Campaign Check in with Mike Rogers

It's All Talk on a Monday morning. I'm Kevin D. It's coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1,800-8-590-957, 1-800-8-9-0-WJR. It has been an eventful few weeks around the world and here at home from the conflict with Iran and questions about America's role overseas to the long-awated opening of the Gordyhow International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor. There are plenty of issues shaping Michigan's future. Plus, the president is in town today talking manufacturing and the economy. Join us now. is Mike Rogers, Army veteran, former FBI Special Agent, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, businessman, and Republican candidate for the United States Senate. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Kevin. How are you, sir? I'm doing great. How's the campaign going? You know, very, very, very well. We've traveled across the state, and we're just getting just tremendous feedback. So people are ready for a change. I'm telling you, we've had, you know, for a better part of a quarter century, two Democrats representing Michigan and the Senate. And it's been pretty devastating. We've lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs in that quarter century. Our education is now below Mississippi. You can't buy a home now, or the average first-time honer is almost 40 years old. And so we've got solutions and fixes for all of that, and we're going to get Michigan back up off her knees and building things again, and we're going to be the envy of the country. It just takes a change. And we're that change, I think, that Michigan's ready for. Yeah, it's good to get out there and talk with the people. It gives you a real sense of what the real issues they're hoping can get improved. Are you mostly hearing about the economy? Mostly economy, jobs, opportunity, housing. I mean, our kids are leaving our state. And the biggest part of it is they can't afford a home here. And so we've got a really, I think, creative plan to get people, those folks in opportunity to get into homes here. And we hear it a lot. And so it's that affordability issue on homes. I think the median wage now is, or median home now in the state, Kevin, is about $400,000. That's crazy. I mean, that is just way too high for any first-time home owner to get in. And so, you know, you think about the fact that their kids can't read when they're in the fourth grade, which huge opportunities. They hear a lot about that. And then to just general prices. You know, the Democrats in Lansing gave us the highest energy prices in the Midwest, and we're about 17% higher than the national average. So they get it. They understand who has been responsible for a heaping on these high costs across the state, and I think they're ready for that change. And it is about affordability. Let's get our energy rates down. Let's get better job opportunities back in the state. We get defense industrial-based work that over that quarter century of two Democrats in there, we've just lost. We used to build the main battle tank, gone, the components of the submarine. fleet on the west side that's gone shipbuilding gone so we've got a lot of work to do but uh i'm energized and fired up for it so we'll get better wages lower prices and better educated kids that can afford a house we win the president's going to be here this afternoon are you going to head out there what do you expect them to say

I think he's going to talk about the economy. We have seen this reshoring renaissance in manufacturing across the United States. That's been really, really good. We need to do better here in Michigan. A lot of those big plants went to southern states. And so I think he's going to talk about all of that, that this thing can work if we give it time to work, and we cannot allow the Chinese to get their built cars here in the United States. and supplant our U.S. auto owners. Remember, the Chinese don't really want to come here and compete with companies. They want to come here and undercut our companies. They always look for customers, never look for allies. And so we've got to be really careful. I think it's an existential threat. to our car industry to allow these Chinese cars. And I think he's going to come and talk about the kinds of things that are working in the economy. I mean, in this environment, you only hear about the worst, the bad, the ugly. I think he's going to try to highlight some of those positive things that are happening. I mean, I talked to a small factory the other day, Kevin, created a second shift for the first time in 25 years. And why? Reshoring of some of that manufacturing orders that are coming back. And so we see that across the state. I talked to cherry farmers up north who were telling me, you know, the tariffs to try to keep turkey from dumping cherries into Brazil and then Brazil dumping cherries here was very helpful for their business because they were just getting undercut. Because, again, they don't want to compete. They just wanted to put you out of business. And so there are some positive stories out there, and I'm certainly hoping that he shares some of those positive stories. What are your thoughts on where we are at? with Iran. The stated goals were no nukes, take out the long-range ballistic missile launchers, stop the money rolling into the proxies. It has not been a slam dunk at this point. The straight-up Ramuz is still a problem. There's been real, no regime change. We got rid of the Ayatollah, but now his son's in place. What are your thoughts of where we're at on Iran? You know, I think the setback for their nuclear program has been real and significant. And, you know, when I was the chairman a decade ago, I've been in the private sector for the last 10 years, but they had all three components that they needed for a nuclear weapon, and that was in 2014. So you know when they showed up at that first meeting and said, we've got enough enriched uranium for 10 nuclear bombs. They meant it, and they knew how to use it. And so that, to me, was absolutely clearly. You have got to not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. Obviously, we want this thing put to bed, and the sooner that it's put to bed, the better, I think we are. And they can't control the Straits of Hermuz. And to me, when I see what they're doing, they're trying to make sure that they protect our ability to navigate the Straits of Hermuz. That's what that last round seems like to me. But it just shows you how intransgent that they are about wanting a nuclear weapon. So, you know, I hope it gets wrapped up soon. The sooner it gets wrapped up. I think we're going to get gas prices down. And the good news, the Republicans in D.C. have been working on all the structural changes. Remember, under Biden, they wanted permanent high gas prices. They wanted higher utility rates. They believe in that if I punish you enough, you're going to change your habits. I mean, that's just not the America I want to see.

And we're trying to dismantle that. Less regulation using American energy. And all of that's being done right now. So once this thing wraps up, I'm really, really excited about what that's going to do for our economy and prices. It's going to put pressure on prices. The Gordi Howe International Bridge finally going to open up today at noon. It's exciting really for both sides, Windsor and Detroit and Canada and the United States. The holdup seems to be over tariffs. And we have an awful lot of money coming into this country because of Donald Trump's tariffs. Where do you stand on the tariffs and how important is the bridge opening? Well, listen, we lost, as I said, the last quarter century, about 200,000 manufacturing jobs. And so the Chinese economy and other Asian economies primarily really took advantage. And by the way, who got hit hardest on all of this trade migrating out of the country, which I say is bad trade policy? Michigan. Man, we got kicked. The rest of the country got hurt. We got kicked right in the shins. And it didn't feel very good for a long time. So I think tariffs to correct behavior and allow our companies to get their feet underneath them and compete is huge. And I'll tell you why. It means higher wages for our workers, better opportunities. And overall, at the end of the day, it'll start lowering prices when we get this other thing wrapped up. So I'm telling you it's targeted and temporary is probably the way to go. And what we're doing is finding what works and what doesn't. I can't wait to go back to work with the president. What doesn't work? I'll talk to him. What does work? We ought to double down on it. This is important for a Michigan manufacturer. What's the website, Mike Rogers for Senate.com. Love to have you in. All right. Mike Rogers, thanks so much. We appreciate it. Good luck on the campaign. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz.