Tag: Trump White House

White House pushes for slashing expanded jobless benefits despite rises in unemployment, coronavirus

Republicans have pushed to cut the expanded unemployment benefits in upcoming legislation because they claim it discourages people from working.

Top Trump administration and White House officials on Sunday said they want to replace the soon-expiring expanded unemployment benefits with a system that pays those out of work 70 percent of lost wages because they feel the current system gives people a reason not to return to the job.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told “Fox News Sunday” he believed 70 percent of wage replacement from the federal government, as opposed to the additional $600 per week, “is a very fair level.”

“I think workers and Americans understand the concept that you shouldn’t be paid more to stay home than to work,” he said. “That the fair thing is to replace wages and it just wouldn’t be fair to use taxpayer dollars to pay more people to sit home than they would get working and get a job.” Continue reading.

Ivanka Trump’s Find Something New career campaign is more hype than help

Washington Post logoPeople who’ve lost their jobs because of the coronavirus don’t need a new website. They need better guidance.

Two rich people have decided to tell millions of unemployed people that all they need to do to feed their families and put a roof over their heads is “find something new.”

White House adviser Ivanka Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross are co-chairs of the American Policy Workforce Advisory Board, which this month launched the Find Something New ad campaign with a website aimed at helping people find a fresh career path.

The initiative didn’t go over so well on social media. In defense of the effort, the first daughter tweeted to one critic: “I suggest that you visit http://FindSomethingNew.org. This initiative is about challenging the idea the traditional 2 and 4 yr college is the only option to acquire the skills needed to secure a job. This work has never been more urgent.” Continue reading.

Fox’s Kilmeade rebukes Trump 2020 press secretary on air: ‘Don’t call Fox News pollsters fake’

The Hill logoFox News host Brian Kilmeade on Friday sparred with Trump campaign press secretary Hogan Gidley for suggesting a recent Fox News poll was “fake.”

The exchange came the same week that a Fox News survey found President Trump trailing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in key battleground states, with the former vice president holding a 9-point lead in Michigan and an 11-point lead in Pennsylvania — two states Trump won in 2016.

“You touched on some polls. Most of those are fake,” Gidley said Friday on “Fox & Friends.” “They oversample Democrats.” Continue reading.

What does the White House do when one of their own dies from COVID-19? Lie, of course

AlterNet logoThousands of lives have been lost as the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the country, yet our government and its officials still refuse to acknowledge the severity of this pandemic. As of this report, data compiled by The New York Times has found that more than 4 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 and 143,700 have died. Among them have been some who once called the virus a “hoax,” the families of these individuals, and others who have experienced the loss of loved ones as a result of COVID-19. They are sharing their stories to shed light on the horrific reality of this pandemic and the importance of following health recommendations.

In an interview with Mother Jones, David Glosser, the uncle of xenophobic white supremacist Stephen Miller shared his mother’s story (Miller’s maternal grandmother), who he says died from COVID-19. Glosser not only shared that he was “angry” at Miller, but added that he blames the Trump administration in part for his mother’s death. “With the death of my mother, I’m angry and outraged at [Miller] directly and the administration he has devoted his energy to supporting,” he told Mother Jones.

In a Facebook post on July 4, Glosser said: “This morning my mother, Ruth Glosser, died of the late effects of COVID-19 like so many thousands of other people; both young and old. She survived the acute infection but was left with lung and neurological damage that destroyed her will to eat and her ability to breathe well enough to sustain arousal and consciousness. Over an 8-week period she gradually slipped away and died peacefully this morning.” Continue reading.

Stephen Miller’s Uncle Publicly Blames Trump For Mother’s Death From Covid-19

Thousands of lives have been lost as the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the country, yet our government and its officials still refuse to acknowledge the severity of this pandemic. As of this report, data compiled by The New York Times has found that more than 4 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 and 143,700 have died. Among them have been some who once called the virus a “hoax,” the families of these individuals, and others who have experienced the loss of loved ones as a result of COVID-19. They are sharing their stories to shed light on the horrific reality of this pandemic and the importance of following health recommendations.

In an interview with Mother Jones, David Glosser, the uncle of xenophobic white supremacist and Trump adviser Stephen Miller shared his mother’s story (she was Miller’s maternal grandmother), who he says died from COVID-19. Glosser not only said that he was “angry” at Miller, but added that he blames the Trump administration in part for his mother’s death. “With the death of my mother, I’m angry and outraged at [Miller] directly and the administration he has devoted his energy to supporting,” he told Mother Jones.

