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).
Ivanka Trump began testifying Wednesday in the civil fraud trial that is publicly probing the Trump family business, making an appearance she tried to prevent.
Wednesday night is the third Republican presidential primary debate with five candidates set to take the stage. Columnist and political analyst Jonathan Harris spoke with Cheddar News to explain what to expect from a reduced field of candidates, what topics are on tap to discuss and which candidates have the momentum.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is accusing the GOP of playing politics with IRS funding with a new round of budget cuts in a recent aid bill that would slash $14 billion from the agency in order to fund aid to Israel.
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves won reelection on Tuesday, while Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to an abortion and other forms of reproductive health care. In Virginia, Democrats swept legislative elections in a blow to GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
