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).
After the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016, Sarah Ullman felt called to action. The Los Angeles-based filmmaker is the founder of "One Vote at a Time," a Super PAC created to stop gun violence. She spends her days making free campaign ads for politicians who support gun control policies and are running in competitive districts.
A new documentary about campaign finance is coming to PBS on Monday. "Dark Money" explores the relationship between corporate spending and politics and how the laws have changed to allow more influence in the political arena. Kimberly Reed, the director and producer of the film, said that it is crucial to American democracy for its citizens to know who is trying to influence politics.
Robert Gaafar is one of the survivors of the Las Vegas shooting a year ago, and he is now partnering with Everytown to help launch a new election initiative. Gaafar said the progress on gun control in state and local races is heartening, even if the federal government remains unable or unwilling to do anything.
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After nearly two weeks of resistance, President Trump ordered an FBI investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, whose future seat on the nation's highest court had been suddenly thrown into doubt thanks to the wavering support of Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
In a dramatic reversal, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who said earlier Friday that he would vote "Yes" to move the Kavanaugh vote to the Senate floor, said at the afternoon hearing that he would only move forward with a Senate floor vote if there was an additional FBI investigation.
Shares of the social media giant dropped sharply after the company said it found hackers were able to gain control of as many as 50 million user accounts. Facebook's Product Management VP Guy Rosenberg said the attack affected the "View As" feature, which lets people see what their own profile looks like to someone else.
Sophia Amoruso, founder and former CEO of Nasty Gal, sat down with Cheddar and talked about her approach to business and how she wants to empower other women to take risks in their professional lives. Her newest venture, Girlboss, curates information and resources for women about careers, money, and wellness.
Cheddar's J.D. Durkin videotaped the scene as a pair of sexual assault survivors angrily confronted Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in a Senate elevator after he indicated he would vote yes to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Shares of the EV maker fell by more than 14 percent, their biggest one-day drop since January 2012. The sell-off was prompted by Thursday's fraud charges filed by the SEC against CEO Elon Musk.
