VF Hive editor Jon Kelly, Kristen Scholer and the Hive panel discuss the top five stories of the week in politics, technology and business. Tom Frank and Bess Levin kick off The Hive 5 with the first legislative victory of Donald Trump's presidency. They talk about the tax reform bill that, critics argue, will raise the deficit, harm the middle class, and only benefit corporations.
Maya Kosoff covers the latest troubles for Uber. She and Nick Bilton discuss the recent ruling from the European Court of Justice that Uber is essentially a cab company, as opposed to a digital technology company.
Bess Levin and T.A. Frank weigh in on Bernie Sanders' suggestion that the Republican tax bill will be completely re-written once the Democrats take over Congress in 2018. The panel discusses a possible Sanders run for president in 2020.
Bilton and Kosoff return to report on Facebook, and how 2017 was a reckoning for the company. They talk about whether Mark Zuckerberg can pivot in 2018, or if the company will be broken up.
Levin and Frank round out The Hive 5 with a discussion on the return of Anthony Scaramucci to the news. They bring up his criticisms of Steve Bannon at a recent holiday party, and whether he might be well-suited to star in his own reality show.
David Levine, elections integrity fellow with Alliance for Securing Democracy, joins Cheddar News to discuss Politico's bombshell finding revealing the RNC's plan to contest the elections.
A survey by the BMO Real Financial Progress Index found that 25 percent of Americans are pulling back on retirement contributions to offset the cost of inflation. This comes as market volatility reduced retirement savings with the S&P 500 shedding more than 12 percent this year alone.
As abortion rights take center stage in courts around the country, so do discussions about reproductive health. Signs and social media posts say things like "protect women's rights" and "her body, her choice," leaving others who need and receive abortions completely out of the picture. The potential end to Roe v. Wade would impact far more people and facilities than you may think. Cheddar News' Baker Machado breaks it all down.
Arkansas is planning to reshape itself by putting a strong emphasis on technology through computer science in the classroom. Governor Asa Hutchinson joined Cheddar News Buffa to discuss the state's efforts to promote itself as a future tech hub. “It gives young people such a huge opportunity for success," he noted. The term-limited governor also touched on the issue of gun ownership, offering up the idea of possibly raising the age limit to obtain rifles like the AR-15 to 21 instead of 18 as it currently stands.
The dating app Bumble has sponsored bills and pushed lawmakers to criminalize the online practice of sending unsolicited nudes or “cyberflashing." Payton Iheme, Bumble's head of public policy for the Americas, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the app was going after the harassing behavior beyond its own platform. "Now, while we went to work internally in the company, and we created something called private detector to automatically blur those images so the user can decide if they want to see them, there's nothing for the rest of the internet," she said. "And so that's why we went to work with these laws."
Constituent service platform Indigov recently raised $25 million in a Series B funding round. Indigov bills itself as a constituent relationship management tool that helps elected officials improve the way they organize, respond to, and engage those they serve. The startup's services are being used by federal, state, and local governments across the country, including the U.S. House of Representatives. Alex Kouts, founder & CEO of Indigov, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
