White House National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, appears on CBS news to dispatch the narrative engineering of Margaret Brennan.
I completely understand why the White House appears to have finally had enough of Ms. Brennan’s dramatic performances and has chosen not to send most representatives into this nonsense pantomime any longer. She’s even more insufferable than Jake Tapper. That said, Kevin Hassett is likely the only member of the administration kindhearted enough to deal with the snark and lack of substance.
What I don’t understand is why the White House just doesn’t tell her in brutally honest terms: Margaret, your dramatic performances are tiresome, and your intellectual vigor is running at a continual deficit. Regards.
True to form, Ms. Brennan wanted desperately to pontificate about the terrible state of the U.S. economy blaming the White House for the failure of Spirit Airlines, and demanding Kevin Hassett address the Iran conflict that is not in his portfolio. Director Hassett stayed comfortably in his lane, smiled and took apart the fake news construct as professional as possible given the absurdity of Brennan’s presentation.
[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin this morning with the director of the White House Economic Council. Kevin Hassett joins us from Los Angeles. Good early morning to you.
KEVIN HASSETT: Oh yeah, good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well Director, President Trump sent a letter to Congress on Friday saying a few things. One that the conflict with Iran, the ceasefire has been extended. He also said the hostilities have been terminated. He also said the threat posed by Iran remains significant, and the force posture will continue to be updated. Then overnight, we saw the President said Iran has not yet paid a big enough price for what they’ve done to humanity. What exactly is the message to the market?
KEVIN HASSETT: Right. Well, I think the market has been pretty consistent. The fact is that what the President is seeing is that the blockade is working. It’s putting an enormous amount of pressure on Iran, and Iran’s threats to put mines in the straits have even made it so that humanitarian aid that, of course, we would let through to Iran, that there are a lot of those ship captains that are wary of going to Iranian ports because they’re worried about where the Iranians have put the mines. And so, you know, I go down to the sit room many times a week and get briefed on what’s going on in Iran, and they’re an economy that’s really on the precipice of extreme calamity. They are having a hyperinflation. They’re starting to have hunger. The bottom line is that the pressure on the great American people, because of these people who are like really intent on American and Israeli destruction with their nuclear weapons, are still in power. One last thing, Margaret, I don’t know if you noticed, but the UN Human Rights folks came out this week condemning Iran because they’re killing people who are trying to stand up to this regime that’s potentially, you know, causing starvation and even famine.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, you said the blockade is still on. A blockade is an act of war. Are we at war with Iran?
KEVIN HASSETT: Iran shut down the straits. Iran shut down the straits, and the only ones they were letting through were Iranian ships, and President Trump didn’t think that was acceptable.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, we are still at war with Iran?
KEVIN HASSETT: You know what- I don’t know what the definition of war is when we’re not shooting and we’re negotiating and they’re under a lot of pressure. There’s no reason, I think, right now, to do anything other than what we’re doing. The fact is that that regime has destroyed the country. Let me put it in perspective. In 1978 before the Ayatollah came in, then the per capita GDP in Iran was about the same as for Japan and Italy. Now it’s about the same as for Honduras. So they’ve run that country into the ground, and that’s before the straits were closed. So it’s really, really a country that’s on the rocks.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Sure and we’re negotiating with them. But so we’re going into week 10. I’m wondering what economic modeling you have done here, because the President had originally said the war was going to last four to six weeks. We are now at the national average gas price of $4.45 a gallon. Can we end the conflict without taking back the Strait of Hormuz?
KEVIN HASSETT: Well, what’s going on right now is that we’re doing an all of the above approach to get energy to Americans and increase energy production around the world–
MARGARET BRENNAN: — That takes time–
KEVIN HASSETT: — And I think if you look out into the future, what people are saying- No. So as an example, we waive the Jones Act. The price of the US is $10 a barrel less than it is on the world- and in the world exchanges and all the west coast was buying world price of oil, but now they’re buying US price of oil. So we’ve made an enormous number of strides to reduce the short term disruption.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the Bank of America came out with a report this week that says the gas price spike has cost consumers $19 billion. They say gas prices have canceled out nearly half of the increase in expected tax refunds. Goldman Sachs concurs, saying the drag will offset the benefits from that tax bill the White House had championed. Do you agree with that analysis?
