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."
Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman and co-founder of Give Us the Ballot, joined Cheddar News to discuss voting protections in the United States and how his campaign is aiming to fix the issue of voter suppression. "Yes, redistricting is critical — Give Us the Ballot though recognizes it's 'redistricting, and —', because voting rights has an implication for every single election at every single level: school board, mayor, city council, House of Representatives, Senate, president," he said. Kennedy also gave his thoughts about the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.
Big Apple workers who deliver for food apps like Doordash and Grubhub will now receive a number of legal protections provided through a package of new regulations that have started going into effect. These updated rules include more control over their deliveries, pay and tip transparency, a higher minimum pay rate, and access to restaurant bathrooms during the workday. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander joined Cheddar to elaborate on the regulations and how the platform holders reacted. "I have to say it's a mixed bag," he said. "Grubhub actually welcomed the legislation and said they recognize they need to do better by their deliveristas, but DoorDash, unfortunately, has actually been pushing back against the legislation."
Thomas Hoenig, Former CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and currently Distinguished Senior Fellow with the Mercatus Center, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the Fed's decision was no surprise, but believes the Fed is behind the curve on raising rates.
Legal cannabis businesses are having a hard time surviving in California with the high cost of doing business and a still-thriving illicit market. In response, nonprofit Supernova Women, founded by women of color, is advocating on behalf of Black and brown shareholders in the cannabis industry. Amber Senter, co-founder, executive director, and chairman of the organization, spoke with Cheddar News about calling for changes in the Golden State's taxation system for legal marijuana. "We're really leaning on the legislators now to support the industry and make sure that this industry, in particular craft cannabis, can survive," said Senter.
After being among the hardest-hit industries by the pandemic, restaurants are still having a hard time staying afloat, with owners claiming that business is worse now due to closures from staff shortages and customer decline than it was three months ago. Mike Whatley, vice president of state affairs and grassroots advocacy for the National Restaurant Association, spoke to Cheddar News about how the sector is reaching out to lawmakers for help. "Working with Senators Wicker, Sinema, and a whole host of bipartisan leaders, we're trying to get the Restaurant Revitalization Fund replenished," Whatley said.
Communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change and continuously feel the impacts. Mark Magaña, founding president and CEO of Green Latinos joined All Hands to discuss.
The memoir, "COMPROMISED: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump", tells a familiar story from a bit of a different source: Peter Strzok himself, former FBI Counterintelligence Agents and Agency Veteran who spent most of his very long career investigating some of the most controversial inquiries, most notably in recent American history. Those inquiries were Hillary Clinton's email to even Trump Russia investigations. Former FBI Agent and Author of "Compromised" Peter Strzok, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
