Tag: Larry Kudlow

A Former Trump Adviser May Have Revealed What The Fossil Fuel Bonanza Was Really About

It’s NOT the economy, stupid.

Ramping up fossil fuel production and shredding pollution rules, as the Trump administration did for four years, largely defies economic and scientific logic in an era of costly climate disasters. But Larry Kudlow, who was director of the National Economic Council for part of that time, may have indicated Wednesday that the administration saw its policies on fossil fuels through another lens: culture.

During an interview with Fox Business star Maria Bartiromo, Kudlow dismissed President Joe Biden as an ideologue whose approach to climate change threatens to “wreck the whole energy sector.”

“It turns out President Biden may be the most left-wing president we’ve ever seen,” Kudlow said. “His actions on spending and taxing and regulating, on immigration and fossil fuels and other cultural issues… he may be the most left-wing.” Continue reading.

Kudlow Hails Mass Unemployment As ‘Gales Of Creative Destruction’

Larry Kudlow, Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, celebrated the tens of millions of job losses fueled by Trump’s failure to contain the coronavirus, calling mass unemployment a “great part of American capitalism.”

Kudlow made the comments in an interview with Fox Business host Stuart Varney on Friday morning.

“I saw something else today, one of the smart Wall Street people are talking about it. And it’s an odd thing because the talk is that a lot of folks who became unemployed, all right, most regrettably but they’re sticking with it and starting new businesses. They’re going to be small businesses. But that’s the great part of American capitalism, gales of creative destruction. I just love that new business start-up story,” Kudlow said.

Kudlow did not name the “smart Wall Street” person who made this point to him, but that person appears to have their facts wrong. Continue reading.

Jake Tapper Shoots Down Larry Kudlow For Claiming U.S. Is ‘Safely’ Living With COVID-19

“We’re not learning to live with the virus, Larry,” the CNN host said, pointing out 50,000 new infections daily in the nation.

CNN’s Jake Tapper scoffed at a claim by White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow Sunday that America is learning to deal with the coronavirus in a “targeted, safe, preventive way.”

Tapper told Kudlow to stick to what he knows — money.

“We’re not learning to live with the virus, Larry,” an incredulous Tapper said on “State of the Union.”

“We just had four days in a row of more than 50,000 infections,” he continued. “The death rate is the highest in the world.” Continue reading.

Kudlow Floats Capital Gains ‘Tax Holiday’ For Rich As ‘Stimulus’

Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said the administration is considering pushing for a “capital gains holiday” in a new round of coronavirus aid.

“There may be a capital gains holiday,” Larry Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, told Fox Business on Monday.

Cuts to capital gains disproportionately affect extremely wealthy individuals. In 2018, 69 percent of all reported capital gains went to the one percent of households with incomes above $750,000. Capital gains are already taxed at a much lower rate than regular income. Continue reading.

Beware: Kudlow Predicts ‘No Second Wave’ Of Coronavirus

Donald Trump’s top economic adviser claimed Monday that there would be no “second wave” of coronavirus cases. A day earlier, another Trump official had said the administration was hard at work preparing for that exact scenario.

Asked about the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the United States, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told CNBC on Monday that everything was under control.

“There is no second wave coming. It’s just hot spots. They send in CDC teams, we’ve got the testing procedures, we’ve got the diagnostics, we’ve got the PPE. And so I really think it’s a pretty good situation,” Kudlow claimed.

The number of new cases in the United States per day exceeded 30,000 on Friday for the first time since May 1. Continue reading.

Millionaire Trump adviser complains $600-per-week boost in unemployment benefits is too generous

AlterNet logoWith the U.S. jobless rate still at levels not seen since the Great Depression and coronavirus-induced mass layoffs continuing across the nation, millionaire White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow complained Sunday that the $600-per-week increase in unemployment insurance authorized by the CARES Act is too generous and said the benefits should expire at the end of July.

“I mean, we’re paying people not to work. It’s better than their salaries would get,” Kudlow said in an appearance on CNN, echoing the common Republican complaint that many U.S. workers are earning slightly more on the boosted unemployment insurance than they would at their low-wage jobs. Progressive lawmakers and economists have argued that the solution is to raise wages, not slash benefits.

Kudlow predicted that Congress will not extend the enhanced unemployment benefits past the July 31 expiration date and said the Trump administration is “looking at a reform measure that will still provide some kind of bonus for returning to work, but it will not be as large.” Continue reading.

White House Adviser: No ‘Transparency’ Promise Ever Made Over Billions In Loans

Larry Kudlow contradicted a promise made by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to disclose the companies that received billions in coronavirus relief loans.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Sunday claimed that the administration never promised to disclose which businesses received more than $500 billion in coronavirus relief loans, contradicting an earlier statement by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
Kudlow, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, made his statement to Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” about the Paycheck Protection Program, which Congress authorized in March to bail out companies harmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

When asked whether Americans deserve to know which wealthy companies have received taxpayer-funded bailouts, Kudlow said, “As far as naming each and every company, I don’t think that promise was ever made, and I don’t think it’s necessary.” Continue reading.

White House officials downplay chance of COVID-19 ‘second spike’

The Hill logoWhite House economic officials on Friday downplayed concerns about recent spikes in cases of the novel coronavirus in several U.S. states amid fears on Wall Street about a new wave of COVID-19.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on “Fox & Friends” that the developments did not signify a “second spike” nationally of COVID-19, citing conversations with White House health experts the evening prior.

Speaking later on Fox News, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett described some “embers flaring up” in various states, pointing to troubling data in South Carolina and Arizona, but he insisted that cases nationally continue to decline. Continue reading.

Top White House economic adviser expresses uncertainty about recovery despite Trump’s confidence

Washington Post logoIn Washington Post event, Larry Kudlow says he sees some glimmers of hope but acknowledges that labor market weakness could drag on for months

The White House’s top economic official expressed uncertainty on Thursday that America’s economy would swiftly rebound from the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, striking a more cautious tone about the recovery than President Trump has in recent days.

Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, said there are some “small glimmers of hope” and voiced optimism about a dramatic improvement this summer. But he emphasized the coronavirus still poses a unique and unpredictable threat to the nation’s economy and that the overall picture appears bleak.

“Look, it’s really hard to model a virus, a pandemic, the likes of which we have not seen for 100 years,” Kudlow said at a Washington Post Live event. “The numbers coming in are not good. In fact, they are downright bad in most cases. But we are seeing some glimmers, perhaps … there’s a lot of heartbreak here. There’s a lot of hardship here. There’s a lot of anxiety here. It’s a very difficult situation.” Continue reading.

He Was Wrong On ‘Contained’ Coronavirus, But Larry Kudlow Says Trust Him On Social Distance

Trump’s top economic adviser insists that keeping the “economy going” is the “important point” while COVID-19 cases rise.

President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, finally admitted Monday he was wrong about coronavirus being “contained” a month ago. But now he wants America to trust him on easing social distancing — for the good of the economy.

Kudlow was making the interview rounds apparently preparing the nation for Trump’s reported intention to lift social distancing restrictions in just days as the president desperately seeks a strategy that might boost the economy. Kudlow spoke as conservative British Prime Minister Boris Johnson took the opposite tack and for the first time enacted strict national “lockdown” requirements in a bid to stem the spread of the virus there.

Kudlow said on Feb. 25 that coronavirus in the U.S. was “contained pretty close to airtight.” Now, with at least 41,000 cases and more than 500 deaths from the virus, he told CNBC: “I’ve changed my view.” Continue reading.