Latest news with #CatsRoundtable
New York Post
8 hours ago
- Business
- New York Post
RFK Jr. blasts offshore windmill farms for harming marine life as he tries to save whales and ostriches: ‘Make no economic sense'
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to save the whales along with the ostriches. The Secretary of Health & Human Services — who recently went to bat for nearly 400 ostriches threatened by the bird flu in Canada — doubled down Sunday on his contention that offshore windmills need to be banned because they threaten whales and other marine life. The offshore contraptions also are a costly bust as a clean-energy alternative to fossil fuels, Kennedy told WABC 770 AM's the 'Cats Roundtable' program. 7 Secretary of Health & Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doubled down Sunday on his contention that offshore windmills need to be banned. Getty Images 'We've had 109 whale groundings in the last 22 months. And they're all in the proximity of these new offshore wind farms,' said the Kennedy scion — who once famously cut off a dead whale's head on the beach and strapped it to the roof of the family's car to bring it home to reportedly study it. 'In the 20 years before that, the average whale grounding was 2.6 per year,' he told host John Catsimatidis. 'Many of these [whales] are critically endangered species. … We are going to exterminate these whales,' RFK Jr. said. 'When you put a windmill up, the cod disappear, the groundfish disappear. The fishermen are going out of business.' 7 'In the 20 years before that, the average whale grounding was 2.6 per year,' he told host John Catsimatidis. Lois GoBe – He added that many of the offshore wind companies operating in the US are foreign-owned and partner with American firms to receive massive subsidies under former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. 'The energy that they produce is three times the cost of an onshore wind plant. They make no economic sense,' Kennedy said. President Trump has already issued an executive order blocking approval of all new offshore wind projects, which are opposed by residents and elected officials in New York and New Jersey shore communities. 7 Many of the offshore wind companies operating in the US are foreign-owned and partner with American firms to receive massive subsidies. gudkovandrey – The president did allow one controversial offshore wind project off Long Island's coast to proceed, at the behest of Gov. Kathy Hochul and Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams. It had already received all the necessary approvals and promised an estimated 1,000 local jobs. The project, known as Empire Wind 1, is just one cog in New York's grander push to become fossil fuel-free by 2050 and is set to power 500,000 homes through green energy provided by wind turbines. But it faces steep criticism from Nassau County officials, who agree with Kennedy that the project threatens marine life and the local fishing industry. Kennedy said Sunday that he speaks to Trump 'all the time' about his opposition to offshore windmills. 7 President Trump has already issued an executive order blocking approval of all new offshore wind projects. AP As an environmental lawyer, he helped block a proposed offshore wind farm near his family's compound in Cape Cod. Trump himself is a staunch opponent of offshore wind, too, saying, 'We're not going to do the wind thing. 'Big, ugly windmills, they ruin your neighborhood. 'They destroy everything, they're horrible, the most expensive energy there is,' Trump has said. 'They ruin the environment, they kill the birds, they kill the whales.' 7 Kennedy said Sunday that he speaks to Trump 'all the time' about his opposition to offshore windmills. EcoView – 7 Trump himself is a staunch opponent of offshore wind, too, saying, 'We're not going to do the wind thing.' AP As for Kennedy and the ostriches, he has been appealing to Canadian officials to save the birds as part of a campaign with Catsimatidis. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has said it needs to kill hundreds of ostriches at the Universal Ostrich Farm in British Columbia to curb the spread of the avian flu there. RFK Jr., who owns an emu, stuck his neck out for the birds and is hopeful that doesn't happen. He said the ostriches survived the avian bird flu and they should be studied to determine how they became immune. 7 Kennedy has been appealing to Canadian officials to save the birds as part of a campaign with Catsimatidis. halberg – TV's Dr. Oz, who works closely with RFK as the administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, even offered his Florida ranch as a refuge for the ostriches. 'We want to get antibodies out of them. They survived bird flu. Why did they survive?,' RFK Jr. said. 'We need to know that because there are a lot of other birds that died from it.' He blamed 'bureaucratic corruption' and the lust for power for wanting to cull the ostriches.
