Sen. John McCain said this morning that he would vote in favor of the Republican tax bill. Grover Norquist is the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform to explain why he's optimistic the bill will pass.
Norquist, who has been bullish on the bill all along, says the fact that McCain's made his announcement now, not later, means "we will have a signed bill for Christmas." He also points out how well the stock market has reacted to McCain's announcement.
Norquist also says that Americans shouldn't be concerned about the rapid passage of the legislation because "the Senate has had 70 hearings on this bill alone." During the vote, in fact, The anti-tax crusader thinks we may see a handful of Democrats who decide to associate themselves with the bill.
Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and James Lankford (R-OK) want to add a trigger to the bill that would repeal certain tax cuts if growth is weaker than expected. Norquist says the danger of adding a trigger is, "it tells people, please invest $100, million in a new factory. And look at our shiny new tax code. Maybe. Sort of. It might change."
The vote is expected Thursday night or early Friday morning.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/are-middle-class-americans-benefiting-from-president-trumps-tax-plan).
The head of Russia’s space program says the future of the ISS hangs in the balance after the U.S., EU, and Canadian space agencies missed a deadline to meet Russian demands for lifting sanctions on Russian enterprises and hardware.
President Joe Biden called for a war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he’d seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 4, 2022, with reports of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, a weekend shooting in Sacramento killing six and injuring 12, Mexico ending its gas subsidization for U.S. drivers, and the University of South Carolina winning the women's NCAA basketball championship, and more.
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.