KEVIN HASSETT
No, that analysis is incorrect. Like, think about it this way, 153 million people have filed taxes already, and the average tax refund is $3,600. 53 million people have benefited from no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. For the no tax on tips and Social Security that exempts between $7,000 and $8,000 from taxation for those people and for the no tax on overtime, it’s like closer to $5000. And so these are really, really big numbers, and if people look at their gas bills, of course, they’re higher, and we’re doing everything we can to make the temporary increase as small as possible. But then finally, there’s the economic growth component. Real incomes are growing, and real incomes, when they adjust for inflation, include the price of energy, real incomes shrunk for almost eight years under Obama, they shrunk under Biden, and they’re rising now despite the short term increase in gas prices.
MARGARET BRENNAN
Well, we did see an increase in the PCE. But just to clarify the tax law that the President signed doesn’t eliminate taxes on Social Security. It gives seniors an enhanced standard deduction through the end of 2028. But let me ask you about the news on Spirit Airlines–
KEVIN HASSETT: But that makes it so most people aren’t covered- Yeah, I want to talk about Spirit. I just go say that makes it so most people don’t face the tax hike. So you’re you’re right. It’s a technical matter, but it has the effect that we discussed.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Spirit Airlines ceased operations, as we said at the top of the program. I know the White House was trying to craft an 11th Hour rescue plan. What happened, and do you have a sense of the broader economic impact?
KEVIN HASSETT: Oh, sure. You know, it’s something that I was very much involved in. We were aware that, because the merger between JetBlue and spirit was canceled unwisely by the Biden administration, that spirit, sadly, was on the ropes when we looked at their books, that basically, the creditors were going to liquidate them and try to sell their assets so that they could get some of the money back that they had lent them. And there were some authorities that were explored to see if we could help them get a lifeline. And in the end, the legal legal guys decided that those authorities wouldn’t apply in this situation. Meanwhile, while that was being investigated, Secretary Duffy and I talked to the other airlines to make sure that they were helping people who were stranded by spirit get home and to get home basically at much lower prices than the normal fares that they would charge.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So the company–
KEVIN HASSETT: — In fact, American and United and Southwest have all said that they’re going to help the passengers of Spirit get home.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You mentioned past financial troubles, unquestionably, Spirit did have them for many years, but they did have that restructuring deal with bond holders back in March. In this statement, spirit released explaining why they were shutting down, they said, quote, “The sudden and sustained rise in fuel prices in recent weeks, ultimately has left us with no alternative.” Are other industries also at risk of collapse, or other major companies due to this energy shock?
KEVIN HASSETT: Well, don’t forget, the Spirit Airlines was Chapter 11 twice because they basically didn’t—
MARGARET BRENNAN: I acknowledge that.
KEVIN HASSETT: —have a business model that was working. That’s right. And the other airlines are still operating. I just flew out here to discuss these matters at the Milken conference in LA, you know, on United Airlines and the you know, the other airlines are operating, what they’ve done because they have thought ahead way more than the management of Spirit is hedge their jet fuel purchases and so on. So that energy short term energy shocks don’t have a big effect on their business. Certainly, it’ll affect profits for the airlines for a quarter or so, but they’re very, very healthy right now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Kevin Hassett, we’ll let you get back to work. Thank you for joining us this morning. Face the Nation will be back in a minute.
The Trump administration should change the official reporting for national gas price average…
Separate it by national average for red states and national average for blue states.
Retired Magistrate here: Well it depends on the red state; we live in central Ohio and current gas prices are $4.99 per gallon. However, I did read that a refinery for the Midwest had shut down for repairs and that along with the seasonal transition to summer gas blends has had a further impact on gas prices.
Oof, 3.79 here in North Dakota…
“Two gas stations. 1.8 miles apart. One brutal, scholarly lesson in economic malpractice.
On the California side of the Colorado River in Needles (historic Route 66): A lonely Mobil attendant stands watch over empty pumps at $6.99/gallon regular. Sales have cratered — from hundreds of thousands of gallons to a fraction — as drivers blow straight past.
Just across the K Street Bridge in Mohave Valley, Arizona: The Arco station is a hive of activity at $4.09/gallon, California plates everywhere, drivers saving ~$20 per tank and $3/gallon.
This is no coincidence or “corporate greed.” It’s pure policy catastrophe engineered in Sacramento.
California levies the nation’s highest gas tax (~$0.71/gallon) plus another $0.34–$0.44 in emissions, cap-and-trade, and climate-program fees. Add refinery-killing regulations, a special “clean” fuel blend, and mandates that have driven major suppliers out — and you get a textbook man-made energy crisis. Working families pay the price while Newsom lectures from the podium.
As Rep. Vince Fong put it: “Californians are being overtaxed and overregulated at the pump — plain and simple.” This is the invisible hand of the market versus Sacramento’s iron fist — and the market is voting with its tires.
