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).
U.S. health officials are cutting isolation restrictions for Americans who test positive for the coronavirus and shortening the time that close contacts have to quarantine.
New Year celebrations are approaching and across the world there is an urge to party. But the desire to let loose is being countered by the highly transmissible omicron variant.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, remaining at a historically low level that reflects the job market’s strong recovery from the coronavirus recession last year.
The Biden administration is extending a student loan moratorium that has allowed tens of millions of Americans to put off debt payments during the pandemic.
President Joe Biden plans to deliver 500 million free COVID-19 tests to Americans, increase support for hospitals and expand the availability of vaccines to confront a winter surge of coronavirus cases driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant.
Former deputy assistant U.S. Secretary of State Joel Rubin joined Cheddar to break down the latest dispute between G7 nations and Russia as its increased military buildup along the Ukrainian border drew stern warnings of "massive consequences" should an invasion occur. "If Putin wants to keep on going further, there will be many tools that the financial system can use against him, and the United States, now, is gathering our allies in a way that is really unprecedented," he said.
