Birkholz of Long Beach said that she and her husband spent $22,000 on panels for their home. The couple saw the solar panels, she said, as a way to control costs so they could stay in California after they retired. Birkholz said she believed the credits would continue for 20 years. The proposed legislation, she said, "came as a shock." "If I had known, I may not have made these decisions," she said. Dwight James of Simi Valley said that he spent $35,000 on solar panels in 2018 and another $40,000 on batteries to store the power in 2021. He said he financed the purchase with a 20-year loan and that he found it "disturbing" that the state would now back out of what it had promised. "If you follow the money, it gives you all the answers," James said. "My thought is that this bill is a way for the utility companies to try to hold on a little bit longer and slow the adoption of solar." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
