*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).
A second Starbucks location in the U.S. has officially voted to unionize. On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board announced workers at the Starbucks store located in the Buffalo, NY suburb of Cheektowaga voted 15-9 in favor of being represented by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The New York Times reports votes were tallied in December but remained inconclusive as the union challenged the ballots of several employees it said did not work at the store. A Starbucks spokesperson has said that it may appeal the labor board's decision, which comes as several other Starbucks stores across the country are also pushing to form a union. Danka Dragic, shift supervisor for the second Starbucks store in the country to unionize, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Earlier today, Minnesota Republican Representative, Tom Emmer, introduced a bill that would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency directly to American consumers. According to the Congressman from Minnesota, requiring Americans to open a fed account to access a digital currency, would "put the Fed on insidious path akin to China's digital authoritarianism." Rep. Tom Emmer joined Cheddar's None of The Above to discuss more.
Sixteen of the country's most prestigious universities have been hit with a lawsuit claiming those schools illegally conspired to eliminate competitive financial aid offers for students. Just some of the schools mentioned include Yale, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, and Cornell. Author of "Who Gets In and Why" and Professor of practice at Arizona State University, Jeff Selingo, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Navient, a major student loan collecting company, agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt owed by more than 66,000 borrowers across the U.S. and pay over $140 million in other penalties to settle allegations of abusive lending practices.
The recently expired child tax credit helped a wide swathe of families throughout the U.S. Megan Pratz looks into the impact the payments had, and how the end of the program will have a drastic effect on families that could still use the help with child care.
The Supreme Court has stopped the Biden administration from enforcing a requirement that employees at large businesses be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing and wear a mask on the job.
Buckingham Palace says that Prince Andrew’s honorary military titles and royal patronages have been returned to Queen Elizabeth II with her “approval and agreement.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has apologized for attending a garden party during Britain’s first coronavirus lockdown, but brushed aside opposition demands that he resign for breaching the rules his own government had imposed on the nation.
