*By Michael Teich*
Republicans are struggling to renege on a long-standing pledge they will likely not be able to honor ー the promise to repeal Obamacare.
"They can't walk away from a promise they've made for eight years," Politico reporter Adam Cancryn said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar. Repealing Obamacare "would be even more difficult than it was last year," he added.
While Cancryn thinks it will be "a major shock at this point" if Republicans maintain control of both the House and Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has hinted that the party would consider an attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act if it manages to thwart a "blue wave."
Although the right failed to repeal Obamacare last year, their efforts to end the program were not penalized ー so they may try their luck again, Cancryn said.
"There may be a feeling that if we didn't pay for it the first time, then there's no real harm in taking another shot."
Even if Republicans were to successfully repeal Obamacare, the party is far from finding a solution to replace it, Cancryn added.
"There's no viable Republican health plan going forward."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/how-the-midterm-elections-could-shape-the-future-of-healthcare-in-america).
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.
