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The Hill
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Johnson to Senate fiscal hawks: Will take ‘more than a flip of a switch' to fix US finance
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended the House-passed spending package in an interview that aired Sunday while lauding the bill's unprecedented cuts. President Trump has endorsed the legislation, which would add $4 trillion to the national debt. 'We have $36 trillion in federal debt. But it's important to remember that we did not get into that financial situation overnight. It took many decades … It's going to take more than a flip of a switch to turn it around,' Johnson said during an appearance on John Catsimatidis's radio show, 'Cats Roundtable' on WABC 770 AM. Critics, including Elon Musk, have slammed the bill for the debt ceiling increase, alleging it 'undermines' federal spending reductions made by the Department of Government Efficiency. However, Johnson remains confident that the legislation will help the country shift away from past transgressions. 'This is a dramatic shift in the right direction. And it's just the beginning,' Johnson said. 'We're going to have more of this in the Republican Congress under President Trump's leadership to get us out of the debt mess that we're in.' Republicans are pushing to have the text approved in the Senate prior to the Fourth of July, although they have received pushback from Democrats over Medicaid reforms set to leave millions without access to healthcare. 'Everybody, take a deep breath. Look at the legislation. You're going to find that you're very much in favor of what we're doing here,' Johnson told Catsimatidis. 'If we do not clean the system up, if we do not eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse, these programs will become insolvent, and they will not be there for the people who desperately need and deserve it. We're doing the right thing here,' he added.
The Hill
18-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
McCarthy tears into Republicans over Trump budget bill delay: ‘A real misstep'
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tore into House Republicans over sinking a key committee vote that would help advance President Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' calling it a 'real misstep.' 'The stock market seems like it is moving up. Now, if Congress can start doing the things that President Trump's doing, it would even help us more. Today was a real misstep on the Republicans part, in the budget side, that four of them looked out for themselves instead of moving the bill along, reconciliation,' McCarthy during his appearance on John Catsimatidis's radio show, 'Cats Roundtable' on WABC 770 AM. Five House GOP fiscal hawks — Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) — voted against advancing the measure that encompasses Trump's legislative agenda on Friday. The vote was 16-21. 'To be clear—I fully support the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). My vote today in the Budget Committee is a procedural requirement to preserve the committee's opportunity to reconsider the motion to advance OBBB,' Smucker said Friday after the vote on social media platform X. Fiscal hawks have argued that cuts to Medicaid are insufficient and that reforms should come into effect sooner, while more moderate Republicans are looking for an increase in the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. The measure, which the Republicans are hoping to pass before Memorial Day, includes removing taxes on overtime and tips, extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts, along with new Medicaid work requirements for 'able-bodied' adults, which is projected to cause millions to lose health coverage. The bill would also lead to repealing green energy tax credits, which Democrats passed in 2022. McCarthy also appeared to take a slight dig at current Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) 'What really shows is, once President Trump gets back in the country, I mean, poor President Trump is being the president the speaker at the same time, I think we'll get that bill through,' McCarthy said. The House Budget Committee will reconvene on Sunday at 10 p.m., The Hill reported. 'Well, they're back in this week, and I think the president will be back in and really looking to these members to get the job done, because if they don't get the job done, your taxes go up, and that's not going to happen, and it has a lot of the promises the president made about no tax on tips and others, and it will just help unleash the economy, because it would bring security and stability, that they know this is this is not going to happen, any tax increases,' McCarthy told Catsimatidis.
The Hill
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Bolton: Putin at risk of ‘overplaying his hand' on Ukraine talks
Former national security adviser John Bolton said during a recent interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be at risk of 'overplaying his hand' with President Trump amid the talks to end the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. Bolton, a vocal critic of Trump, said that Russia is still 'suffering' economically from the sanctions that Western Europe and the U.S. have imposed over the three-year war in Eastern Europe, but argued that Putin is still in a 'very strong' position politically. 'But as this war drags on, I think his position does get weaker. The real question is whether, between the efforts of the United States, the efforts of Europe to get a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire, it's going to happen,' Bolton said during his appearance on John Catsimatidis's radio show, 'Cats Roundtable' on WABC 770 AM. 'Putin has already gotten a lot of concessions for what he wants. He wants to hold on to the territory Russia's seized in Ukraine and but I think at this point, he may be at risk of overplaying his hand with Trump,' Bolton said. Ukraine and its allies in Europe — France, Germany, the UK and Poland — have turned up the pressure on Russia to accept a 30-day ceasefire that would start as early as next week. 'Ukraine and all allies are ready for a full, unconditional ceasefire on land, air, and at sea for at least 30 days starting already on Monday,' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Saturday. 'If Russia agrees and effective monitoring is ensured, a durable ceasefire and confidence-building measures can pave the way to peace negotiations.' Trump has pushed for both countries to sign on to a temporary truce, a plan only Ukraine has endorsed so far. The president has warned that if the deal is not forged, Russia could suffer from more sanctions. Both Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have said that if substantial progress in talks does not come through, the U.S. could pull out of its facilitating role. On Wednesday, Vance said while speaking at the Munich Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C., that the administration thinks that Russia is 'asking for too much' in peace negotiations that could bring an end to the largest land conflict in Europe since World War II. 'I wouldn't say that the Russians are uninterested in bringing this thing to a resolution,' Vance said. 'What I would say is, right now the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they're asking for too much.' It is unclear what requirements Russia is asking for, but Bolton argued that Putin should agree to a ceasefire, allowing his armed forces to replenish. 'We've had some interesting comments, both from Trump and JD Vance, that say the Russians are asking for too much. Not clear exactly what they mean, but, but Putin's in one of the best positions he's going to be in, and I've been wondering for some time why he doesn't take advantage of a ceasefire,' Bolton said. 'The Russians need it badly to have a chance to rebuild their army.'
