Tax Reform, the Budget, and Sexual Politics in Washington
Nick Johnston, Editor in Chief at Axios, and Nate Madden, CRTV's Congressional Correspondent, give a preview of the upcoming weeks in Washington, including a discussion about the women accusing President Trump of assault and the future of tax reform and budget agreements.
Johnston weighs in on whether President Trump will face the same repercussions that other men in powerful positions have faced in recent weeks over accusations of sexual harassment and assault. Three of the president's accusers spoke out Monday about their allegations.
Madden discusses the pressures the GOP faces to pass a piece of legislation before year's end, blaming the failure of healthcare reform on Congress as a whole, rather than on the President's administration.
We discuss the issues around the budget that are up for debate, including everything from funding Planned Parenthood to immigration to the border wall with Mexico. Nick does not think there will be a shutdown because neither party will want to deal with the fallout.
We also talk Roy Moore, as the Alabama Senate race comes to a close, with Nick noting how profound it is that an Alabama Senate race is competitive.
Emily Hoeven, newsletter editor at CalMatters, joins Cheddar News to discuss California Governor Gavin Newsom's gun law modeled after Texas's abortion law.
Chuck Rocha, host of 'Nuestro' podcast and opinion contributor at The New York Times, joins Cheddar News to discuss why Democrats are losing Hispanic voters.
More businesses are requiring workers to return to the office, but there is concern that many employees in the middle class, especially women and people of color, need remote work options for reasons including childcare and financial security. Joan Williams, director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, joined Cheddar to discuss why office mandates could be detrimental to the middle class. She noted that while companies claim a return to offices would help foster more collaboration and efficiency, reports show that they are successfully able to do their jobs from home.
The U.S. postal service has confirmed that it secretly developed and tested a blockchain-based mobile voting system ahead of the 2020 election. Susan Greenhalgh, senior advisor on election security, Free Speech for People, joins Cheddar News to discuss the cybersecurity complications of a mobile voting system.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow the controversial Texas abortion law to remain in effect, banning abortion at six weeks and allowing any private citizen to sue a person or doctor aiding or abetting someone seeking an abortion. Outraged at this decision, California Governor Gavin Newsom is working to draft a proposal in line with the law as it relates to guns. Shawn Hubler, California correspondent at the New York Times, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Even as tech giant Google implements a vaccination mandate, charging its employees to declare their vaccine status within a time frame or risk dismissal, the federal government is tangled up in the court system trying to impose one of its own. Cindy Cohn, the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Harry Nelson, founder and managing partner of Nelson Hardiman LLP, joined Cheddar to debate the ethics, efficacy, and legality surrounding the issue. While Cohn noted that she thinks the federal mandate might be legally sound, her organization is also concerned with a separate question of privacy. "At EFF what we're most interested in is the digital surveillance that's going along with some of these attempts to try to track and confirm whether people are vaccinated or not," she said.