Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio knows what happens to a community when a major manufacturer shuts down a local plant. It happened to his constituents when General Motors closed the doors at its plant in Lordstown, Ohio earlier this year.
That's why Ryan told Cheddar that he's so focused on making sure American workers are prepared for the future of manufacturing and wants to drive investment in the electric vehicle market.
"How do we work with the private sector to dominate the electric vehicle market?" he said Wednesday. "There's going to be 10 million electric vehicles made in the next 10 years. I want half of those made in the United States. [You've] got to have an agenda, someone engineering how we are going to do that."
On the debate stage Tuesday night, Ryan unleashed his plan to create a new Cabinet role in the White House: Chief Manufacturing Officer.
He later told Cheddar the role would "help us organize how we dominate sectors in the economy," through industries like wind, solar, and electric vehicles. It would all be incorporated to reverse climate change, he said.
"I don't like the fact that this system is so screwed up, that General Motors cuts workers, closes plants, and their stock price goes up," Ryan said. "That's a busted system that we need to fix."
Ryan's district is far from the only American town that has faced hardship from closed plants and massive layoffs. This week GM is shutting the doors at a transmission plant in Warren, Michigan, a short drive away from the Democratic primary debate stage in Detroit.
Nevertheless, the 1,300 jobs that will be cut at the Warren plant did not dominate the discussion at the presidential debate in the Motor City.
Rather, it was health care, and 2020 dems were widely split on their plan for Americans. Senators Sanders and Warren pushed their progressive plan to take away private insurance and implement a single-payer Medicare-for-All plan.
Ryan is concerned that that abolishing the private option will hurt the union workers he has fought for as a U.S. Congressman in a struggling auto manufacturing district.
In fact, during the debate, CNN moderator Jake Tapper told Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that more than 6,000 union members in Michigan would have to give up their private insurance plan if his plan to abolish private insurance went through. Sanders responded that his plan would be "better."
Ryan quickly interrupted, saying, "You don't know that."
Even ahead of this week's debate, labor unions have been weighing in on the issue of health care.
In a statement to ThinkProgress, UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said, "The UAW is focused on the millions of American's [sic] that face peril over anti-worker court challenges to the ACA that can negatively impact the economy and jobs."
Rothenberg added, "Regardless of how this sorts out, the ACA is an important first step, and the UAW has a historic role in working toward health care as a right and not a privilege for all Americans."
To Cheddar, Ryan said of Sanders' plan, these sorts of ideas are "dangerous." He went on to say, "Our focus needs to be on helping working class people make ends meet."
Student loan debt continues to be a major concern for tens of millions of Americans who collectively owe about $1.7 trillion. Black college students often take on larger amounts of student debt in order to pay for a higher education. In turn, they are more likely to struggle post-graduation with repaying their debt, creating a racial wealth gap divide. Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Institution joined All Hands to help break down the black student debt crisis.
After two NYPD officers were killed with an illegal gun, President Biden made a trip to New York City to speak on the issue of gun violence fed by the "iron pipeline" of illegal firearms that make their way from the South to the Big Apple. Kris Brown, the president of the gun violence prevention organization Brady United, joined Cheddar to discuss what this visit from the president could mean for the future of gun laws in America. "He's asked Congress to pass things like expanding the Brady background check system, but with the filibuster a barrier to so much action right now in the Congress, he's looking at solutions that involve funding at the federal level and really involve enforcement."
Following the surprising big beat on estimates for the January jobs report, William M. Rodgers III, vice president and director of the Institute for Economic Equity at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, joined Cheddar News to break down the data. “We ended 2021 with a strong crescendo to a recovery that had taken hold, and we started 2022 in good fashion." He also discussed the dueling pressures of wage growth and inflation.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of the Rewired News Group and co-host of the podcast. "Boom! Lawyered," joins Cheddar Politics to discuss Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, legacy and potential replacement on the Supreme Court.
The Biden administration delivered a temporary win for student loan borrowers this year by extending the moratorium on federal payments for a few more months. That moratorium is coming to an end on May 1st and borrowers will again have their monthly loan payment plopped in their lap.
Stephanie Vanderslice, a creative writing professor paying off debt through the Parent Plus program, and Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
2022 was already going to be a big year for the Supreme Court. We have decisions on major issues like abortion and gun rights on the way. Then, Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement and that set up a major confirmation fight for later this year. Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSblog, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The Labor Department released a better-than-expected report of 467,000 jobs added in January. Heather Boushey, Council of Economic Advisers Member for President Biden, joined Cheddar to tout the administration's handling of the economy amid the pandemic and the upward revisions for the previous month. "It also shows that, because of the revisions, the economy was stronger over the past couple of months," she said. "I don't think that this can be said enough, but economic forecasting during an historic pandemic is extremely difficult." Boushey also addressed issues involving wage growth versus the rapid rise of inflation.
The Labor Department's January jobs report showed 467,000 jobs were added, compared to the 150,000 that were projected, a sign that employment is continuign to return to pre-pandemic levels. Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at investment bank Stifel, joined Cheddar to break down the report, noting the big gains but adding a note of caution. "Remember, even with this morning's stellar report, we're still millions below that level that we had reached prior to the onset of COVID-19," she said." Yes, we are recapturing jobs. We still have further ground that needs to be made before we can talk about reaching that previous peak." Piegza also discussed the role of the Federal Reserve going forward as the employment figures turn more positive.
