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Home Front: Politix

Trump Treasury head defends Elon Musk's DOGE despite 'squawking' from critics

2025-02-06

[FoxBusinessNews] Scott Bessent details Trump's economic agenda, including his tariff policies and goal to re-privatize the economy

Since billionaire Elon Musk joined forces with President Donald Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), various Democrats and other critics have complained over the Tesla founder's influence on the federal government.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, came to Musk and DOGE's defense Wednesday on "Kudlow."

"Elon Musk is the greatest entrepreneur of this generation," Bessent told FOX Business host Larry Kudlow in his first interview since joining the Trump administration.

"DOGE is not going to fail. They are moving a lot of people's cheese here in the capital, and when you hear this squawking, then some status quo interest is not happy," he continued.

Bessent's defense comes after weekend reports claimed the Treasury Department granted DOGE personnel access to the federal government's payment system. The Treasury spends roughly $6 trillion per year on payments for federal agencies.

Since then, a Treasury Department official told members of Congress on Tuesday that a tech executive working with DOGE, will have "read-only access" to the government's payment system, stressing that it is committed to safeguarding the system after the department was granted access.

The official wrote a letter in response to lawmakers who were concerned that DOGE's access to the government's payment system for the federal government could lead to security risks or missed payments for various programs, including Social Security and Medicare.

"At the Treasury, our payment system is not being touched," Bessent said Wednesday. "We process 1.3 billion payments a year. There is a study being done — can we have more accountability, more accuracy, more traceability that the money is going where it is. But in terms of payments being stopped, that is happening upstream at the department level."

The Treasury's payments are managed by its Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which disburses nearly 90% of all federal payments and conducts more than 1.2 billion transactions per year, according to its website.

While lawmakers have expressed concerns that Musk possesses too much power within the U.S. government, Bessent emphasized the billionaire's efforts are part of the Trump administration's "mandate" from the American people.

"The U.S. doesn't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. I think we can up the revenues, we can up the growth, and most importantly, President Trump got elected because of this affordability crisis... What is he going to do for the affordability crisis? Real wage growth for working Americans is the best way to fix this," Bessent said.

Bessent argued "gigantic government spending" fueled economic growth under the Biden administration but failed to bring about "real" wage growth.

In contrast, Bessent explained how the newly-elected Trump administration will tackle the affordability crisis by re-privatizing the economy, cutting taxes and regulations, addressing the growing deficit and boosting domestic energy production.

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

It's Time For Republicans To Put Up Or Shut Up On Hunter Biden

2024-03-26

[Daily Caller] The biggest letdown is the realization that Republicans in Congress will not use the power they are given, even when the facts are undeniable.
"Letdown?" No, just another confirmation of Washington corruption.
Hunter Biden and his father, President Joe Biden, face a mountain of evidence alleging they conspired to make millions using Biden’s name and office as collateral. But the American people will never see them face the consequences of these decisions because House Republicans are more interested in bolstering their Twitter profiles and gaining media hits than in holding them accountable.

Fox News host Dana Perino said that people are watching GOP members hold the same hearing "over and over again" without any resolution.
"Without any resolution" is the interim goal. The long-awaited Presidential Pardon will relieve us of this unpleasantness.
"At the end of this week, Congress is due to go into recess for another two weeks," Perino added. "And I do think that, in some ways, it just feels like they keep doing the same hearing over and over again. And people are starting to wonder at some point, do you fish or cut bait and do something about a vote or not and move on to the general election?"

She’s right. These hearings started in 2023, and it’s clear that not a single person involved is even worried that Republicans will do anything to them because they know what we all know... these hearings are useless fodder for GOP reelection campaigns.\
The Epstein solution is not an options. The insanity must continue until a pardon is issued.

Federalist - House Republicans Probe CIA Interference In Hunter Biden Investigation

Judiciary Committee - Whistleblower Reveals CIA Stonewalled Interview with Hunter Biden Business Associate

NYP - Spies who lie: 51 ‘intelligence’ experts refuse to apologize for discrediting true Hunter Biden story

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-Short Attention Span Theater-

In case you were considering a return to Fox News

2023-10-01

[Blaze] Dana Perino of the Fox News Channel, who served as one of the moderators for the second Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 election cycle, recently moderated a session at the Clinton Global Initiative 2023 Meeting and even introduced former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as "the amazing Secretary Hillary Clinton."

