In Maryland, the Montgomery County Council has introduced a resolution deeming racism a public health crisis.
In an interview with Cheddar, councilmember Will Jawando says disparities the black community faces are staggering. Recent social uprisings might have lit the flame under Jawando to introduce the resolution but the issue of racial inequality goes back hundreds of years, he said.
"Racism is the direct result, for 401 years, we've been either property or legally discriminated against for most of that time," Jawando told Cheddar.
In Montgomery County, systemic racism is not limited to just over-assertive and sometimes lethal policing of the black community, he said. It's also running rampant in the healthcare system. As COVID-19 continues to ravage communities of color nationwide, 18 percent of the black population in his county makes up a quarter of the deaths related to the virus.
For Jawando, racism in the Washington DC suburb is simply a reflection of society on a smaller scale.
"If you look at maternal health and childbirth, black women die at three times the rate," he said. "When they come in with problems, often doctors — look at Serena Williams — don't believe that they're sick."
Introducing the resolution, which he expects to pass next week, is a first step for curing the public health crisis in his county, Jawando said, but he hopes the measure is eventually recognized on both the state and federal levels. He also supports other methods of combating racism including the growing call to defund police departments nationwide.
"We shouldn't have stats driven by policing," he explained. "De-escalation, that should be rewarded just as much as we reward arrests and tickets."
Andrew Desiderio, Congressional Reporter for The Daily Beast, talks the GOP's passing of tax reform and the President's scoring his first major legislative win of his administration. We dig into what this means for the future of the GOP as we head into the 2018 and 2020 elections.
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Congressman Beto O'Rourke has represented Texas' 16th district since 2012. Now he is seeking out a new job in the Senate. He is running against Republican incumbent and former presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz, and he thinks that he can win.
Congressman O'Rourke is on a mission to visit all 254 counties in Texas to listen to constituents who want to see change in Washington. His Senate campaign has already raised more the Senator Cruz's campaign, and he is not accepting money from any special interests groups or super PACs. The congressman says Ted Cruz's popularity is below that of embattled Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who is an accused child molester.
Representative O'Rourke is confident he will beat Ted Cruz come November 2018. He views the Tax Bill and other Republican-passed legislation as an opportunity for Democrats to empower voters to get off of the sidelines and get involved with politics. The congressman says his race in Texas is not just important for the state, but critically important for the country.
After a procedural snafu last night, the House officially passed tax reform this morning. Now the bill goes to President Trump's desk to be signed into law.
Stitch Fix shares plunged after the company's first earnings report and the Senate passes tax reform. We also look a new interstellar object and what Patagonia's move in defiance of the president has meant for sales. Plus our weekly personal finance show "Your Cheddar," presented by Ally.
Early Wednesday morning the Senate passed its tax reform bill, hours after it was sent back to the House for a re-vote. Romina Boccia, Deputy Director at The Heritage Foundation, joins Cheddar to discuss how the bill will impact small companies and what she wishes was included in the legislation.
