Polling at just one percent in nearly all the major early 2020 presidential polls, Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) is hoping to break through on the debate stage Wednesday night by portraying himself as the one leader who faced hardships similar to most Americans.
"I'm just going to be myself. I know who I am, and where I come from, and I want to share that with the American people," Ryan told Cheddar at Rep. Jim Clyburn's "World Famous Fish Fry" in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday night.
A self-described capitalist, Ryan's 2020 stump speech has been for the worker. The district Ryan has represented for eight-terms, Ohio 13, is located in the northeast portion of the state, and includes working class, auto manufacturing cities like Lordstown and Youngstow, both of which have been crushed by changes in the industry. Ryan drew parallels between his constituents and the South Carolinian voters at Clyburn's event.
"This is a working class state, and our motto is 'JOBS, JOBS, JOBS,'" Ryan said. "I mean the best social program is a job, and we want to start building things again, and the communities I represent like Youngstown, Ohio look a lot like South Carolina."
In March, Ryan's district was hit hard when a massive GM manufacturing plant shuttered in Lordstown with nearly 1,700 hourly workers being sent home without a plan in sight.
But these hardships might help a presidential candidate understand the reality Americans face in 2019. Ryan wants to increase U.S. investment in electric vehicles and solar energy as a way to both go green and drive job growth.
On the debate stage Wednesday, Ryan intends to discuss what he has overcome (or is in the process of overcoming) as a way to level with the American people. "I come from a community that has seen job loss, has seen an opioid epidemic, that has seen an infant mortality epidemic, and the next president has got to deeply understand what the American people are going through."
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
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.