The broader mismanagement is unmistakable: refinery closures, business exodus (Chevron and others fleeing to Texas), population flight, and a state that can’t keep costs from spiraling while claiming to “save the planet.”
California isn’t broke — it’s being broken by design. This 1.8-mile tale is your proof.”
This only includes the price of gas.
What also must be factored into the price is what the business owner has to pay in corporate taxes, property taxes, higher hourly wages, and the bureaucratic costs that go into building the station.
That CA gas station got nickeled and dimed before it even opened. It got fleeced during construction and continues to pay Sacramento for all of the taxes, fees, payroll taxes, and income taxes.
It’s not just the gas taxes that cause this disaster.
The modern ‘Tale of Two Cities’.
Fuel taxes.
An Exxon here in Austin had gas for $3.55 this morning. Across the street the Valero was at $3.85.
we should always emphasize that the multitude of blends is due to California regulations.
Also $4.99 here at some stations, just outside Indianapolis. If you know where a Wawa is, it’s 50¢ a gallon cheaper. Triple A tracks it here: https://gasprices.aaa.com/ Let’s just say, prices are all over the lot.
Our gas price is less than $3.99 gal in N.E Texas
$4.99 or less for diesel
East Texas – $3.86 in Lufkin and on Wednesday Walmart gas on University in Nacogdoches was $3.19. The Chevron next to it was $3.69 a gallon. Nac has been cheaper than Lufkin.
$3.57 here in Conroe, TX
(North Houston Suburb)
Now that is an excellent idea!
Even with the Iran War, and all of the other temporary distractions, the blue states charge more because of higher gas tax, price gouging, and chasing the “Green Insanity” pipe dream, and WANTING to hurt the People. Just look at Chicago, New England, New York, California, Oregon, Washington State at the high prices, pain, suffering, and misery of their People. As for the red states, gas prices are up a little, but nothing like the blue states, and red state People are happier, safer, more prosperous. It is like night and day. Really, ask yourself which state you would want to live in if you had a choice.
Tell me about it! NY is going for the sheer misery of the people! If I could move, I’d be gone!
unless you’re in prison you can move.
$1.87 per gallon of added taxes here in blue California. Costco $5.69/gal. Plus the 2 refineries shutting down due to environmental stupidity hasn’t fully reached the pump. Living the CA dream.
Does that figure include the $.25 federal tax
Great Idea. Do the same for housing, energy and food prices. Most Americans would be shocked at how expensive everyday items are in blue states and cities – mainly due to punishingly high local and state taxes.
Excellent point.
Except my stations in the suburbs of Birmingham AL this weekend all got up to $3.999 orhigher.
So we are loosing that argument too.
What T needs to do is Tell Netanyahu, OK you got us all in this mess now you better get us put.
Turn on all of your surveillance and “intelligence’ staff and Tell Us WHERE all of the remaining Clergy and IRCG leaders are hiding.
Then we should tell the rest of the world to go to the corner and STFU while we finish this.
Then we should use WHATEVER ordinance it takes to get to that hiding place and Kill Them ALL.
Notice I did not say “conventional” ordinance.
Whatever it takes to rid the world or the 12er Death Cult root and branch.
Then he should come home nand tell every believer in a Premillennialist version of the Bible to STFU or they may get similar.
Forgive me for jumping in up top Mrs. S, but you cut right to the same chase my brain went to.
Averages always skew to extremes. Means should never be reported without medians as well.
Look at AAA’s map:
https://gasprices.aaa.com/
We live in a time when EVERYTHING gets manipulated in cahoots with electioneering propaganda by the Dems. Left Coast states pile all sorts of surcharges onto each gallon to make political points and punish drivers (whom they loathe)…then turn around and blame DJT. It’s all manipulative propaganda.
Also. It’s a good idea to run today’s prices through an inflation calculator when comparing to the past. Sometimes past prices are reported in “real” terms, other times not. And sometimes it’s mixed up in whatever ways make the most TDS sense for the media propagandists.
Everybody gets romantic about “how cheap gas was in the past.” But I remember in grad school when gas went over $1 a gallon, and I had to commute (couldn’t afford to live on campus). $1 a gallon then is equal to over $5 today.
Here’s a historic chart of gas prices in the US, adjusted for inflation. Malevolent demons in the media should have this info at their fingertips in preparing stories/interviews. For starters it’d help educate the public on how to think about economics. But no. It’s all propaganda…and stupid propaganda that makes the public stupid. APPALLING.
https://www.macrotrends.net/4453/us-gasoline-prices
EDIT for space formatting
Deep Red Hill Country TX, $3.29
Lest we forget…
Doing what she and Mayor Pete of No Experience do best…
Such an angry person
I would hate to be Mr Warren.
