Tim Ryan: “I don't want to say it is fun, because there are a lot of people that are still struggling, but it is so much better now…”

“I don't want to say it is fun, because there are a lot of people that are still struggling, but it is so much better now to go back to your district and people ask you, what are you doing about gas prices? And we have got a great budget, and it is not immediate. That is the painful thing that you have to realize. People are struggling and people who are driving from lab to lab, they somehow have to use a lot of transportation, it is hard. But we have something here that we are passing from the House that is going to significantly over time reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and it is going to benefit the average American consumer. So, let's look at this in the broad sense. Of all the promises, the Democrats made promises, they got in, we gave them a shot. We are taking advantage of this shot. One, we didn't raise taxes, first of all. But look at what we did. If you are the average person sitting out there, you now in July will have an increase in the minimum wage to over $7 an hour. So anyone who is associated with that will get an increase. Those people slightly above will also get an increase. Included in that was a tax cut for small businesses, so that those people who are bearing the brunt of this will benefit as well. Then you are getting $700 more in your Pell Grant. So if you have got kids in school, you are going to get an extra $700 a year grant money.”