Ken Stern, Former CEO of NPR and Author of "Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right," joins The Hive. Stern, Kristen Scholer, and Jon Kelly discuss the possible demise of the American two-party system and whether the Independent Party may be able to make a run in the next election.
They talk about the impact the Trump Presidency may be having on the two-party system, and whether outsiders like Mark Cuban might be realistic in 2020. Stern describes how the rise of Donald Trump may have triggered a realignment of the electoral system that has been years in the making.
He also asserts that another reason for the potential reset is that both the Democrats and the Republicans seem to be failing at the same time.
Cheddar's Chloe Aiello has our cannabis year-in-review, breaking down how several states legalized adult recreational use and greenlit medicinal use in 2021. She noted that while a cannabis legalization and decriminalization bill was introduced in Congress this year, potential FDA involvement in the industry, as well as a 25 percent excise tax, killed any chance the bill had of moving forward. Aiello also speculated that some form of cannabis reform could be rolled out in 2022, as the midterm elections draw closer.
Jim Worden, Chief Investment Officer at Wealth Consulting Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the period between Christmas and New Year's is difficult to predict due to a lack of institutional volume, with the Omicron variant adding even more uncertainty on Wall Street.
Prices at the pump this year reached a seven-year high, and a new forecast from GasBuddy shared with CNN predicts that gas prices will only continue to rise in 2022 and that the national average could even reach $4.00 a gallon; however, analysts at GasBuddy say anything could happen when it comes to gas prices in the future, as the pandemic has made it difficult to make any predictions about the economy. Consumer Energy Alliance federal policy advisor Michael Zehr joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
David Stryzewski, CEO of Sound Planning Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that some of the major stock positions are getting the most lift to the upside as the major indexes climb higher to begin the week.
