What Military Families Want to See From the State of the Union
President Trump's outline for the future of the defense budget will draw attention from the millions of military families waiting to see what the agenda means for them. Blue Star Families' Kathy Roth-Douquet joins Cheddar to reveal what she says military families are looking for from the president's first State of the Union address. She discusses why she thinks issues surrounding military families have become too politicized in today's climate.
Blue Star Families just released the results of its Military Family Lifestyle survey. She explains the top findings and breaks down the most important issues facing active service members and their loved ones. Coming in at the top of the list is the concern about spending too much time away from home.
The organization aims to help military families connect and integrate with their civilian neighbors. Roth-Douquet speaks to why this is so important to spouses moving multiple times a year. The CEO and co-founder has gone through nine moves and four deployments over the past 18 years.
Cheddar's Chloe Aiello has our cannabis year-in-review, breaking down how several states legalized adult recreational use and greenlit medicinal use in 2021. She noted that while a cannabis legalization and decriminalization bill was introduced in Congress this year, potential FDA involvement in the industry, as well as a 25 percent excise tax, killed any chance the bill had of moving forward. Aiello also speculated that some form of cannabis reform could be rolled out in 2022, as the midterm elections draw closer.
Jim Worden, Chief Investment Officer at Wealth Consulting Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the period between Christmas and New Year's is difficult to predict due to a lack of institutional volume, with the Omicron variant adding even more uncertainty on Wall Street.
Prices at the pump this year reached a seven-year high, and a new forecast from GasBuddy shared with CNN predicts that gas prices will only continue to rise in 2022 and that the national average could even reach $4.00 a gallon; however, analysts at GasBuddy say anything could happen when it comes to gas prices in the future, as the pandemic has made it difficult to make any predictions about the economy. Consumer Energy Alliance federal policy advisor Michael Zehr joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
David Stryzewski, CEO of Sound Planning Group, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that some of the major stock positions are getting the most lift to the upside as the major indexes climb higher to begin the week.
