Latest news with #Trumpy
The Hill
3 days ago
- General
- The Hill
Bannon: Graham giving Ukrainians ‘false hope'
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, a key MAGA insider, doubled down late Monday on his criticism of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and the lawmaker's vocal support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia. In an interview on NewsNation's 'CUOMO,' Bannon said Graham was giving Ukrainians 'false hope' by meeting with the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and by suggesting the U.S. support Kyiv's stunning drone attack on Russia's strategic bombing fleet. 'We can't have Lindsey Graham, and particularly Zelensky, leading us into a third world war with a deep strike into Russia,' Bannon told host Chris Cuomo. The comments come after the former Trump adviser called for the South Carolina Republican to be jailed for his pro-Ukraine stance. Cuomo repeatedly challenged Bannon to back up that request. 'I don't understand how you could want to jail a U.S. senator because he's saying something you don't like,' the NewsNation host said, adding, 'That sounds like the worst of the deep state and lawfare.' Bannon responded, 'No, it's absolutely — what he's doing over there right now is stirring it up. He's giving the Ukrainians false hope.' Cuomo cut in, 'But it's not illegal.' The Trumpy ally continued, 'He's giving Ukrainians false hope that we're there to support them on engaging Russia in a kinetic conflict. And we are not.' The host continued to press Bannon about why he thinks Graham should be detained. 'So maybe he's wrong, but why do you say throw him in jail?' he said. 'Two things ought to happen: Either cancel his passport and don't let him back in the country, or put him in jail if he comes back,' Bannon responded, adding, 'The attack was audacious.' 'It was brilliant. But the problem is it gets us involved in a conflict that no one in the United States wants to be part of,' he added. Cuomo noted that he didn't necessarily disagree with the former strategist's opinion. 'I'm just saying you can't be throwing people in jail because you don't like what they say. That's my only point,' he told Bannon. 'I'm not saying that you're wrong about where this might lead and how dangerous it is.'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's new MAGA accounts are getting a thumbs down from financial experts
Pretty soon, every newborn American could be the proud owner of their very own 'MAGA account.' Such is the plan under a proposal buried deep inside the Republican party's 'one big beautiful bill,' which is currently working its way through a slight impasse in the House. The legislation contains a pilot program that would automatically create a new, tax-advantaged investment account prefunded with $1,000 for each child born from the beginning of 2025 through the end of 2028. MAGA, in this instance, technically stands for 'money account for growth and advancement' — though it's also obviously meant as a tribute to President Trump's most famous catchphrase. Whether you love or hate the Trumpy branding, the idea's backers say it's a way to get all kids into saving and investing early in life, while helping them save for goals like college or a home. But financial advisers who spoke with Yahoo Finance warned that, aside from the free seed money, the benefits the accounts offer are relatively paltry compared to other tax-shielded savings options Americans already have available, including the 529 accounts parents use to put away money for college. The new MAGA accounts also come tied up with a fairly complex and potentially confusing set of rules. As a result, putting any money into them beyond what the government offers might not make sense for most families, they said. 'It's not very attractive,' Ann Reilley, CEO of Alpha Financial Advisors, said of the program. 'It just seems like they're complicating things for no reason.' By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy Under the proposal, parents will have the option to open MAGA accounts for any child under the age of 8 at a bank of their choice, but only newborns will receive the free $1,000. In cases where parents fail to set up an account for their baby, the government will create one automatically and notify them. From there, contributions to the accounts will be capped at $5,000 per year, with a limited exception for gifts from local charities. The money can grow tax-free until it's withdrawn but must be invested in a broad stock index. That's about it for the tax advantages. Once cashed out, investment returns will be taxed as long-term capital gains — but only if the funds are used for one of a few approved purposes. Those include paying for higher education or other job training expenses, starting a small business, or making a down payment on a first home. Money spent on anything else will be treated as ordinary income. Overall, it's a less generous deal than putting money into a 529 account for higher education or Roth IRA for retirement, since both of those options allow investors to withdraw their money entirely tax-free. The MAGA account also comes with additional strings attached that could make it tricky to manage. Children can begin taking out their savings once they turn 18, but can't use more than half before age 25. Then at 31, all the cash is automatically disbursed. Read more: How much should I save before going to college? The MAGA account could theoretically be useful for families who are already comfortable with their retirement savings and whose children don't plan to pursue college, since the money can be used for other purposes like homebuying without a penalty. But even then, there might be pitfalls. For instance: Say a child ends up spending the money on anything other than education, a business, or a house and gets hit with the higher ordinary income rate. In that case, their family would have been better off investing in a normal brokerage account, said Zach Teutsch, a managing partner at Values Added Financial. 'The giving kids money aspect is generally good,' Teutsch said. 'The account structure seems ill-considered.' He added that a family would need to be 'shockingly sure' that their child wasn't going to college before it would make sense to invest in a MAGA account instead of a 529. The concept of providing every child a small, prefunded investment account isn't new in Washington. Progressives have long-pitched a version of the idea known as 'baby bonds,' which they've argued could help close the racial wealth gap. Among Republicans, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is credited for originating the MAGA account proposal — he called them Invest In America Accounts — which he has described as a way to help hook kids on investing and broader capitalist values. 'There are many Americans who don't own stocks or bonds, are not invested in the market, and may not feel particularly invested in the American free enterprise system. This will give everyone a stake,' Cruz told Semafor last week. The experiment is not especially expensive in the scheme of the GOP's massive tax package: MAGA accounts will cost the government about $17 billion over 10 years, according to Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation. But Republicans appear to have kept costs down in large part by loading the proposal with restrictions that limit the value of the program, said Alan Cole, a senior economist at the Tax Foundation. 'It's like, thank you government for the free money, but I care about the usefulness,' Cole said. 'And realistically, this is the sixth or seventh best tax-free savings account option.' Jordan Weissmann is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Spinoff
