Latest news with #Midterms2026
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Does, And Does Not Do, For Hollywood
When Donald Trump signs the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' on Friday, it will be a starting point for a big messaging battle with an eye on the 2026 midterms. Hollywood activists are likely to play a big part of that, particularly on the left, where the concern is not only on the major cuts to Medicaid and nutrition programs, but a huge increase in funding for immigration enforcement. The legislation also has a large scale roll back of clean energy initiatives, to the dismay of everyone from climate activists to Elon Musk. More from Deadline Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill Clears Congress After Marathon House Vote; Hakeem Jeffries Delivers Record-Breaking Floor Speech In Protest CBS News Staffers React To Paramount Settlement Of Trump's Lawsuit: John Dickerson Says, "Can You Hold Power To Account After Paying It Millions?" - Update U.S. Added 147,000 Jobs In June, Unemployment Rate Steady At 4.1% Overall, Republicans' goal in passing the legislation was to extend the tax cuts that were put in pace in 2017, during Trump's first term, as well as to add billions to border security and defense spending. The legislation also makes across-the-board tax changes to things like deductions for highly compensated employees and to charitable giving. One of the most hotly contested was over the deduction for state and local income taxes, of special interest to those living in New York, California and other large states. The SALT deduction limit of $10,000, put in place in the 2017 law, will be increased to $40,000. But that would start to phase out at a $500,000 income threshold. It also retains the pass-through entity tax workaround. But the SALT cap will revert to $10,000 in 2030. But tucked into the mammoth legislation, which the Congressional Budget Office says will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, are some provisions that have potential impact on the entertainment and media business. Here's a glimpse of what's in: Sound recording expensing: The legislation added sound recordings to the list of Section 181 tax deductions that have been offered to film, TV and live theatrical productions. This allows artists and producers to deduct 100% of the production expenses, up to $150,000, in the year that they occurred, rather than set them on an amortization schedule. 'This is a powerful win for independent artists, giving them the support they need to keep creating and ensuring the music industry continues to thrive,' Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement. Spectrum: The bill authorizes the government to identify and auction highly prized spectrum for commercial use in an effort to raise $85 billion. 'This will create jobs, encourage innovation, and expand high-speed connections to more Americans,' said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The provision also was praised by USTelecom, representing major companies like Verizon and AT&T. But some public interest groups warn that the sale of spectrum could come at the cost of unlicensed spectrum on the 6 GHz band, set aside for faster Wi-Fi. Kennedy Center: The bill allocates $257 million for restoration, repairs and security at the Kennedy Center, the national cultural arts center on the Potomac. Trump engineered a takeover of the institution just weeks after taking office and, soon after, called for its overhaul. His dedication to the Kennedy Center is a contrast to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, both of which the president wants to eliminate. In contrast to the Kennedy Center, which caters largely to an audience in Washington, D.C., the NEA and the NEH fund arts and cultural programs across the country. The National Garden of American Heroes: The bill directs $40 million to come from the National Endowment for the Humanities budget to finance a National Garden of American Heroes, an idea long floated by Trump. Trump had previously suggested a long list of names for the garden, from John Adams to Dr. Seuss to Jeane Kirkpatrick to Walt Disney. Joe Biden canceled the project, but Trump revived it, and has pitched it as honoring 250 individuals to make the country's 250th anniversary next year. The money allocated would be used to pay for statues, among other things. What's not in the bill: AI moratorium. Some industry groups fought a provision that would have barred states from regulating artificial intelligence for the next 10 years. That would have jeopardized laws such as Tennessee's ELVIS Act, passed last year to give artists and any individual the of publicity over their voice and likeness. The Senate voted 99-1 to take that provision out of the legislation before the bill passed in the chamber. Performing artists parity. The 2017 tax law eliminated the ability of many actors and performers to deduct expenses, such those for costumes and head shots. Congress eliminated employees' ability to deduct miscellaneous and unreimbursed business expenses. And while many actors work as if they are independent contractors, they are paid as W2 employees. Actors Equity has for years sought relief, including via an expansion of the qualified performing artist deduction, something that is still limited to a paltry $16,000. Yet their proposal — to up that amount to $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married artists — was not in the Big, Beautiful Bill Act. In a statement, Actors Equity President Brooke Shields said that the measure would 'put money back into the pockets of thousands of arts workers, from musicians to actors and stage managers to the crew who bring live theatre and film and television shows to life.' She has said that she will still seek passage this Congress. One final note: The bill does not include any large-scale, expanded federal TV and movie production incentive, something that came to the fore when Trump announced his desire to impose tariffs on overseas productions. Trump had said that he wanted to meet with representatives from the industry, but that is still TBD. 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Fox News
