Rep. Beto O'Rourke: Republican Tax Bill is "Terrible"
The House of Representatives is expected to re-vote on the Republican Tax bill Wednesday, after procedural problems invalidated the previous votes.
Three portions of the bill reportedly violate the Senate’s Byrd rule, although congress members had already voted 227-203 in favor of the bill. The Senate is expected to continue reviewing its version and vote Tuesday night.
Rep Beto O'Rourke (D-TX), who voted “ no” in the first round of votes, spoke to Cheddar ahead of the most recent snafu, and said that the bill was “terrible”. O’Rourke says Congress had the opportunity to promote upward mobility for low-income and middle class Americans, but doesn’t think the current version does that. Instead, he argues that the plan transfers 86 percent of tax cuts to the wealthy, and knocks 13 million people off health insurance.
“This is the most massive restructuring of the tax code in more than 30 years, and unfortunately this was a blown opportunity,” Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX), told Cheddar.
Before the voting glitch was revealed, President Donald Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, all took to Twitter to celebrate the win. Notably, Speaker Ryan says that the bill is going to help struggling Americans who are living “paycheck-to-paycheck.”
“We said in 2016 that it will take real tax reforms for families and businesses to get the economy growing, and we were serious,” he said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/congressman-beto-orourke-d-tx-is-taking-on-texas-senator-ted-cruz).
Matt Hayden, vice president of govtech solutions at Exiger and a former assistant secretary of cyber at Department of Homeland Security, joined Cheddar to discuss the surprise phone call initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin to President Joe Biden, ahead of January security talks about the rising tensions over Ukraine. "We're hoping to hear that we're able to talk about the aggression and the leadup of the Ukrainian militarization," Hayden said. "But we're also looking to hear is how the Kremlin leveraged their talking points to try to test their negotiation stance with the United States leading into this January 10th meeting."
The No Surprises Act begins implementation on January 1, 2022. The legislation is meant to curb the practice of unexpected billing for care from providers the patient was unaware were out-of-network from their insurance. Patricia Kelmar, director of health care campaigns for U.S. PIRG joined Cheddar to describe the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars charged to unsuspecting patients and how things will change under the new law. "If we are picking an in-network doctor and an in-network hospital, we should not see those added costs from anesthesiologists, radiologists, scrub-in surgeons," she said. "The other area it protects you is in air ambulances — not ground ambulances, unfortunately — but the helicopters or the airplanes you might need to transport you in an emergency situation."
President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladmir Putin are expected to have another conversation surrounding escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar's Ken Buffa to discuss the ongoing tensions and why Putin's request for a conversation with Biden comes now. "This is very serious. This is the worst security crisis we had since the collapse of the Soviet Union," Cohen told Cheddar.
Stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, but two indexes - the Dow and the S&P 500 - ended the session with a new record. Akshata Bailkeri, Equity Analyst at Bruderman Asset Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she says there is a consensus for robust consumer spreading in 2022, especially as the Omicron variant is proving to be milder than other COVID-19 strains.
John Quelch, Dean of Miami Herbert Business School, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the retail giant is acting in accordance to President Biden's new law banning goods from China's Xinjiang region. Quelch also elaborates on the importance of China in Walmart's overall strategy.
