NEW ALBANY – Protesters wanted to talk about health care reform, reporters wanted to talk about the firing of FBI director James Comey, but House Speaker Paul Ryan stayed on message during a visit to central Ohio yesterday, promising Congress will act soon on overhauling the nation’s tax system.
Ryan toured businesses in New Albany yesterday, including Accel, Inc., which is embroiled in a tax dispute with the state over whether it can be classified as a manufacturer, and took part in a roundtable discussion with several business leaders and U.S. Reps. Pat Tiberi and Steve Stivers, both central Ohio Republicans.
“The last time we did this – this being reform our tax system – was the year I got my driver’s license, which was 1986,” Ryan told the gathering.
Outside, picketers and mobile billboards criticized GOP efforts to overhaul President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and President Donald Trump’s sudden firing of Comey.
Later, on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” the Wisconsin Republican said President Donald Trump doesn’t want the FBI “in disarray” and acted within his authority to fire Comey. Ryan also echoed most Republican leaders by saying that appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Russian ties to Trump’s presidential campaign, as Democrats are calling for, would be a bad idea.