The Hill
15-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
McCarthy slams Newsom over LA protests: ‘It is embarrassing'
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for his handling of the Los Angeles protests that have ignited over the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the area. 'You've got to look at our governor. First, he created a sanctuary state. Then, if you listen to the protesters. It's really not about immigration. It's about trying to take California back to Mexico. Look at the flags they're waving. Look at what they're saying,' McCarthy said during an episode of 'Cats Roundtable' on WABC 770 AM that aired Sunday. 'I mean, and I don't understand how Democrats are standing with that. I mean, whatever happened to law and order and safe streets. And look what they're doing. They're literally throwing fireballs at cop cars. They're throwing bricks at officers,' McCarthy told host John Catsimatidis. 'I mean, it is embarrassing.' Newsom's office hit back at McCarthy in a statement to The Hill, accusing him of 'chasing relevancy.' 'The former short-term speaker is chasing relevancy and has no idea what he's talking about. This is simply incorrect. First, SB 54 was enacted before Governor Newsom took office. McCarthy should be fully aware of this,' Newsom's office said. 'Second, our state laws do not conflict with any federal law. As a former representative of the California's Central Valley, McCarthy's disrespect for the diverse and rich community that help make this state and the region he represented great is abhorrent. Period. Full stop.' Newsom, along with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), has received heavy criticism from Republicans over their response to the Los Angeles protests that have seen violent protestors vandalizing a federal building and setting cars on fire. President Trump's administration greenlighted the deployment of Marines and the National Guard to Los Angeles, arguing troops are needed to safeguard personnel and buildings. Newsom, Bass and other Democrats have slammed the move, contending the troops' involvement would further inflame the situation. The Marines made their first temporary arrest of a protester in Los Angeles on Friday. Newsom has pushed back against the criticism, embracing the confrontation with Trump through interviews and public speeches. Some within the Democratic Party are arguing that the California governor, seen as one of the contenders for the party's nomination in 2028, is taking the right approach amidst the blowback. 'This is what Gavin does best. He is absolutely unapologetic about getting up in someone's face and calling out their weaknesses. That's why he's so effective in going after Trump and MAGA Republicans,' one longtime Newsom ally told The Hill this week.
The Hill
08-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Tuberville accuses Zelensky of attempting to ‘lure NATO' into Russian conflict
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was undoubtedly trying to 'lure NATO' into their war with Russia. 'There is no doubt, because he cannot win this war on his own. He knows he's losing,' Tuberville said during a Sunday appearance on John Catsimatidis's radio show 'Cats Roundtable' on WABC 770 AM. However, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously mentioned that the country would never join NATO, although he later walked back the comments. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has continued to launch deadly drone strikes on the country in an effort to gain more land. The Kremlin attacked the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Saturday, wounding 80 and killing at least six. Russia ramped up its strikes after Ukraine successfully completed a series of drone attacks to defend its sovereign borders. 'They drove trucks 2,000 miles into Russia. They had drones that were covered up in the backs of these trucks. They got close to the targets, opened up these trucks, the drones flew out and destroyed somewhere around 40 major airplanes that Russia uses in their nuclear arsenal,' Tuberville said. 'It was devastating. Then again, both sides are at fault. Let's get this thing over with. And President Trump is the one who can get this done,' he continued. His rhetoric aligns with President Trump's past statements alleging Ukraine caused the war and shouldn't seek to recover the Crimea region. Trump publicly chastised his counterpart Zelensky in the Oval Office in February, warranting a chorus of responses from national lawmakers and international leaders. During Sunday's interview, Tuberville also slammed Zelensky's presidency, describing him as a 'dictator.' 'Zelensky is a dictator, and he has created all sorts of problems. We've got a lot of money that's been missing. No telling where it's gone…,' Tuberville said. 'I think both of these [nations] have lost close to 500,000 to 700,000 people. It's devastating to the world,' he added. Senators have considered sanctions on Russia for refusing to agree to a ceasefire amidst angst. However, they ultimately held off deciding to follow the president's lead.