Perino, who served as White House press secretary during a portion of President George W. Bush's tenure, co-anchors "America's Newsroom" and cohosts "The Five" on the Fox News Channel.

Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, served as a U.S. senator from New York and later as secretary of state during a portion of President Barack Obama's time in office. She was tapped as the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, but ultimately lost the election to Republican Donald Trump.

The session Perino hosted at the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting was titled "Journalism on the Frontlines: How protecting freedom of the press supports all human rights." The panel included Dow Jones CEO and Wall Street Journal publisher Almar Latour, Washington Post opinion writer Jason Rezaian, and Jodie Ginsberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Caution: This article may lead to pharyngeal (gag) reflex in adults.

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Death of elderly Home Depot worker who tried to stop robbery sparks outrage: 'Where are the reparations?'

2022-12-07

[FoxNews] The death of an elderly Home Depot employee who succumbed to injuries he suffered while trying to stop a robbery – and search for an elusive suspect – have shined another glaring light on the rise of lawlessness nationwide and raised one question: What about reparations for crime victims?

"Where are reparations for victims?" Fox News host Greg Gutfeld asked Tuesday after discussing the death of 83-year-old Home Depot worker Gary Rasor on "The Five."

Surveillance video released by the Hillsborough Police Department appears to show the suspect shoving Rasor on Oct. 18 and hurrying out of the store while allegedly stealing three Ryobi pressure washers. Rasor was reportedly never able to walk again and died Dec. 1 after a lengthy hospital stay. The suspect was described as a 6-foot Black male who fled in a white Hyundai with North Carolina temporary tags, according to Law & Crime.

"We are heartbroken by the loss of our associate Gary. He was part of our team for more than 9 years. He was an amazing friend, husband, father and grandfather, always willing to help anyone," a spokesperson for Home Depot told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Meanwhile, in North Philadelphia, a gas station owner has hired heavily-armed security to protect his property from thieves, loiterers and criminal activity occurring in the vicinity, as Pennsylvania's largest city deals with a sky-high crime rate and progressive prosecutorial discretion under Democratic District Attorney Lawrence Krasner.

On "The Five," Gutfeld said the trend toward lax criminal justice policies is often touted as a way to make up for past oppression of enslaved people and oppression of other minorities.

"[T]hat caused us to change all of these policies: No cash bail, reduced sentences. Where are the reparations?" he asked. "It doesn't even matter the color of the skin for the criminal -- where the reparations for the victims that were killed, attacked, raped by people that were let out based on the assumption that all of these rules were racist or oppressive based on 400 years of persecution. That's an interesting lawsuit."

Gutfeld questioned what the public dynamic would be like if Rasor had survived and the perpetrator was killed.

"He [would be called] a vigilante [because] this person was a victim of an oppressed society," he said, adding that Rasor's death instead received "barely a peep."

"There is a message there and that message is contagious, Rob these places until they move out. This is a slow-roll looting operation. They don't care if these buildings, these places leave – they don't care about the people that are suffering," he argued.

Gutfeld called both situations in North Carolina and Pennsylvania a "metaphorical snapshot" of the past two years, where there is no fear of repercussions because if a criminal is punished, often times the prosecution is tarred as "racist."

"We're still living in that post-Ferguson era where we allowed the media, and we allowed activists to tell us that law enforcement is permanently stained," he said.

Co-host Jesse Watters further added that in North Carolina, people essentially have a "license to steal" under the current law with which thefts under $1,000 result in misdemeanor charges.

Co-host Dana Perino later added that Rasor was from the generation that "did something" when they saw something wrong, while the following generation was the "see something, say something generation" – and the current generation "pretend[s] they don't see it."

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-Great Cultural Revolution

Buh-Bye, Groomers: Fox News Celebrates Radical Transing of Very Young Children

2022-06-14

[PJ] We all expected CNN and MSNBC to pull out all the stops for Pride Month, but did anyone expect Fox News to go off the deep end with a story promoting the transing of very small children? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened over the weekend. My colleague Chris Queen reported it on Saturday:

Fox News recently featured the story of Ryland Whittington. Whittington looks like a typical American teenage boy, and in Fox News’ video, you see Whittington tossing the football with Dad and dressing like a stylish teenage boy. The problem with all of it is that Whittington isn’t a boy — Whittington is a girl who identifies as a boy, and her parents have gone along with the charade.

