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).
The Biden administration will significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines to protect against COVID-19 transmission on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin openly invaded the neighboring country of Ukraine on Thursday following weeks of overtures and discussions on keeping an incursion from happening. David Salvo, the deputy director for the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined Cheddar to go into the Russian leader's motivations. "What I'm sure he understands is that his invasion of Ukraine in 2014 probably ended the discussion of Ukraine joining NATO, even if publicly we won't admit that, that's just the reality. And I'm sure that President Putin understands that," he said, noting that Putin could be using the taking of Ukraine territory as leverage to gain more security concessions from the West.
Following Russia's incursion into Ukraine, the U.S. is warning businesses and major banks to brace themselves for cyberattacks. Lester Munson, a senior fellow at the National Security Institute, joined Cheddar News to break down what this means for financial institutions “So we need to be concerned about not just intentional Russian hacks against American entities but also what Russia is doing in Ukraine. Those things can impact us as well," he said
After weeks of talks and posturing in hopes of staving off an attack, Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, an incident that has already impacted the global economy, including the U.S.. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis for Morning Consult, joined Cheddar’s Closing Bell to break down what investors might do to prepare themselves as the crisis continues. "I think there are a few things that we have our eye on over at Morning Consult that could cause the situation to become a bit more severe or unstable as far as market outcomes would be concerned," McMann said. "One of those things would be if the U.S. and the EU kind of moved in concerted fashion to block Russia from the SWIFT transaction system. So, I would say that's one thing that would be worth keeping an eye on."
Alex Walker, candidate for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, joins Cheddar News to discuss why he's running against Lauren Boebert and the inspiration behind his viral campaign ad.
Lisa Hagen, politics reporter for U.S. News and World Report, joins Cheddar News to preview what to expect from President Biden's State of the Union Address on March 1.
Minh-Thu Pham, co-founder of New American Voices, joins Cheddar News to discuss the organization and why new citizens are key to defending U.S. democracy.
Joel Willett, a former CIA operative, joins Cheddar News to discuss Russian President Vladimir Putin officially launching a "special military operation" in Ukraine