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Soros-backed group behind Tesla unrest accused of 'infiltrating' key House race with chosen candidate
Progressive group "Indivisible," which was behind many of the Tesla protests in recent months as well as mobilizing for other far-left causes, appears to now be getting involved in a key congressional swing district with the goal of growing resistance against President Donald Trump in Congress. With primary races already underway for the 2026 Midterm elections, the group appears to have in their sights Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican in a critical swing state representing New York's 17th District, in the form of a candidate with extensive ties to the group, progressive Democrat and Rockland County legislator Beth Davidson. Davidson's social media presence includes several posts promoting Indivisible, including attending an event in June in Rockland, New York and Davidson was featured in a promotional video for Indivisible Northern Westchester that same month. Indivisible has been front and center in other aspects of the race and local chapters of the group helped to organize protests at Lawler town hall events in April and May. Fox News Digital reported on local Indivisible chapter leaders in Rockland planning an anti-Lawler protest in April. Footage obtained by Fox News Digital of the meeting showed organizing committee leader Pascale Jean-Gilles discussing filling the entire street in front of the event. "It is a long street, and we're trying to fill the entire street, so everyone coming into the rally will see people there and recognize it's not going to be all, like, sunshine and daisies," Jean-Gilles said. Ahead of the event, Davidson indicated that over a thousand protesters would attend the demonstration, saying on X: "Please pass him a note that 1100 or so of his 'friends' are excited to see him in my county legislative district tomorrow!" At another Indivisible protest against Lawler earlier in the month, Davidson posted on X that she was "proud to stand with more than 1,000 people at the #HandsOff rally organized by @IndivisWstchr @1199seiu @nwindivisible@cwaunion and more to stand up for our freedoms and our future!" "Mike Lawler may be silent on the daily assaults on healthcare, education, social security and national security, but We the People are NOT!" said Davidson. Davidson congratulated Indivisible Rockland for a "packed event" in April 2025 after speaking at one of their events a month earlier, accusing Lawler of hiding from his constituents. Bill Batson, a member of the Indivisible Rockland steering committee, gave $250 to Davidson's campaign via his own campaign committee, FEC records show. In response to Indivisible and Davidson's apparent collaboration, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Maureen O'Toole accused the group of "infiltrating" congressional races to undermine Trump's agenda. "Indivisible has a new plan: stop shouting outside congressional offices and start infiltrating them," said O'Toole. "Their first attempt? NY-17, where they're backing far-left extremist Beth Davidson to carry out their agenda." Indivisible was founded in response to Trump's election in 2016, according to its website. The group's website says that they were "brought together by a practical guide to resist the Trump agenda, Indivisible is a movement of thousands of group leaders and more than a million members taking regular, iterative, and increasingly complex actions to resist the GOPs agenda, elect local champions, and fight for progressive policies." Indivisible's presence at Tesla protests nationwide, according to a Washington Free Beacon report, included a "reimbursement program" for local activists that showed up at the protests. Indivisible, a group that has received more than $7 million from the George Soros network since 2017, according to the New York Post, has also been involved in protests calling to "abolish" ICE. The group has also promoted defunding the police. Earlier this year, Indivisible published a "tool kit" with recommendations for protesting at town halls and lawmakers' district offices. A section on how to "take the fight to Elon" includes steps for planning and executing a demonstration at Tesla dealerships, showrooms and factories for Elon Musk's role as then-head of the Department of Government Efficiency. While many of the protests outside Tesla dealerships were peaceful, the anti-Musk effort resulted in several instances of violence that the Department of Justice labeled "domestic terrorism", including acts of arson. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Lawler campaign spokesperson Chris Russell, called Davidson's association with Indivisible "disgraceful." "They've had Nazi imagery and antisemitic tropes at their rallies and promoted a baseless election denialism conspiracy theory rooted in antisemitism on their website. I'm demanding she denounce them immediately, this dangerous rhetoric will lead to more violence and threatens our democracy." Davidson condemned the imagery at the rally she attended in a post on X in March saying, "To be clear, I absolutely condemn the imagery of that poster. I will always be a voice against anti-Semitism and for my Jewish community. It's time for Mike Lawler to stop weaponizing antisemitism for his own political gain and stop using the Jewish community — my community, not his — as political pawns." Lawler responded on X making the case that Davidson's statement did not go far enough. Fox News Digital reached out to the Davidson campaign for comment on this story. Davidson has been endorsed by Mondaire Jones, a progressive who is the last Democrat to hold Lawler's seat. The race for NY-17 will be one of the most closely watched in the country as Republicans attempt to preserve their razor-thin majority in Congress, which historically has proven difficult for the party in power following a new president taking office. The Cook Political Report ranks the race, where Davidson is one of several Democrats running in the primary, as "Lean Republican."