According to the Whittington family, Ryland indicated that she was really a boy before she could even speak.

"I could see it. It wasn’t him trying to be a brat. It was like painful. It was painful for him to have to wear feminine clothing and for us constantly telling him that you are a girl," Hillary Whittington said.

I know that conservatives are not monolithic and that Fox News has done a lot of good over the years, but this is just beyond the pale.

Fox News’ Bryan Llenas wrapped up the segment by gushing to Dana Perino—who, in fairness, looked like she was filming a hostage video—"What extraordinary courage displayed by Ryland, his sister Brinley, father, Jeff, and mom, Hillary. I want to thank the Whittington family for speaking to us. It’s not easy, particularly at a time when transgender issues have been politicized. People are afraid of what they don’t understand, Dana. This family hopes their story will lead to more understanding, more acceptance, and ultimately, more love."

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Home Front: Politix

Psaki: Student Loan Borrowers Likely to Have to Pay Debt ‘Sometime'

2022-04-12

[Breitbart] On this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that student loan borrowers would have to start paying their debt “sometime” while discussing the administration’s fourth extension on the monthly loan payments and interest.

Anchor Dana Perino said, “On December 11 of last year, you had said that getting loan rate payment back on track was the goal.”

She added, “We’ve got a lot of jobs open, wages are up, they are able to figure out a way to get to 3.6% unemployment. What changed between then and now?
Psaki said, “Well, this is something the Department of Education continues to assess. We continue to assess from a policy level. While the basics of the economy, all that data you mentioned and I’ve been talking about, Dana, is very strong, we also know and acknowledge that costs are too high for families across the country, and that’s something we need to redouble, continue to focus our efforts on. Certainly, while there isn’t everybody in the country who has student loans, a lot of people do, and this is a period microphone, but the president, Department of Education made the decision to continue the pause repayments, and we will continue to assess as we get closer to the next deadline in August.”

Perino said, “Do you think that if you hold student loan debt right now, that you will ever have to make a payment during the Biden administration?”

Psaki said, “I suspect that sometime you will, but again, we are going to continue to assess every month, every few months on where things stand, both looking, of course at COVID, but also economic data and where we need to continue to help give the American people some breathing room.”

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-Great Cultural Revolution

Pentagon Spox Kirby: Claims About Wokeness in the Military ‘Ridiculous'

2022-02-01

[Breitbart] On this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that it was “ridiculous” to claim the U.S. military was too woke.

Anchor Dana Perino asked, “Also, just more back here focusing on some criticism in the U.S. military, that perhaps there’s too much of a leftward tilt, or a wokeness in our military when we face really determined adversaries, committed adversaries in China, Russia, Iran, who maybe don’t have those same kinds of pressures. How do you respond to those criticisms?”

Kirby said, “I think a lot of it, quite frankly, is driving a stake through a straw man here. This argument of wokeness in the military, I was in the military for 30 years, and I can tell you things like diversity and inclusion, that makes us a better military because it brings to the fore, in the decision-making, operational decision-making, that we conduct better ideas, more unique perspectives. Somebody else’s lived experiences which might actually make us smarter on the battlefield.”
Bullshit Word Salad
He added, “So those kinds of arguments — I think are ridiculous. because we are stronger military because of our diversity, and because we represent all Americans, just like we defend all Americans.”

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Home Front: Politix

Bill Hemmer calls out COVID-19 tests branded 'Made in China'

2022-01-26

[FOX] Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer Tuesday said he received his free COVID-19 tests through the mail under President Biden's new testing initiative, but noted the at-home kits were "made in China."

Hemmer, co-host of "America's Newsroom," praised the federal government and the United States Postal Service (USPS) for getting the tests out quickly after he and many other Americans put in the request last week for free tests. But he noted when he turned the test package over the "fine print" revealed the tests were manufactured in China.

"I got mine yesterday," Hemmer said, holding up the orange kit. "All four of them came. Congrats U.S. government. U.S. Postal Service did a great job. Got my four tests. And on the back of the fine print, Dana, it is made in China."

