Skip to main content

August 11, 2026
August 4, 2026
July 31, 2026
July 28, 2026
July 28, 2026
July 14, 2026
June 30, 2026
June 11, 2026
June 1, 2026
May 27, 2026
May 14, 2026
May 1, 2026
April 20, 2026
Menu

Fox News

Interviews, MSM Online, News & Entertainment, Showbiz

Martha MacCallum – Live From The Sunshine State

/

Martha MacCallum – Exclusive Interview  By Nadja Atwal Martha MacCallum is one of those people that generates an “insta-like” reaction. The successful host of the Fox News show ‘The Story’ continues to receive praise from the media and her audience both for her interview style that has always successfully thrived for an objective delivery and classy debate of the latest news. The gorgeous anchor with those famous light blonde tresses (no wonder she told ALLURE magazine she never even considered changing her hair color) began her career as a reporter for Corporate Finance Magazine and held a variety of positions including with NBC and CNBC before she signed with the No 1 cable News Station Fox News.   In 1997 and 2003, MacCallum was the recipient of the American Women in Radio and Television award for her reporting and  in 2017, she landed on Variety’s New York Power List. On Thursday, June 28th, the busy power woman and her colleague, Fox News anchor Bret Baier will co-moderate a Republican gubernatorial primary debate in Orlando live from the Gaylord Palms Resort in front of a live audience. We took the opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview with Martha.    Not only have you established yourself as a powerhouse on primetime, but you are one of the few political TV show hosts who has not stirred up controversy. Is it because you try not to weigh in too heavily with your personal opinion or what is your recipe ?    My recipe is news and doing great coverage every night. Honestly, I am not a person who believes what I do is about me. It’s not about me. It’s about the viewers, the audience, and the country. I’m an arbiter of the news that’s coming across my desk every day and there are times when I reveal a little bit about how I feel about something, but I have a pretty good barometer for where that line is and I really try not to cross it. I’m really thrilled that the show is doing so well, but the recipe is always evolving!   Whenever I spent time at the Fox News building in NY in my capacity as a political commentator, I had a fantastic  experience  –  only meeting the nicest people. I perceived the place instantly as an environment where true friendships can be initiated and manifest. Then again as a host you must also feel that conflicting vibe of in-house competition. Tell us a bit about your experience and how you’ve navigated through it all over the years.   I think that we have very healthy competition here. We all want our show to be number one – we certainly want all of our shows to be in the top 10 in which we’re thankful to say that we have a tremendous record of success. The bar is very high for all of us and I think that we compete first against the other networks, and then second against each other in terms of wanting to have the best show. I think anybody whose successful in life has that attitude. That being said, we also are friends and we develop close friendships over the years. I’m just reminded of this weekend I went to Charles Krauthammer’s funeral and saw so many close friends from this environment and people who appreciated Charles and will miss him so much. Being there reminded me of what’s really important in life and that is friendships, people and the way you treat each other. I think that that’s something that’s really important to all of us.    This Thursday you will  host a Republican gubernatorial primary debate in Orlando. Again you were paired with Bret Baier for this live event. What makes you two a great  team?   We love working together. I think we complement each other really well. Bret obviously does a fantastic job and is based in Washington and has a great pulse for politics. I’ve covered politics my entire career as well and this is really a dream job for me. This is something I’ve always wanted to do. So when I sit in that chair and moderate debates I walk in there with my homework done because I absolutely love the whole process of writing, refining and debating the questions with our team. It is truly a dream come true for me and I love working with Bret. Bret is one of the best people that you will meet in this business and as long as we work together – that’s a great place for me to be.    After hosting debates like this where the audience has access to you, what are the most frequent questions you are getting from audience members once the show is over?   I can honestly say that they tell us to keep up the good work. They are incredibly encouraging. Sometimes you’ll hear someone who is a fan, isn’t a fan – I like to talk to people on all sides of the fence. I think it’s what makes life interesting and we just love their input and I love doing it in front of a crowd. The energy in the room is really palpable and it fuels the energy on stage. When we walk out and when we look at everybody and they’re so excited to be there it’s just so different for us because I’m used to working on a quiet set with a bunch of people. Being in front of a live audience just adds that extra energy and excitement to the night.   You are also devoting a substantial amount of time to charities, tell us a bit about the projects you currently support with great passion and why?   I’ve long been involved with The Inner City Scholarship Fund / Be a Student’s Friend program in New York and New Jersey. I believe that the Catholic schools in both states provide an amazing opportunity for inner city kids to be taught in an environment that’s safe and gives them a place to grow and thrive, and

