Voter panel CLASHES over economy, looming shutdown ahead of 2026 midterms

Well, tomorrow is election day and three major races that we've been watching on the Faulkner Focus today, and they could shed light on voters' decisions going forward, particularly for midterm elections. Today marks exactly one year until the midterms, and Americans are set to decide whether Republicans will keep control of both congressional chambers. The outcome will have a tremendous effect on the second half of the president's

second term. There's no better way to see how voters are feeling, it's my favorite way actually, than to hear from them directly on our voters' voices. In studio with me now, a panel of Americans whose views span the political spectrum will dig into the issues that matter most to them when they cast their ballots. And right now the congressional balance of power is razor-thin in the Senate.

Take a look at your screen. Republicans have the majority with 53 seats. Democrats and two independents who caucus with them hold 47. Just a three-seat margin with 33 of those 100 seats up for grabs in 2026. So you know things are going to change.

We just don't know how yet. Let's get an idea today. In the House, the Republican Party has 219 seats right now. Democrats have 213, with three spots vacant. All 435 of those seats will be on the ballot next November. And recent polling shows that right now voters don't see either party very favorably.

Well, let's face it, Congress is never really popular. But they are particularly unpopular right now. Democrats are taking the worst of it with only 28 percent with a positive view, 37 percent positive for Republicans. All right, let's meet our voters' voices today. Republicans Maria, Jason, and Dwayne, a former New York City Assembly candidate.

Our Democrats, Amanda, Jay, and Dan. And Independents, Dove, and Mary Joseph. Great to see you both. I want to start with those Independents, actually. Mary Josephine, I'm going to start with you. I know that you vote, you say, according to the issues that are most important.

So for the midterms, give me what's most important to you.

The economy. I just feel like we haven't had any reprieve from the inflation. We don't have improved, like the taxes are just out of control. I really feel that, you feel that Americans need breathing room and we don't have that right now. Interest rates are really high.

Housing is unaffordable. It's really, really difficult for anybody to make it. That's how I feel. I mean, if I feel these pressures as a business person, I can only imagine what the middle class and lower middle class feel like. Obviously there are people there making money, there are people in

the upper echelons that that succeed and do well, but I believe for the middle class it's really really really difficult and I mean if I'm feeling it I

can only imagine others are too. You know it's interesting and and you've been on panels in the past year on Voters Voices. I welcome you back. As an independent, you can see it kind of different ways, but you're hitting on that affordability situation, and that's something that Republicans are going to have

to deal with. They're seeing it in a lot of different places. But the facts are that inflation has come down precipitously. And the problem is that it was at 9% or better for so long under the last president that the prices don't come down. They wait for the economy to reset.

And so the 2% to 3% that we continue to go up is based on those high prices. And that's what affects affordability. So you've got to hit at something that takes away the pricing, like the price of energy, like some of the things that Republicans

and this Republican president have said that he's trying to do through the tariffs. So we're watching all of it. But what you feel counts. Dwayne, I want to come to you and just get your idea about where you, because I see you nodding a little bit,

but I'm wondering, where do you really want, for the midtermsms the power to go?

So I would like the GOP to stay in power Because I think we need to start having tough conversations about spending even more. I think when we look at the doge cuts I think there's even more space within the federal government to downscale because what we're seeing now Some of us in the small business area taxes are insane with inflation. That means the government's taking in more money And where is it going? I also think that the GOP needs to give us a reason to be inspired. Let's talk about infrastructure. Let's talk about education, things that really show the public that we're moving forward. We need bullet trains. We need to show the country

that we can be modern and we can lead again. And I feel like right now our public discourse

doesn't really reflect what we need to mobilize and feel together as a country. I want to go to Amanda, a Democrat among us today. Talk to me about what you're hearing from an independent and a Republican now. Do you

see any common ground? Sure, absolutely. I mean the issues are always the same, right? I think what's really important and standing out for me right now is if we can take ourselves like a high level Like not say immigration not say economy not say all the hot talking points and just ask ourselves How are we treating our neighbors? Like how are we treating one another and is it okay that yesterday on Saturday?