Is there such a victim — er, creature?
No way!!! She’s married?! Yikes…
He did a cameo on one of her campaign ads one time and seemed like a total wimp. I would not hesitate to say that she wears the pants in that family.
I saw an IG post by someone who said she purchased lots of shares of Spirit, around the time she sent the letter and nixed the deal with Jet Blue, and has recently sold them a short time ago, for huge profit.
If true, a big brouhaha should be made of it and get ethics committee involved.
Didn’t Martha Stewart go to prison for something similarly alleged?
Its that ‘Thee and Me’ crowd again.
If they had any sense of “ethics” themselves, I’d agree.
But…
and did you hear her last week badgering Pete Hegseth accusing him of insider trading?
Obviously she didn’t attend Nancy Pelosi’s stock seminars which were full of information plus the gin was flowing.
Umm think.. vodka.
As much as I dislike Ai…sometimes it’s funny.
She’s an operative. Obviously.
Dontcha just love when those who have never earned a paycheck in the real world lecture the real world on business?/s
I’ve waited my whole life to have a business man in the White House and even underestimated the difference it makes.
Ms. Brennan has the mental agility of a small soap dish.
Perfect!!! You win the internet today 😀
Lol.
Lie soap at that.
Usually I would point out a misspelling but in this case you are correct in the description
My suggestion for Republican response when libs say, ‘The war is costing Americans a dollar more per gallon of gasoline.’…
‘Would you rather temporarily pay a little more for gas…Or die in a fiery nuclear explosion?’
The idiots need a picture to understand! When radical Jihadists learn to fly and airplane; we get an Oct 911 event! When radical jihadists get machete knives, bunches of non-jihadists everywhere get their heads cut off! When radical jihadists find out about ultra-light aircraft, Israel gets an Oct 7th event! Radical jihadists have discovered the demonic power of nuclear radiation to kill, burn and mutilate the entire World population! After 50 years of proof, what idiot believes they would NOT use that power?
From the hell-fires of nuclear explosions and the radiation that lasts thousands of years, we are not allowed a MIS-JUDGMENT!
Thank you, Sundance. Blessings to Kevin!
He truly is a happy warrior; one has to smile has he smilingly negotiates these glacier-brained pundits.
“dispatch the narrative engineering of Margaret Brennan”
That is a really nice way of saying “bull dung”
“I completely understand why the White House appears to have finally had enough of Ms. Brennan’s dramatic performances and has chosen not to send most representatives into this nonsense pantomime any longer.”
As PDJT has been saying at his rallies before his first term, “FAKE NEWS”.
It’s what we in the business I was once a part of falls under the heading of short term pain for long term gain.
Brennan, instead of asking questions about the hopeful news, is always trying to catch out her guests and in the process showing her ignorance or lack of preparation. I noticed on a new graph of energy sources that natural gas rose to $9.33 under president Biden in 2022 but on 30 April this year under president Trump it is down to $2.80 per MMBtu despite the war.
I thought CBS was trying to change the tenor of their political bias??
CBS wants President Trump dead, along with all of his supporters. That will never change.
Margaret Brennan, Mainstream Media, the Democrat Communist Party, Hollywood, Sports, and Music, fall into one general group, the Dark Side. Those who will never rise above 40,000 feet above the Earth`s surface, in body or in spirit. They act the way they do because God has given them over to depraved minds, degenerate, reprobate minds that no longer think correctly. Romans 1:28-32 pretty much describes what we are having to deal with on a daily basis. It has nothing to do with President Trump, Congress, the Supreme Court, MAGA, the Republican Party, or Christians. It has to do with rejecting God and being willfully blinded by Satan and a hardening of their hearts. They are the ones Jesus talked about in Matthew 7:13,14, who will be taking the wide gate and the broad road that leads to destruction. The Democrat Communist Party kicked God and prayer out of the Democrat Convention in 2012. If there is any prayer in their convention today, it is more than likely to the Baphomet statue and what it represents. To sum it up, the violence, the crazy people doing all sorts of detestable things, attacking President Trump, Christians, Law enforcement doing their jobs, attacking the good and the right, shows clearly the side they are on, and it is the wrong side. They are dangerous and must not be taken lightly and it is the responsibility of each sane, God fearing, individual to defend themselves and their family by any means necessary.