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Gone By Lunchtime: Really, really, really urgent
The shock pay equity reform, a curious social media ban bill, and the lessons of Australia and the Trump effect. An overhaul of the pay equity process has been whisked through parliament under urgency in little over 24 hours. The changes, which tighten the criteria for making a claim for workers in female-dominated sectors and summarily halt 33 existing claims in the pipeline, have prompted a major backlash, in part for their substance and in part for the decision to push the reform through without the usual consultation under a select committee process or regulatory impact statement. In a new episode of our politics podcast Gone By Lunchtime, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire discuss the unexpected announcement, the rationale for urgency, and whether it's too cynical to suspect the urgency might in truth be motivated by a a tricky budget a fortnight away, with suggestions these changes could save $10 billion over four years. And what of the response – is National risking the gains it has made among women voters? Also on the pod: at around the same time the pay equity changes were announced, Christopher Luxon was enthusiastically backing another bill that would follow Australia in banning social media for under-16s. This wasn't government legislation, however, but a member's bill. What is with the surge in these bills as mechanisms for party campaigning? What is the polling telling politicians about young people and social media? And does Luxon know he's the prime minister? Plus: Australians have returned Labor and Albanese to power in what is being called a 'bloodbath', hot on the heels of Mark Carney's big comeback in Canada. How big is the Trump effect, is it good news for the left or good news for incumbents, and how might New Zealand politicians look to seize upon the Trumpy moment? Follow Gone By Lunchtime on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Washington Post
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Welcome home to your democracy in decline
In today's edition: Let's zip out for a quick trip to some of our fellow liberal democracies. There's Britain, where James Heale of that country's Spectator magazine reports that Nigel Farage's Reform Party 'stormed to victory' in English council elections, which could signal an upending in the near future of the decades-long Labour-Tory 'stranglehold.' Farage's campaign, Heale explains, was very, very Trumpy.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Leland Vittert's War Notes: Trump Got More Trumpy
NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here. Are you better off? Welcome to an abbreviated version of War Notes — tomorrow's 100 days special will be must watch television. Reminder to tune in or set your DVRs for 9 p.m. ET. Bill O'Reilly and I – '100 Days of Trump: Are You Better Off?' And on the 101st day, Trump got more Trumpy – our special tomorrow asks, 'Are you better off?' Tonight, we'll ask, 'Is Trump better off?' New polling indicates he would still beat Kamala Harris if people could change their November votes — and people think he's doing a better job than she would have. He's delivered on the border and DEI He's getting closer to a Ukraine deal The EU reportedly wants to negotiate on tariffs As do the Chinese Yes — he's polling dismally on the economy — and last night's must watch town hall hosted by Chris Cuomo showed us how important the economy is. It's not everything, but when the economy is bad, it's the only thing. BUT — Trump may be stronger than ever politically. Today's Potomac two-step: Trump moved Mike Waltz, but let the media beclown themselves for three hours reporting he got fired He appointed him UN ambassador, so Waltz will move to New York Now there is a fall guy for Signalgate, plus Waltz faces embarrassing Senate confirmation hearings for the UN position Trump protected MAGA acolyte and star Pete Hegseth Trump denied the media the scalp they want Trump showed that when pushed, he will double down on MAGA. This is the opposite of his MO during Trump 1.0 Mic drop: Trump then sent Stephen Miller out to roast the press over border coverage Trump's poll numbers are down, but he's far more politically powerful. Watch tonight: We'll discuss this with former MSNBC host and CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Zeteo Mehdi Hasan. Plus — we can all agree recessions are bad. Maybe we can't agree what recessions exactly are, but we know it's one of those words nobody likes…So why is the media so excited about us all being in one? Thought experiment: Will nonstop coverage of the possibility of a coming recession create one?! The Bill Belichick non-controversy controversy exposes one of the few last socially acceptable reasons for ridicule — a much older man dating a much younger woman. The former Patriots coach and new North Carolina Tarheel football coach is dating a young woman who could easily be his granddaughter. During an interview about his book for CBS Sunday Morning, said girlfriend inserted herself and the whole thing blew up — watch the interview here. Allegedly, CBS didn't play by the ground rules of the interview. It's sad that CBS would agree to ground rules, but that's besides the point. It's the best thing that could have ever happened for Belichick's book He stopped becoming interesting when Tom Brady left the Patriots — Belichick should have retired then But for some reason said clip became a media firestorm for days! Flip it: If a man had stood up for his wife — or a wife the same age as her husband stood up for him during such an interview — it would have been lauded. Everybody loved Gisele when she protected Tom Brady when she famously said he can't throw and catch the ball at the same time. But no — since it's a younger (attractive) woman and an older guy, then everybody can trash them both. That hardly seems fair. The headline for this section comes from my mother who is visiting and overheard our team discussion of this topic on the editorial call. Her response: 'No fool like an old fool.' Love you Mom! Tune into 'On Balance with Leland Vittert' weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