"Of course," replied co-host Dana Perino.

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-Great Cultural Revolution

Fox News Disappears Lara Logan From the Air Following Fauci Attack

2021-12-06

[GatewayPundit] On Thursday Dr. Fauci complained publicly about Lara Logan’s comments comparing him to the Nazi doctor. VIDEO at the link.

Following her comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci during a Fox News appearance on Monday, Lara Logan has been noticeably absent from the airwaves this week, having made zero appearances since.

"Has Lara Logan been quietly benched by Fox News? All indications are yes," CNN’s Oliver Darcy pointed out in the Reliable Sources newsletter. "Fox isn’t commenting on the matter, but prior to that Monday appearance, Logan was a mainstay on the network. Now she has disappeared."

Darcy may have a point. Looking into some immediately prior appearances, we found that for the week of November 21 to 27, Logan was on that Sunday on Fox & Friends, and that Friday on The Faulkner Focus. That week the network also aired the Fox Nation "Patriot Awards" show, where Logan was a presenter.

The previous week, Logan was on with Trey Gowdy, Sean Hannity, Fox & Friends, Fox News Primetime, The Five, and America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino, where she spoke with Sandra Smith about terror and promoted her special on Fox Nation. So she regularly appears both on the network’s opinion shows and the dayside news programs.

While Lara Logan is neither a contributor nor host on Fox News Channel, like many Fox Nation personalities she is on the network a lot. Or rather, she usually is. She wasn’t in the days following the Mengele comments.

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-Obits-

Dog Worshiper Dana Perino announces 'America's Dog' Jasper has died

2021-09-06

[FOX] Fox News host Dana Perino announced Saturday that her dog Jasper, who she has often featured on television over the years, has passed away.

"It is its deep sadness that I have to let you all know that Jasper passed away today," Perino tweeted on Saturday about the 9-year-old canine’s passing.

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Home Front: Politix

Something Is Very Wrong Here With Latest News About Biden

2021-08-19

[Right Scoop] Now, there’s been a lot wrong, right down the line, when it comes to how Joe Biden has dealt with the debacle in Afghanistan.

But one of the main problems with his administration is the failure to actually speak frankly and with transparency with the American people. They started this off very badly with both Biden and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki being on vacation. Biden didn’t even come back until Monday to make his speech. Then he went back to Camp David, and then came back to make a speech today. But that speech, as we previously reported, isn’t on Afghanistan, it’s on the Wuhan coronavirus. That’s stunning. Not exactly the thing that is most pressing with thousands of Americans and allies in danger in Afghanistan.

The national security team just held a briefing and it was a clown car affair that my colleague Streiff will be covering. But suffice to say, Gen. Milley and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin would lose their jobs in a real administration. Their responses were just horrific and it would be scary to have these people in charge of a public toilet much less in charge of our military response.

But when Bret Baier appeared on America’s Newsroom on Fox with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino this morning, they discussed the lack of transparency of Biden and the major players, the failure of the administration to really speak on what is going on in-country. This was prior to the Milley/Austin briefing. Baier said that according to their sources, after the COVID speech, he was hearing that Biden would be heading back to Wilmington, Delaware to continue with his vacation either today or tomorrow.

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Home Front: Politix

Fox News Hosts Laud Michelle Obama's DNC Speech: ‘Sliced And Diced' Trump

2020-08-18

[HuffPoo] A Fox News panel had high praise to offer after former first lady Michelle Obama’s address at the Democratic National Convention Monday night.

In her nearly 19-minute speech, Obama denounced President Donald Trump for creating chaos and division and failing to lead with empathy and competence. She also urged Americans to bring his presidency to an end and elect former Vice President Joe Biden.

Many right-wing figures, including some Fox News contributors, criticized the address online. Fox News chose not to air much of the first portion of the convention, opting instead to show Sean Hannity interviewing Donald Trump Jr. Nonetheless, the conservative network’s panel for the convention was apparently impressed by Obama’s speech.

"It’s very difficult to try to connect with an audience without an actual audience there with you but she has the ability to connect with people through the screen," Fox News anchor Dana Perino said. "You got the sense when you talk about authenticity, she has it in spades."

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