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Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed outlined differing plans to strengthen Michigan’s economy during separate Detroit Economic Club conversations.
Rogers said expanding American energy production and keeping taxes low would help lower costs and make Michigan more competitive.
El-Sayed said the government should regulate monopolies and oligopolies to encourage competition in the marketplace.
Rogers called for ending the Canadian tariff dispute, saying it hurts Michigan’s auto industry, but argued some tariffs have been beneficial. El-Sayed said he supports some tariffs but criticized President Donald Trump’s approach as chaotic and self-serving.
Rogers emphasized greater price transparency so patients know what they will be charged for medical services. El-Sayed said guaranteeing health insurance for everyone would be one of the most important ways to support small businesses.
Rogers proposed making shop classes available in every high school to help students pursue careers in the skilled trades.
El-Sayed said Michigan needs to create good-paying jobs, address skills gaps and attract new talent rather than simply try to retain the people who already live here.
Rogers focused on energy production, lower taxes and health care price transparency, while El-Sayed emphasized market competition, universal health coverage and attracting workers to Michigan.
Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed laid out different approaches to strengthening Michigan’s economy during separate Detroit Economic Club conversations.
Both answered the same questions, beginning with which federal policies they would pursue to make the state more competitive.
Rogers answered in his conversation with Colthorp.
“The things that we can do is make sure what we have is American energy so that it puts pressure on prices,” he said. “Two, we have to keep taxes low.”
El-Sayed spoke with Colthorp separately.
“We need to actually start standing up to monopolies and oligopolies and start regulating them so we can get back to a system where there is competitiveness in a market, which of course is essential to any sort of system of capitalism,” El-Sayed said.
Tariffs
Both candidates were asked about tariffs and their impact on Michigan’s auto industry.
“We got to end the Canadian tariff war. It is certainly not helpful to us. It is not helpful to our automobile industry. But there are tariffs that have helped,” Rogers said.
“I’m not against tariffs per se. I’m just against dumb tariffs. And like all the things that Donald Trump does, they are chaotic, they are ham-fisted, and they are self-serving,” El-Sayed said.
Health care
The candidates were also asked about health care costs for employers and employees.
Rogers described a woman who was billed for an extra scan she did not know she was paying for.
“She had no idea. My argument is we need transparency. You need to know what they’re charging when you show up. I think transparency is the number one thing we can do to start putting pressure on prices,” Rogers said.
“Guaranteeing health insurance to everybody in this country would be the single most important thing we could do for small business, both for the small business owners that currently exist and the small business owners that we would like to exist,” El-Sayed said.
Workforce
The conversation also turned to workforce challenges and the skilled trades.
“I think that’s why we should put shop back in every high school or at least be accessible to every high school so that you can get connected to the skilled trades,” Rogers said.
“We gotta build not just good jobs and address the skills gap, but we also have to address the pull factors that keep people staying here. And ideally, get people coming here. I wanna be a destination for future talent. I don’t just want to be a place that barely holds on to the kids that we grow here,” El-Sayed said.
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