In a Facebook post on July 4, Glosser said: “This morning my mother, Ruth Glosser, died of the late effects of COVID-19 like so many thousands of other people; both young and old. She survived the acute infection but was left with lung and neurological damage that destroyed her will to eat and her ability to breathe well enough to sustain arousal and consciousness. Over an 8-week period she gradually slipped away and died peacefully this morning.” Continue reading.

Amid blame game on coronavirus, Trump White House pursues broader campaign to punish China on other issues

Washington Post logoAs President Trump has heaped blame on China for a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 141,000 Americans, his aides are moving to expand on his rhetorical blasts and marshal a broader campaign to punish Beijing on a host of unrelated issues.

The strategy escalated dramatically this week when the administration ordered Chinese officials to shut down China’s consulate in Houston within 72 hours over charges that it was being used for aggressive intelligence-gathering operations.

That decision — which prompted a pledge from Beijing to retaliate — came after other punitive measures in recent weeks, including economic sanctions on Chinese officials over human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims; the stripping of Hong Kong’s special economic status after the Communist Party tightened control of the island; and plans to expel some Chinese journalists and restrict exchange students in the United States. Continue reading.

Kayleigh McEnany’s word games on the controversial scenes in Portland

Washington Post logoFederal law enforcement is currently clashing with demonstrators in Portland who say the officers have declined to identify either their agencies or themselves and have thrown the protesters in unmarked vans. But Kayleigh McEnany offered assurances that there is no “secretive” effort afoot. Oh, and she would also like to suggest that perhaps that Navy veteran who was beaten by police had it coming.

That was the gist of the White House press secretary’s Tuesday comments on the controversial and legally suspect scenes in Portland. The White House news briefing was the first since questions have been raised about the constitutionality and appropriateness of law enforcement failing to identify itself during a crackdown.

McEnany offered some very carefully worded and suggestive thoughts about the situation, and it’s worth breaking them down. Continue reading.

Right-wing smear accuses a reporter of calling Kayleigh McEnany a misogynistic slur — but the video proves otherwise

AlterNet logoLike her predecessors Stephanie Grisham and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has had an adversarial relationship with the mainstream media, leading to testy exchanges. And on Tuesday, after a terse back-and-forth with Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett, some right-wing critics accused the reporter of calling McEnany a “lying bitch” during a press briefing.

But video and the White House transcript of the conservation shows that Halkett never said that.

Halkett, originally from British Columbia in Western Canada, has been covering the White House for Al Jazeera’s English-language division since the late 1990s. At the press briefing, Halkett had a tense discussion with McEnany when the two briefly addressed voting by mail. McEnany told Halkett: “There are questions about mass mail-out voting, and I know you don’t want to hear them — which is why you talk over me.” Continue reading.

White House considers drug pricing executive order, prompting GOP pushback

The Hill logoThe White House is considering one or more executive orders aimed at lowering drug prices that could come as soon as this week, prompting pushback from some GOP lawmakers and the powerful pharmaceutical industry.

One idea under discussion, sources say, is to link some U.S. drug prices to the lower prices paid overseas, an idea that is opposed by many Republicans, who see it as a price control that violates free-market principles.

The looming executive action comes a little more than three months from the election, on an issue that is key to voters. Democrats have been pounding Republicans on the issue of health care, pointing to a President Trump-backed lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act, and executive action on drug prices could be a way for Trump to try to counter on the issue.

In Mark Meadows, Donald Trump finally has a chief of staff as dense as he is

AlterNet logoWhite House chief of staff Mark Meadows has been, from the start of his political career, a complete ideologue. A tea party darling, Meadows led the U.S. House Freedom Caucus—the crazy wing of the crazy party. Among his greatest hits was voting against Hurricane Sandy relief, leading the charge for the 2013 government shutdown, and providing the catalyst (via a resolution) for Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s resignation in 2015. And he was oh-so-loyal to Donald Trump from day one.

One would think, however, that being a back-bencher in a chamber with 435 seats was different than actually being in charge of staff. One would further think that once put in actual charge would lead one to behave more responsibly. But nope. In Meadows, Trump finally found someone as destructively stupid as he.

Exhibit A: There are lots of reasons Trump has f’d up the national response to the global mass death event wreaking havoc in our country. Turns out, Meadows is a big one. In one corner, you had Trump too afraid to lead, over his head, and stewing that the virus was so unfairly harming his reelection chances. In the other corner, you had …. Continue reading.