42 million of our neighbors no longer can feed themselves It is okay. Is it okay that our neighbors are getting taken off the streets by ICE? Is it OK that gender-affirming care is being taken from young people who really need it to survive? Is it OK that the Supreme Court has now

justified racial profiling? That's not how I want to treat my neighbor. So I want to take away the hot button labels and just ask ourselves, how are we treating our neighbors and how will our policies and those who we vote affect that? Can we vote for people who will treat our neighbors

the way that we want to be treated? That's my question. And for me right now, that's the Democratic Party.

A show of hands, how many of you certainly see right now, and I saw it in the state of New Jersey, one of our biggest feeding programs table to table in that state is under pressure and the timing is such that you've got a gubernatorial race going on and I'm hearing and I was at a town hall recently with Sean Hannity last week I'm asking about the issues of feeding people right and and that's what it's gonna take to it can't just be covering these races for all their

numbers. And so how do we justify that with a president who used feeding people as a bargaining point to get his...

Is that what happened though? Maria?

So I think we can all agree that the United States has always been a melting pot and we want it to remain as so, but with immigration and feeding people, that still comes into question. Because we all work very hard and coming from an immigrant family, my family had to do everything the correct way. However, I do think that it dials down to the process in which we're bringing people in.

The border becomes a very hot topic with that, right? One end sees it as we want to keep people out. The other side wants to see it as we want to vet people and guide them to the right process. However, that process also sometimes does take such a long time in this country to become a citizen or to get your paperwork that that's what

circumvents our borders and forces people kind of to go the wrong way.

Okay, there's a lot to unpack there. I want to get back to my question because you kind of brought me back to it. You mentioned neighbors. If there are illegals living amongst among us how many of you think that an illegal? Alien who came across our border and broke our first law our sovereignty as a country How do you see them as a neighbor are they? Hold on a show of hands how many of you see that individual as a pure neighbor? That's the majority that's five to three so how do we cross this divide how do we get there Doug?

Honestly, I think it's hard the rise of the partisan politics has Really jeopardized what I view as one of the, you know, the great features of American democracy, which is being able to work across the aisle. And I'm really looking for candidates who are able to do that, moderates, centrists, whether they're Republicans or Democrats, who are really able to work together in order to address issues like that. And in terms of your question on immigrants, I think a person is a person,

regardless of what their legal status is, and their legal status can change, and I don't know or really care what their legal status is personally. I think if they're a person, they're my neighbor,

and I'm gonna treat them that way. I think that there's a difference between being kind, and to me, my faith is, one thing is being nice to people from different lands, but they also have to be respectful of our laws. And everybody wants to come to the United States because we have a great economy, have a lot of opportunity. But there's a process to do that.

My family has been here since at least the 1700s. There's no one that's gave us a free $1,400 debit card. No one gave us a free apartment. No one gave us anything free, we had to work for it. So there is a process. And if we respect all people, that means that the people that come here need to respect our laws. And that's all that we're saying. We allowed 20 million immigrants in here legally since 2000.

How much is too much? And how much are we going to put the burden on the taxpayers? Because the money has to come from somewhere. It's just common sense.

So Maria, I see you nodding. Jason. Of course, well when it comes to illegal immigration and we were talking about the shutdown previously, we have to point out that when we're talking about the bargaining chip, I don't think we can blame the president for that. I actually think we have to blame the Democrats for that and this shutdown has not been popular, okay. This has been the Schumer shutdown and they're playing politics with people's people's lives. Yes. And it's a terrible thing. It's a terrible thing and none of us would

defend that. Dan. I think it should really be referred to as the Republicant Party because all they talk about is what they can't do. They can't reopen the government. They can't find a way to feed poor people. Wait a minute, you do

understand they can't find a way to that they gave a house passed and you know one of the hardest places on the planet to get something passed is in the House because there are so many more members and many of them have races at different times and I mean it can get complicated there. They passed a continuing resolution much like the Democrats have done and Republicans have voted to support those resolutions north of a dozen times With Chuck Schumer at the helm of Democrats, but that's not what the Democrats are willing to do this

