For women living in Texas, access to abortion services is non-existent and for providers, they run the risk of facing felony charges. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas, 35th District) told Cheddar News that he hopes Texas can once again be a springboard for abortion rights.
"There's also real reason for hope here in Texas because abortion rights for the country started in Texas. In fact, an Austinite, Sarah Weddington, when she was in her 20s, sued district attorney Henry Wade and won the case Roe v. Wade here in Texas and bought abortion rights to the whole country," he said.
In the interim, organizations like Planned Parenthood have stepped up to provide women-in-need with support, funding and transportation to out-of-state abortion providers.
Casar also talked to Cheddar News about the state of the economy, and the surge in layoffs across various sectors, in particular. He said the introduction of more unions in order to boost employee protections in the city of Austin is one way to protect Americans in the broader job market.
"The only thing that has been able to balance inequality in this country's history in a really powerful way has been the union movement and its so important whether you're Black, white, or Brown, young or old, the union movement is resurging and that can change our economy for the better regardless of who is in the White House, regardless of who controls Congress," he said.
When it comes to protecting American dollars in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, he said assessing executives' lobbying goals could help avoid future financial collapses.
For President Donald Trump, tariffs — or the threat of them — can bend nations to his will.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