Business, Financial, MSM Online

Top 5 Items People Totally Forget To Tax Deduct

/

                  By Nadja Atwal Who is surprised that most people get on their tax returns during the last 3 weeks of the deadline. But if you are the last minute type, it’s okay – as long as you the smart type. Now when it comes to being smart with money, who better to ask than one of TV’s favorite money experts, asset manager Ken Mahoney. Between his market analysis on all the top TV and radio business shows and his signings of his latest bestselling book “ Life on your terms”, we caught Ken just in time to give us his  top 5 list of items people totally forget to tax deduct. 1. State sales taxes This write-off makes sense primarily for those who live in states that do not impose an income tax. You must choose between deducting state and local income taxes, or state and local sales taxes. For most citizens of income-tax states, the income tax deduction usually is a better deal. The IRS has tables for residents of states with sales taxes showing how much they can deduct. But the tables aren’t the last word. If you purchased a vehicle, boat or airplane, you get to add the state sales tax you paid to the amount shown in IRS tables for your state, to the extent the sales tax rate you paid doesn’t exceed the state’s general sales tax rate. The same goes for home building materials you purchased. These items are easy to overlook. The IRS even has a calculator to help you figure out the deduction, which varies by your state and income level. 2. Out-of-pocket charitable contributions It’s hard to overlook the big charitable gifts you made during the year by check or payroll deduction. But the little things add up, too, and you can write off out-of-pocket costs you incur while doing good deeds. Ingredients for casseroles you regularly prepare for a nonprofit organization’s soup kitchen, for example, or the cost of stamps you buy for your school’s fundraiser count as a charitable contribution. If you drove your car for charity in 2016, remember to deduct 14 cents per mile. 3. Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit A tax credit is so much better than a tax deduction—it reduces your tax bill dollar for dollar. So missing one is even more painful than missing a deduction that simply reduces the amount of income that’s subject to tax. But it’s easy to overlook the child and dependent care credit if you pay your child care bills through a reimbursement account at work. Until a few years ago, the child care credit applied to no more than $4,800 of qualifying expenses. The law allows you to run up to $5,000 of such expenses through a tax-favored reimbursement account at work. Now, however, up to $6,000 can qualify for the credit, but the old $5,000 limit still applies to reimbursement accounts. So if you run the maximum $5,000 through a plan at work but spend more for work-related child care, you can claim the credit on up to an extra $1,000. That would cut your tax bill by at least $200. 4. Medical and Dental Expenses If your medical and/or dental expenses are over 10% of your Adjusted Gross Income, or if you are over 65, they are 7.5%, over you AGI, it’s deductible. 5. Job search Expense Transportation, parking, tolls, preparing your resume, printing, agency fees are also all tax deductible. Plus, the annoying items we wish we could 1. Donations to Non-Qualifying Charities, like friends and family Giving to a good cause can help you out at tax time, but only if you’re making a donation to a qualified charity. Handing out cash to a friend or relative who’s struggling to find a job, for example, is certainly charitable. But it won’t help you score a tax break. 2. Pet Care Expenses Fluffy may seem like a member of the family. But that doesn’t mean you can claim him as a dependent or get a deduction for his day-to-day care. 3. Commuting Expenses While business-related travel expenses (including the cost of flights and hotel stays) may be deductible, ordinary commuting expenses are not. If you take a bus, taxi or subway to get to work each day, you can’t deduct those costs on your tax return as business expenses. You may be eligible for a deduction, however, if you’re paying to travel to a training session or conference held outside of your office. 4. The Loss on the Sale of your home A capital loss on the sale of your home, used by you as your personal residence at the time of sale is considered a nondeductible personal expense. You can only deduct losses on the sale of property used for business or investment purposes. The only way you can obtain a deduction if you sell your home at a loss is to convert it to a rental property before you sell it. However, your deductible loss will be limited 5. Home Improvement Expenses Home improvement expenses generally aren’t deductible. One exception involves the renovations you make to a home office. Not everyone can take the home office deduction. But if you have a legitimate reason for claiming it, you may be able to deduct the cost of any upgrades you’ve made to your home office. While you can’t qualify for a deduction for giving your kitchen a makeover or adding a new sunroom, these projects may raise your property value. If that happens, you can write off the additional property taxes that you have to pay. www.kenmahoney.com  

Scroll to Top