But but Republicans really they control all three branches of government. They own the shutdown. There's no question about it And as far as immigration goes, I have a friend who is in the process of legally becoming a US citizen. He has filed the right paperwork. He has gone to all the appointments. He's done everything he has to do. He is so terrified of being picked up and thrown in detention by ICE

that he is basically just going back to Brazil. That is not where we should be. And this plays into the affordability crisis. This city and all cities and all parts of the American economy run on the kinds of typically cheaper labor that immigrants provide to us. The prices of everything go up when the labor prices go up and we are removing a really

important part of the pathway to becoming part of this this country when we terrify communities of immigrants. We should be doing it. What's so interesting

about this gathering today, we have really, really diverse thought on on this panel today. We're blessed with that. We've got some independence. We don't know which way you guys are going to go on which issue, but I want to make sure that that we're sticking with the facts here. This is in Democrats hands, and we don't have the ability to have the facts driven by our freedoms. I mean by our feelings, forgive me, by our feelings. And so if Democrats step in and give this, they still have a little bit of time before

that original document even runs out. I mean, you think people are hurting now. Let it go till Christmas. Like it's time for them to step up. And if you want to see them be those adults in the room. Maybe they could choose now. But if they step up, then we lose health care. And that's a death-dealing policy. You're not going to lose health care. Health care was going up on its own.

For millions of people, we will.

So first and foremost, I do not think that that is a genuine argument, simply because their argument is that they want to pass a clean budget reconciliation

bill.

Last time that happened designed for compromise. As someone who worked on the Hill, we have to be communicating. You don't get to say, I passed this bill and we're going to go into recess and never come

back because we want to fight this argument.

So Democrats now have done what you've said, okay? And they came to the table, they said, look, we want to talk about health care. And one of the sticking points in there are the millions of dollars that we know go to those illegal aliens. And look, Dan, you bring up that some of them are here and they're waiting for their paperwork.

Well, how long have they been here? And that's what the government... But let me ask you, so if that's part of the mix and you know you've got Republicans to agree to get to that issue right away. Why not open the government now and get the foot off the necks of people who are hungry? First of all. 42 million of them.

Can you defend starving people out? And by the way, it'll take at least until Wednesday for the president to fund after they go through protocols. 48, 72 more hours? Go ahead, defend that.

OK, so first of of all the Affordable Care Act specifically does not provide funding to people who are not here and legally here for citizenship it specifically says that in the actual law. And you don't think that's happening? Okay so if that's the case, confirmations of that don't count. If that's the case right then that's where the DOJ is supposed to bring charges against whoever's you doing that now on top of that using this because the government could the president could have allocated funds to continue snap

there are there was money that has been put aside for this that he did

he's talking about right now and the earliest that I understand it can be

paid is Wednesday. He deleted it from the website. One point one earliest that I understand it can be paid is Wednesday. He could have already done. He deleted it from the website.

One point that I think is very important.

Hold on one second. I want to get another voice.

I just want to say, first of all, when we talk about health care, the subsidies were not originally a part of Obamacare. These are COVID-era subsidies that they put in place that were temporary. sure that it expired at this time. This is not the Republicans. Second of all, if you want to negotiate on those subsidies, you shouldn't be holding the US citizens hostage.

It's just that simple. It's wrong when Republicans do it. It's wrong when Democrats do it. And the fact that the Democrats have voted over 13 times to not open up the government, if they care about food, we shouldn't be talking about emergency funds.

We should be having open government and I think that no member of Congress should be getting bring the house back into session but it's already in the Senate you don't get to say that the house bill automatically passes sometimes

they are that the Biden levels by I have to tell our audience that this is what's now we got your label this is what it looks like times a million on the hill right now and so the two sides are divided and all I would say is while while all of you may not agree keep talking please I mean whether you do it here you do it at your homes you do it out you do it over dinner wherever you do it just keep, wherever you do it, just keep talking

because you could be the model for us getting there. And I'm always going to spit what I know is either anecdotally true or factually true. I'm always going to spit that. You guys come back. I love it. I love the conversation.

God bless you all.

Thank you.

Thank you. Hey, it's Will Cain. Click here to subscribe to the Fox News channel on YouTube. It's the best way to get our latest interviews and highlights. Hey, it's Will Cain. Click here to subscribe to the Fox News channel on YouTube. It's the best way to get our latest interviews and highlights. And click to subscribe to the Will Kane podcast for full episodes right now.