New York Post
01-06-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Fla. Sen. Rick Scott calls for more budget cuts to restore ‘fiscal sanity' into Trump's ‘big, beautiful' bill
A top Senate Republican said Sunday that more spending cuts are needed to infuse 'fiscal sanity' into President Trump's proposed 'big, beautiful' budget bill. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who serves on the Senate's Budget Committee, told WABC 770 AM radio's 'Cats Roundtable' that his fellow GOPers in the House did not do nearly enough to control spending or help rein in America's explosive debt when they passed the bill last month. He said he and other Senate Republicans will work with the president and House GOPers to remove bloat and confront the debt bomb in a final spending bill. 5 Senator Rick Scott says more spending cuts are needed to infuse 'fiscal sanity' into President Trump's proposed 'big, beautiful' budget bill. Getty Images 'The House worked their tail off. Unfortunately, the House bill cuts the spending over the next 10 years by something like 1.7%. There's a lot more we have to do,' Scott told show host John Catsimatidis. Scott, a two-term senator who previously served as Florida's governor, said the bill passed by the House includes many good things such as renewing the 2017 Trump tax cuts and boosting spending for border security and the military. 'But we have to bring more fiscal sanity to the table,' he said. 'In the next few months, we'll probably hit $37 trillion in debt. And we're running over $1 trillion a year on interest expense.' 'If we leave it just the way it is, we're going to be close to $60 trillion worth of debt in 10 years. We'll never be able to pay for anything else we care about.' He said Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have shown where spending can be slashed. 'We've got to go line by line through the budget and do everything we can to save money,' Scott said. 'I'm committed to getting this bill done. I believe every Republican I know wants to get this bill done. But we also will want to create some fiscal sanity.' 5 Elon Musk accompanying Scott as they walk through the U.S. Capitol on March 05. Getty Images The proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is intended to be Trump's signature legislative achievement of the year, features more than $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over a 10-year period but is projected to add between $3 to $4 trillion to the debt during that time frame, according to various estimates. Deficit concerns have prompted backlash from GOP fiscal hawk such as Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who have expressed opposition to the mega-bill in its current form because of its impact on the deficit. Other Republican critics, such as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have voiced reservations over the Medicaid reforms in the mammoth bill. 5 Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to the media after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump's agenda on May 22 in Washington, DC. Getty Images 5 Sen. Rand Paul has expressed opposition to the mega-bill in its current form because of its impact on the deficit. AP Last month, Scott told conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, 'Absolutely I'd vote no' on the bill in its current form and, 'If they brought it to the floor right now, there's not a chance it would get to 51 votes.' Republicans hold a 53-47 edge over Democrats in the Senate. Trump has warned that Republicans who threaten to vote against his spending plan are playing into the hands of Democrats. He singled out Paul on Saturday. 'If Senator Rand Paul votes against our Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, he is voting for, along with the Radical Left Democrats, a 68% Tax Increase and, perhaps even more importantly, a first time ever default on US Debt,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 5 Trump has said Republicans who threaten to vote against his spending plan are playing into the hands of Democrats. AP On a different segment of the Sunday radio show, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended the bill passed by one vote in his chamber and vowed that the Senate and House and the White House would agree on a final package by July 4. In response to criticism from Senate budget hawks such as Scott, the speaker insisted the House made historic cuts. 'No other government has ever cut this much in a single piece of legislation,' Johnson said. 'You're talking about more than $1.5 trillion. It's by a factor of two the largest cut that Congress will have ever made. 'Is it enough? No, it's not,' he acknowledged. '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 … It's like a large vessel on the sea. It doesn't turn on a dime. You need like a mile of open ocean to do it.' Johnson said the House bill was a 'dramatic shift in the right direction.'
The Hill
01-06-2025
- 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.
