Republicans celebrated their first legislative win of the year Wednesday, after both houses of Congress passed a sweeping tax reform package.
But one Democratic congresswoman told Cheddar there’s still hope for constituents who remain opposed to the bill.
“Stay mobilized, let your voice be heard,” Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) said Wednesday morning, after the Senate voted, but before the House reconvened. “Nothing is permanent but death and taxes, and we can do something about these taxes and we can do something about the makeup of this Congress.”
The president and his party leaders gathered Wednesday afternoon to praise the benefits of the tax system overhaul, which drops the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, nearly doubles the standard deduction for individuals, and lowers the tax rate for most income brackets.
While the GOP says the long-overdue changes will provide a boost to the economy, Democrats dispute that claim and say the bill will largely benefit the wealthiest Americans and balloon the deficit.
The bill does appear to be broadly unpopular. A recent CNN poll found that 55 percent of respondents opposed the legislation, a 10 percentage point increase since last month. Still, it passed the House by a vote of 224-201 Wednesday afternoon, with only 12 Republican naysayers.
Republicans also took to Twitter to cheer the victory. President Donald Trump posted a gif that read “Tax Cut for Christmas”.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-bonnie-watson-coleman-d-nj-says-voters-can-change-the-makeup-of-congress-in-2018).
Julie Menin, director of New York City Census 2020, told Cheddar Wednesday that the pandemic is a stark reminder that the census is important.
Stocks charged higher around the world Wednesday following an encouraging report on a possible treatment for COVID-19.
President Donald Trump will take executive action Tuesday to order meat processing plants to stay open amid concerns over growing coronavirus cases and the impact on the nation’s food supply.
Stocks gave up an early gain on Wall Street and are mixed in afternoon trading Tuesday. The day’s leaderboard looks like nearly the mirror opposite of stocks’ performance through the market’s sell-off this year.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic the high court is, for the first time in its 230-year history, holding arguments by telephone.
Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the non-profit healthcare organization, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, talks about how the pandemic has exposed the harsh inequalities driving poorer health outcomes in the U.S.
Banks trying to submit applications for thousands of small businesses seeking coronavirus relief loans have hit a bottleneck for a second day at the Small Business Administration.
Stocks gave up an early gain on Wall Street and were mixed in late morning trading Tuesday while the price of oil continued its wild ride.
Stocks are rising in early trading on Wall Street as nations and some U.S. states move toward reopening their economies from lockdowns made to restrict the spread of the coronavirus.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson said that the rest of the country will learn a lot from Georgia's experiment.
