First they marched, now they're running. Lauren Underwood is one of the many first-time female candidates seeking public office in 2018. She joins Cheddar to discuss why the time is right to challenge the GOP incumbent in Illinois' 14th congressional district.
Underwood is a registered nurse who served as an aide to the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama Administration. She reveals how her own pre-existing condition turned the healthcare debate into a more personal issue. The candidate explains how she was inspired by her own personal experiences to run for the seat.
Underwood reveals how her candidacy helped inspire two other contenders to run for office. She considers whether campaigns like hers would have been possible had Hillary Clinton won the 2016 presidential election. The event served as a turning point in the minds of many women choosing to run for office for the first time.
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.
