Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif. 15th District) is urging his Republican colleagues to get onboard with President Joe Biden's sweeping $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, saying that the bill addresses many issues that plagued the country even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
"We know that as Americans get back to work, as the economy reopens, we'll be reminded of our crumbling infrastructure," Swalwell told Cheddar.
"Americans want to spend less time in their cars and more time with their families, so that means investing in rails, additional highways, roads, bridges, tunnels."
Swalwell also noted the potential for broadband expansion under the Biden proposal, particularly for students who have lacked access to adequate internet service during the establishment of distance learning.
The president's infrastructure plan calls for a hike in corporate taxes from 21 percent to 28 percent, a move that many Republicans have come out against though the proposal is still below the 35 percent rate that existed before the Trump administration. Swalwell said the GOP has to be "a part of this process" and hopes some are willing to cross the aisle for the benefit of the country at large.
"President Biden ran on a uniting-the-country agenda, and he is reaching across the aisle," Swalwell said. "And I hope he will find partners that will work with him."
"I'm confident, on our side, in the House, we will do what is needed to get done. I hope that on the Republican side in the Senate, that they can achieve 60 votes, meaning at least 10 Republicans cross the aisle for the infrastructure needs that are there."
In hopes of enticing Republican lawmakers to support Biden's plan, the California representative also pointed to the return of earmarks or "member-directed spending," which allow lawmakers to direct funds to specific projects or groups in their districts. Earmarks were temporarily banned by each party in 2011 after President Obama promised to veto any bill containing them during his State of the Union address.
Senate Republicans voted to permanently ban the practice in 2019 but have shown signs they may be willing to re-embrace them, according to The Hill.
Swalwell noted that not only are Democratic lawmakers supporting the American Jobs Plan, their constituents are also backing it.
"I just think good policy is good politics, and if we keep this country open, if the unemployment rate is low, and the economy grows, like Goldman Sachs predicted at 8 percent by the end of the year, I think Americans will want to return to responsible governance to Washington come 2022," he said.
Peter Zalzal, associate vice president for clean air strategies at the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, joined Cheddar to discuss the Biden Administration's unveiling of stricter fuel-efficiency standards for new automobiles. "The administration estimated that these rules will reduce about 2.5 billion tons of climate pollution by 2050, and using less fuel also means that we have to go to the gas pump less often. And so it means we save money, thousands of dollars in avoided fuel costs each year for consumers," he noted.
The relatively robust March jobs report showed that despite the low unemployment rate, Black, Hispanic, and women job seekers are still having difficulty finding work. William M. Rodgers III, the vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis noted that participation rates in the labor force ticked up for minorities, adding to other positive signs of growth. He also spoke to Cheddar News to discuss further the jobs figures, the state of the labor market, and rising inflation.
U.S. markets opened higher to kick off the second quarter, despite a miss on the March Jobs Report. The economy added $431,000 in the month, slightly lower than the $490,000 analysts had expected. The unemployment rate also ticked down to 3.6% from 3.8%. Kevin Simpson, Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Capital Wealth Planning joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
President Biden is going after billionaires in his 2023 budget request to congress. The proposal would establish a 20% minimum tax rate on all households worth more than $100 million, as well as raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Rhett Buttle, Small Business for America's Future Senior Advisor, Business Policy Expert & Biden Campaign Business Advisor, breaks down the proposal, what it aims to accomplish, and how small businesses might feel about it.
The Biden administration has announced the U.S. will accept up to 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and provide more than 1 billion dollars in new funding for the growing humanitarian crisis. The move comes as President Biden meets with his western counterparts in Europe to demonstrate a united front against Russia and show support for Ukraine. Altagracia Pierre-Outerbridge, Immigration Attorney for Outerbridge Law, explains how this is going to work.
The DOJ has endorsed an antitrust bill targeting tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Google. The legislation would ban the companies from favoring their own products and services over their competitor's, making it more difficult them to dominate the marketplace. Greg Day, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Georgia, breaks down the bill and its potential impact on anti-competition in the tech sector.
Catching you up with what you need to know on Apr 1, 2022, with Ukrainians hoping to flee the besieged city of Mariupol with a ceasefire is in place, President Biden orders the release of oil from U.S.reserves, LGBT activists suing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the "Don't Say Gay" Law, U.S. passports offering an "x" option for gender, and more.
America’s employers extended a streak of robust hiring in March, adding 431,000 jobs in a sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of a still-destructive pandemic and the highest inflation in 40 years.
