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newyork

Rich Barrabi

LISOtiran331_2026-03-31-10-21-25

After that roundtable discussion, I spoke one on one with Secretary Besant in a news 12 exclusive. Last hour, we showed you what the secret secretary had to say about the one big beautiful bill's impact on your finances, but that's only half the story right now. On the flip side of it, currently with the war in Iran, we're seeing gas prices increase, oil prices, and the impact that's having on small businesses. Is there concern that this could linger long term and potentially wash out some of the gains you just outlined? Well, I don't think it's going to be long term, and I think that the American people are willing to accept. 60 days of volatility for 50 years of security. What we had before was the illusion of security, but Iran on February 27th could have closed the Straits of Hormuz in a much more fulsome manner, and you see how they're fighting now the missiles, the drones, the savage attacks that they're doing. Imagine what it would have been like in a year or two. So we're going to get to the other side of this, I think. Oil prices will be lower on the other side, which would mean gasoline prices will be lower. And what President Trump has done is he has re-equated the idea that you can't have prosperity without security. For 20 years we were under this illusion that you could Have one side of the equation and we've got to have both, but you believe the other side of this is sooner rather than later. I believe that I'm not going to give exact timing because I don't know it, but that this is not going to go on for an extended period, and we will get to the other side of this, and there will be a big makeup once we're out of this.

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LI5amSOt331_2026-03-31-10-21-16

Table in Nassau County focusing on President Trump's working families tax cuts law. The Treasury Secretary Scott Besson and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman held that discussion in Mineola. The owner of the Embassy Diner and Bethpage, Gus Sorvas, spoke about how much no tax on tips has impacted his workers' lives. I cannot tell you how huge this is for them. I see it firsthand every single day. For instance, my waiter John, who has been working for me for 4 years since I bought the diner. He has a wife and 3 kids. He hasn't been able to take, he hasn't been able to take them on vacation because he just couldn't afford it. But now because of President Trump's no tax on tips, this year he's going to be going away with his entire family. These are the real people Every day just to get by in life. Now, after that roundtable discussion, Secretary Besson spoke with me in an exclusive one on one interview. We discussed the impact of President Trump's signature tax bill. Mr. Secretary, thank you for the time. We appreciate it. You certainly, uh, received a lot of feedback just now during that panel discussion. A lot of people, uh, pointing to the benefits they've seen from the big beautiful bill. What are you seeing in terms of data here on Long Island and across the state that's saying this is having a real impact? Well, Richard, I can tell you, thanks for having me. Uh, I can tell you what we're seeing nationally. And nationally we're seeing that tax refunds are up more than 10%, that almost 50% of the tax returns that have been filed have had one of the president's four signature policies. They claimed no tax on tips, no tax on overtime. They have reduced taxes for our seniors on Social Security, and deductibility of auto loans for American cars. And especially the no tax on overtime, 25% of the tax returns that have been filed, people have claimed that deduction, and in my mind that's the American way, work harder, keep more of it. Something that is specific to this area is salt and the changes that took place there. We're in tax filing season now. People are starting to see those returns come in. That has an

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LISOTfinal331

Now after that roundtable discussion, I spoke one on one with Secretary Besset in a News 12 exclusive. We've already shown you this morning how the Secretary responded to my questions about the impact of the Trump signature tax bill and the war in Iran on our economy here at home. So how will this shake out in the short term and the long term? Bottom line for Long Islanders, for New Yorkers, they see salt, they see no tax on tips, but they're also dealing with those higher gas prices, maybe some goods prices increasing as well. What's the outlook for them a month from now, two months from now, a year from now? I, I again, the, the, the president's, the economic agendas, three legged stool, trade, which we talked about, taxes, work and families tax cut. And the main thing we have a lot of small business owners there today and they're talking about what a relief the tax bill has been for them and then deregulation which I think is going to simplify paperwork so the war will end. We will get to the other side of this. Prices will come back down, but the economic momentum will endure. Mr. Secretary, thank you. Good to see you, Rich.

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LIBesstet10331

Talking about your taxes today in Mineola, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Besson was there. He joined business leaders and others for a roundtable talk at the county ledge, and after that roundtable discussion, Secretary Besset spoke with our Rich Barrabe in an exclusive one on one interview. They discussed the impact of President Trump's signature tax bill, the war in Iran, and a new initiative that's asking everyday Americans to help highlight and uncover fraud in government spending. You have outlined a new plan to combat fraud, and you're asking Americans to get involved directly in this. I guess the question is what's in it for them. Well, as I've said, it's when we go back to when we had to start being more vigilant on trains and buses at the airport, if you see something, say something. So at Treasury, we are able to offer a rewards whistleblower program of 10 to 30% of the funds we recover. If someone notifies us, so treasury.gov, go to the top of the web page and if you see something, if you suspect something, let us know. We've received more than 700 tips so far. We'll follow up on them and again. If something doesn't make sense, if you see something that doesn't seem right, let us know. You think it's that rampant that this is necessary? Well, again, we think that there could be between $250 and $500 billion of fraud going on. That's about 10% of the federal budget, so we could pay down debt. We could obviously cut the deficit. We could lower taxes, but For the real notion of a community is a group of people who have high trust in each other and when you are getting this kind of rampant fraud whether it's in health care, whether it's in social services, education, then we've got to bring back trust to our communities. And Tuesday morning you can watch more of Richard's interview with Secretary Bessett, including what he has to say about the president's tariffs and the Supreme Court ruling striking down some of them. That begins at 5 a.m.

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United States Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent says he expects a "big make up" to occur once the war in Iran concludes, although the declined to place a date on when that could happen. 

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