*By Carlo Versano*
Cynthia Nixon is sticking by her controversial bagel order.
The progressive Democrat challenging incumbent Andrew Cuomo in New York State's upcoming gubernatorial primary shared a cinnamon raisin bagel topped with lox and cream cheese with Cheddar on Tuesday. The unconventional medley ignited a [firestorm](https://nypost.com/2018/09/10/cynthia-nixons-bagel-order-is-horrifying/) on Twitter over the weekend, but Nixon has bigger fish to fry.
She wants the two-term Cuomo, who has long been thought to have presidential ambitions, to re-establish his liberal bona fides for voters calling for change. Cuomo maintains a 40 point lead over his challenger, according to the [latest polling] (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/governor/ny/new_york_governor_democratic_primary-6526.html). But Nixon pointed to a slew of recent upsets ー Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Andrew Gillum, and Ayanna Pressley ー that have fueled her optimism for Thursday's primary.
"The polls across the board are just not capturing the progressive moment we're in," she said, adding that hundreds of thousands of new Democrats have registered to vote across New York State following Donald Trump's election.
Nixon's platform is built on issues of housing affordability, universal healthcare, and criminal justice reform. The latter has garnered her perhaps the most traction.
In a debate last month, Nixon pointedly called the legalization of marijuana a "racial-justice issue."
"Using marijuana is something that's effectively been legal for white people for a long time," she said during her interview on Cheddar. "It's time to make it legal for everybody else."
Part of that reform includes paroling and expunging the records of New Yorkers who were convicted of smoking or selling pot and using tax revenues from a nascent (decriminalized) weed industry to invest in communities that have been ravaged by the decades-long war on drugs.
Nixon's position on pot was viral enough to cause rapper T.I. to [gush](https://thegrio.com/2018/09/11/ti-cynthia-nixon-marijuana-vote/) over her on Twitter, though he admitted he doesn't know who the candidate is.
Cuomo, for his part, rejected what he called "reparations" during the debate, but struck a more cautious, pro-legalization position ー a leftward policy change that may have developed only at Nixon's prodding.
But the actress-turned-activist isn't running to liberalize Cuomo ー she's running to replace him.
"To be informed about Andrew Cuomo is to want a change," she said.
The former "Sex and the City" star said she has been encouraged by support upstate and in the suburbs, though New York City remains her core base. To that end, she has run aggressively on a campaign to fix the subway, pinning the decrepit state of the system on her opponent.
In New York, the subways are theoretically controlled by the governor, who oversees the MTA. Nixon has pledged to pass congestion pricing and a tax on the wealthy to pay for much-needed repairs to an aging infrastructure. She said Cuomo has not aggressively fought for the funding in Albany.
With two days to go until New York Democrats head to the polls, Nixon, who has refused corporate donations, knows she's the underdog against a well-known, well-funded, powerful incumbent. But there's no denying the country's progressive wave. The question remains whether that wave will be enough to carry Nixon to victory.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/cynthia-nixon-optimistic-despite-trailing-gov-andrew-cuomo-in-latest-polls).
Following the surprising big beat on estimates for the January jobs report, William M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, joined Cheddar News to break down the data. “We ended 2021 with a strong crescendo to a recovery that had taken hold, and we started 2022 in good fashion." He also discussed the dueling pressures of wage growth and inflation.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of the Rewired News Group and co-host of the podcast. "Boom! Lawyered," joins Cheddar Politics to discuss Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, legacy and potential replacement on the Supreme Court.
The Biden administration delivered a temporary win for student loan borrowers this year by extending the moratorium on federal payments for a few more months. That moratorium is coming to an end on May 1st and borrowers will again have their monthly loan payment plopped in their lap.
Stephanie Vanderslice, a creative writing professor paying off debt through the Parent Plus program, and Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
2022 was already going to be a big year for the Supreme Court. We have decisions on major issues like abortion and gun rights on the way. Then, Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement and that set up a major confirmation fight for later this year. Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The Labor Department released a better-than-expected report of 467,000 jobs added in January. Heather Boushey, Council of Economic Advisers Member for President Biden, joined Cheddar to tout the administration's handling of the economy amid the pandemic and the upward revisions for the previous month. "It also shows that, because of the revisions, the economy was stronger over the past couple of months," she said. "I don't think that this can be said enough, but economic forecasting during an historic pandemic is extremely difficult." Boushey also addressed issues involving wage growth versus the rapid rise of inflation.
The Labor Department's January jobs report showed 467,000 jobs were added, compared to the 150,000 that were projected, a sign that employment is continuign to return to pre-pandemic levels. Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at investment bank Stifel, joined Cheddar to break down the report, noting the big gains but adding a note of caution. "Remember, even with this morning's stellar report, we're still millions below that level that we had reached prior to the onset of COVID-19," she said." Yes, we are recapturing jobs. We still have further ground that needs to be made before we can talk about reaching that previous peak." Piegza also discussed the role of the Federal Reserve going forward as the employment figures turn more positive.
As President Biden's poll numbers fall with Black voters, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass. 7th District) joined Cheddar to discuss what she feels could help the embattled administration: deliver on policies. Pressley pointed to stalled legislation such as new voting rights laws and Build Back Betters and canceling student loan debt, which would go a long way to improving his standing with Black constituents. "President Biden has the authority and the power to alleviate this burden, which would also help in closing the racial wealth gap, and he can do it by executive action with the stroke of a pen," she said. "And it doesn't require one vote from Congress. So, the Biden administration just needs to deliver to Black America in a tangible and impactful way."