Irish Daily Star
22-04-2025
- Health
- Irish Daily Star
RFK Jr. claims autism 'dwarfs' COVID-19 because it hits kids not 'old people'
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proclaimed that the impact of autism greatly exceeds the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on American lives. The known conspiracy theorist made the claim during an appearance on The Cats Roundtable radio show on WABC 770 AM on Sunday. "It dwarfs the COVID epidemic and the impacts on our country because COVID killed old people," Kennedy told the show's host, John Catsimatidis. "Autism affects children and affects them at the beginning of their lives, the beginning of their productivity.' 'And it's absolutely debilitating for them, their families, their communities and for our county — just the pure economic cost of autism,' he added. According to Kennedy Jr., autism will eventually cost the economy '1 trillion dollars a year' by 2035. The HHS secretary did not elaborate on where he got that figure. Read More Related Articles Deranged Donald Trump posts mad 184-word Easter message taking aim at all his enemies Read More Related Articles Donald Trump branded 'dumbest President ever' after six-word comment about Congo Kennedy's statement comes hot on the heels of his previous comments saying that children with autism will face a lot of "nevers" in their lives, including never holding a job and never going on a date. The claim went further than just saying kids with autism will never have a job or fall in love, as according to him, they won't be able to play sports, write creatively, or use the bathroom unattended either. "These are kids who will never pay taxes, they'll never hold a job, they'll never play baseball, they'll never write a poem. They'll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted," RFK Jr. said. Several X users called him "cruel" and "dehumanizing" for making such a statement on live television while providing zero evidence . "This is cruel, ableist rhetoric masquerading as concern. RFK Jr. reduces children with disabilities to economic burdens and stripped humanity," a user wrote on X under a clip of RFK making the statement posted by the X user Acyn. "This kind of blanket statement is harmful, dehumanizing and flat-out wrong," another wrote. "This is f****** disgusting," another commented. "This absolutely disgusting. He is vile," another wrote in the comments. RFK Jr. recently said autism is a "preventable disease" caused by "environmental exposure" and added that "it has to be, genes do not cause epidemics." While the exact cause of autism is not known, researchers have reported that there can be multiple causes of the disorder, leaving the process of pinpointing one cause to be complex. However, researchers have made it clear that genetics have a large part to play in diagnosing the disorder. In his speech, Kennedy cited a recent statistic from the CDC that found 1 in 31 children are diagnosed with autism by the age of 8 in America. He then vowed to find the cause of the "disease" by September, despite researchers and scientists studying the disorder for multiple decades without being able to do so. "By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures," Kennedy said in a cabinet meeting earlier this month.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Calls Autism Worse than Covid in New Bonkers Rant
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. again likened autism to an 'epidemic' and said it is far worse than millions of COVID-19 deaths. The health and human services secretary made the comparison during a Sunday interview with billionaire GOP donor John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM's The Cats Roundtable. Moreover, he claimed that the 'pure economic cost of autism' will cost the United States $1 trillion a year in lost 'productivity' by 2035. 'Autism affects children and affects them at the beginning of their lives, the beginning of their productivity,' RFK Jr. said. 'It dwarfs the COVID epidemic and the impacts on our country because COVID killed old people.' He added: 'It's absolutely debilitating for them, their families, their communities.' RFK Jr. comments come on the heels of a Wednesday press conference in which he claimed that children with autism won't grow up to live full lives. 'These are kids of who will never pay taxes, they'll never hold a job, they'll never play baseball, they'll never write a poem, they'll never go out on a date, many of them will never use a toilet unassisted,' RFK Jr. said. His comments sparked the ire of several autism awareness advocates, celebrities with autistic children, and medical professionals who ripped the secretary as misinformed. '[Autism] is not an epidemic, nor should it be compared to the COVID-19 pandemic, and using language like that perpetuates falsehoods, stigma and stereotypes,' said Autism Society of America president and CEO Christopher Banks in response to the comments. RFK Jr. has also suggested that autism is the result of environmental factors and vaccines. However, the Centers for Disease Control, which RFK Jr oversees, reported that family history is the greatest risk factor for autism, in addition to birth complications. In his interview with Catsimatidis, RFK Jr. clarified that his press conference comments were directed at people with 'profound autism.' 'Many of these kids are aging out and their parents worry every day. And I'm talking about people with severe autism, what's called profound autism, which is about, which is about 26 percent of the total people who are diagnosed with autism,' RFK Jr. alleged. 'Those families, those children are non-verbal, they're non-toilet trained. They have all this stereotypical features of autism, head banging, toe walking, stimming, agonizing gut pain and head banging. Those kids are kids that will not hold jobs.'
