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Donald Trump

On Juneteenth, 'Laziest Man In The World' Complains About Federal Holidays

Even though he refrained from mentioning Juneteenth by name, President Donald Trump spent part of his evening on June 19th complaining about people not working on federal holidays.

"Too many non-working holidays in America," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Thusday. "It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed. The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Bulwark contributor Sam Stein posted a screenshot of Trump's post and observed that during his 2020 bid for the presidency, he ran on making Juneteenth a federal holiday. One X user also made that observation and openly wondered what happened to Trump's so-called "Platinum Plan" for Black Americans, which included an official declaration of Juneteenth — which commemorates the official end of chattel slavery in the United States - as a federal holiday.

Podcaster and comedian Gabe Sanchez called Trump a "racist POS" for "complaining about federal holidays on Juneteenth." Progressive influencer Harry Sisson pointed out that Trump was criticizing federal holidays despite golfing on the taxpayers' dime.

"Not only is he trying to make you work MORE but also he’s taking an apparent dig at Juneteenth," Sisson wrote. "This is coming from the same guy who golfs every weekend. Pathetic."

"You can’t make this up: First he tries to take credit for it. Now he’s mad people have the day off," liberal commentator Brian Krassenstein tweeted. "Pick a lane, Donnie."

"Laziest man in the world wants you to work harder," author Shannon Watts posted on X.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Billionaire Trump Backer Bemoans Dollar 'Erosion' Amid Economic Chaos

Billionaire Trump Backer Bemoans Dollar 'Erosion' Amid Economic Chaos

One of the Republican Party's biggest billionaire benefactors is now lamenting the "damage" that President Donald Trump has already done just less than 100 days into his second term.

Semafor reported Wednesday that Ken Griffin, who is the founder and CEO of the investment firm Citadel, is now loudly condemning Trump's handling of the economy, and tarnishing the United States' "brand." He blasted the administration for "eroding" the power of the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury securities.

"We put that brand at risk,” Griffin said. “It can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.”

Griffin was particularly worried that institutional investors around the world were no longer viewing U.S. Treasury securities as a valuable investment, despite them typically being regarded as one of the safest ways to park money given that they're backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. He observed that, in comparison to the Euro, the United States "has become 20% poorer in four weeks." And he lamented that the United States' allies were now looking at it in a lesser light.

“There’s no great opportunity when the pie is rapidly shrinking,” he said. “All you’re trying to do is tread water and not drown.”

“How does Canada feel about our country today versus two months ago? How does Europe feel about the United States today versus two months ago?” He continued. “And some people scream, well, it just doesn’t matter. But you know what? It matters for a very profound reason. The entire Western world is engulfed in a debt crisis.”

Griffin's remarks are particularly noteworthy given that he was one of the top five donors to Republican causes in 2024. According to campaign finance data compiled by Open Secrets, Griffin gave more than $100 million to outside groups backing Republicans last year, and was only surpassed by banking heir Timothy Mellon, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson (the widow of GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson) and shipping industry titans Dick and Elizabeth Uihlein.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump Tax Cuts

GOP Fears 'Slow And Messy' Dispute Over Trillion-Dollar Trump Tax Cuts

As Republicans prepare to take over the trifecta of US government, the often divided party is up against a chaotic fight over "whether they should take up tax first this year or immigration," according to a Sunday Politico report.

The "big debate over trillions of dollars in tax cuts," Politico notes is "going to be long, slow and messy."

Brian Faler, the news outlet's senior tax reporter, emphasizes, "There’s a chicken-and-egg quality to the debate though, because it’s hard to know how much they need to raise when they haven’t decided how much to spend. And lawmakers will be subject to furious lobbying by those worried they’re on the menu."

Faler reports, "Deficit concerns are running hot in the House, where many Republicans say a tax bill ought to be completely paid for," but, "That’s anathema to party heavyweights like House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), not least because it would be extremely difficult to find enough offsets to cover the projected $4 trillion cost."

Faler also notes:

Smith has already signaled he’s ready to deal on the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, amid pressure from colleagues representing high-tax states. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) recently proposed a big, pricey increase in the child credit, to a maximum $5,000, from the current $2,000, per kid. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), meanwhile, just rolled out a plan seconding Trump’s bid to cut income taxes on Americans living abroad.

There will only be more as the debate heats up, and a key challenge for party leaders will be figuring out how to contain what could be mushrooming demands from their colleagues that would wreck their budget numbers.

Furthermore, the Politico reporter adds, "They’ll have to raise the debt limit too, after a last-minute bid by Trump to increase it before he comes into office, was rejected. And Republicans are promising to also cut mandatory spending by $2.5 trillion. If any of those things get bogged down, that could push off the tax debate even further."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Senate May Investigate Trump's Solicitation Of Billion-Dollar Oil Bribe

Senate May Investigate Trump's Solicitation Of Billion-Dollar Oil Bribe

Former President Donald Trump recently made a controversial proposal to a gathering of oil executives and lobbyists at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida: Favorable policy in exchange for $1 billion in campaign cash. Now, it looks as if the U.S. Senate may launch an official inquiry into the ex-president.

That's according to The New Republic's Greg Sargent, who spoke to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) about Trump's recent entreaty to the oil industry. Whitehouse said it was "highly likely" that the Senate Budget Committee would investigate the former president over his brazen offer.

"The phrase that instantly came to mind as I was reading the story was ‘quid pro quo,’" Whitehouse said, adding that he was also concerned about a series of proposed executive orders oil lobbyists drafted for Trump and to have ready to sign on day one should he win a second term in November. "Put those things together and it starts to look mighty damn corrupt."

Many of the environmental policies Trump suggested he would do away with in a second term are in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was the $485 billion bill Biden signed into law in 2022 that included a swath of clean energy infrastructure initiatives and incentives for electric vehicle development. Economists projected the clean energy development grants could generate roughly $1.5 trillion in new economic activity, and could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by five billion tons before the next decade.

Conversely, some of the executive orders the oil industry has prepared for Trump would undo the progress on climate Biden has made since taking office. Politico reported that some of the orders would lift Biden's pause on new natural gas export permits, open up new protected federal lands for more oil drilling and allow for more offshore oil drilling leases.

Trump casting Biden as an opponent of Big Oil is somewhat confusing, given that the United States officially hit record-high domestic oil production levels earlier this year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that in 2023, the U.S. produced 13 million barrels of oil per day on average, making the United States the world's largest oil producer.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

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