I’m seeing a lot of “back seat driving” about what President Trump “should do.”
I trust President Trump to continue doing exactly what he has always done. His overall plan is working. God is with him.
Don’t change a thing Mr. President. You do you, and, with God’s blessing, all will be well.
I just flew out here to discuss these matters at the Milken conference in LA, you know, on United Airlines and the you know, the other airlines are operating, what they’ve done because they have thought ahead way more than the management of Spirit is hedge their jet fuel purchases and so on.
Delta owns its own oil refinery. Now that’s thinking ahead.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/delta-s-ace-in-the-hole-for-surging-jet-fuel-costs-its-own-refinery/ar-AA20uvrm
Other airlines that went under…
Pan Am, Braniff, Continental, TWA, Piedmont, Southern, Frontier, Valu Jet, Eastern, US Airways, Midwest Airways…
I do know Braniff and Pan AM had ‘arrangements’ with the US govt for Canal Zonians going back to the States for a summer vacation…a perk of working down their, the US Govt paid a round trip for each family member, every two years, it used to be called the Home Leave year…the other perk was we got to skip going thru customs and immigration. We were on chartered jets…you think SWA is bad???
Its sad but it is a dictate of ‘the market’? With a little help from Liawatha? Again, very sad.
Linked by TLD, I cannot speak to the veracity of this podcaster however worth the listen, re H-1-B:’s
https://rumble.com/v79b7n8-theres-real-rage-in-the-job-market-and-its-going-to-get-worse.html?mref=8g74p&mc=1tbdj
Margaret, your dramatic performances are tiresome, and your intellectual vigor is running at a continual deficit. Regards
There! Sundance told her. Now I’m telling her.
Where does her motivation come from. What is her vision of the country. What are her goals, and the goals of the people she is in cahoots with. What do they want?
Whatever it is, it is not in alignment with Truth. Not in alignment with good. Not in alignment with the constitution. And not in alignment with the will of the citizens of this country she is leeching off of.
What she is in alignment is whatever the just punishment for Treason and Sedition.
Q: Where does her motivation come from?
A: She’s a Democrat propaganda nozzle.
She tries to use her fake teary eyes gimmick.
“What I don’t understand is why the White House just doesn’t tell her in brutally honest terms: Margaret, your dramatic performances are tiresome, and your intellectual vigor is running at a continual deficit. Regards.”
^^^^THIS^^^^
It would be VERY helpful and illuminating to remind each and every idiot, ESPECIALLY Margret, of what the prices were and where they were going when Biden was in office… WITH ABSOLUTELY NO END IN SIGHT! If anything the Democrats were absolutely gleeful each time the prices went up, celebrating what they were doing in the name of climate change while sending us all to the EV abyss. Just once, can’t these guys speak up and tell Margret to her face what a hypocritical female dog she is?!
Taxpayers are footing the bill to keep these press whores on air and it needs to stop now, they r anything but journalists… “distortion of news” is a daily occurrence. FCC needs to start doing the heavy lifting…
Sundance
You and the other moderators get to choose the content here, and I just get to read it, and most of it I am happy to read.
The Promethean Action stuff is actually pretty good, with the warning label that it is LARouche stuff.
Fine.
But I will point out to you that I have been telling the Foxnuz people in their Twitter Accounts when they say “Did you see what this Dimm said/did?” It is because NO, I actively avoid listening or watching anything they produce.
The only reason I see ANY of their low rated stuff is because FOXNUZ spends half their show replaying all the Dimm Garbage.
So I agree the Reps should tell Margaret to take a hike.
So should the Treehouse.
We know what she produces is swill, so don’t publish it here.,
Blank the all out.
AI agree the Republicans at all levels should just say “Sorry, got another appointment” when she calls and let her talk to the Dimms in a circle.
Just like MS Whatsitsname.
Hang them up and don’t call them back.
My sister is in Michigan, she said gas is $4.99
A couple weeks ago she said it was down to like $2.55….then she woke up in shock at $4.99
Just love how Kevin sports that kind smile as he politely explains things to her.
Brennan reminds me of Emily Litella
Thank you, Sundance, for the accurate and satirical second and third paragraphs that capture my complete sentiments about Maggie and SeeBS. Apparently the FCC is going to discuss “quality in broadcasting” with another network in the near future, and hopefully they will follow up with SeeBS with a meeting, or the administration will follow up with future legal action if more slander ensues. Thank you for the great and accurate reprting.
“They say gas prices have canceled out nearly half of the increase in expected tax refunds.” This might be one of the dumbest false equivalencies the lamestream has ever trotted out.