“The idea of one person, one vote—the very root of our American democracy—has never been in greater danger. Voters no longer control Democrats and Republicans in Washington—big donors and special interests do. I will be your independent voice, accountable only to the hard-working people of the 10th congressional district. Not the two parties. Not the special interests. Just you, the voter.”

For over 30 years, we’ve watched as manufacturing jobs disappeared from our local economy. While many point the finger at China, Mexico, and globalization, the truth is that manufacturing jobs that were once the backbone of a thriving middle class are being phased out by machines that work 24/7, never ask for a raise, and don’t need health insurance.

I’ve spent my entire career at the forefront of the world’s economy—working with leading technology companies in the U.S. and China. I understand where the threats are, but I also see where the opportunities going forward exist. Nobody on Capitol Hill has the direct experience or first-hand knowledge to make sure we maintain our global economic leadership while creating good-paying jobs that sustain our communities and our families for years to come.

We can fix this.  Michigan has the foundational attributes needed to compete and thrive in today’s economy that runs on advanced technology and automation – we just need to reorient how we approach the problem.

• Leverage our manufacturing skillset, and infrastructure that once put the world on wheels, to attract global growth industries like electric vehicles, robotics and renewable energy
• Keep our educated tradesmen and college graduates in Michigan. We are simply losing too many young, talented graduates of our world-class institutions to places like Chicago, Austin, and Seattle. We need to spend more time listening to our young people, hear what’s important to them, and develop smart talent retention and attraction strategies to keep young people here in and connected to our community.
• Invest in vocational programs and entrepreneurial education which are critical to creating a strong economy here in our district. Only 23% of our district’s residents have a college degree, but our K-12 educational system is overly focused on preparing students for college entrance exams.

After the worst economic crash since the Great Depression, Michigan’s economy has been on a steady, but too-slow, recovery. As we emerged from the recession and the economy got back on track, our federal government should have been laser focused on “righting our economic ship,” paying down our $20 trillion debt and squaring up our budget. Rather than acting responsibly, they’ve already gone back to the pre-crash mindset, giving huge tax cuts to corporations and billionaires that will blow up our debt.

We need to get Washington back on course. It is crystal clear that it won’t happen if we keep voting the same way and sending the same people back to DC year-after-year. Michigan’s economy grows when the middle class is strong, not when politicians cut back-room deals to help their wealthy donors get wealthier. Keys areas I believe we need to focus on immediately include:

• Close tax loopholes that only benefit corporations and billionaires. Write-offs for private jets don’t create jobs, educate our kids or keep us healthy and safe.
• Simplify the tax code for individuals, and make the individual tax cuts permanent.
• Deregulate smartly to make it easier for small businesses to succeed.
• Use tax incentives that encourage businesses to hire American workers, not robots or ship jobs overseas. The recent tax cut incentivizes corporations to buy more machinery, which today means more robots meant to replace workers. In the same vein, we need to end tax breaks that encourage companies to hire low-wage workers overseas.

It’s common sense. We’re all only human and, sooner or later, we all get sick. It tears at me when I walk into a diner in Port Huron and see three flyers on a pin-up board, all advertising fundraisers for family members who are in treatment for cancer or other illnesses. We are not and cannot become a community that is okay with others having to choose between medical care, bankruptcy or death!

Like many of us, I had to learn about the shortcomings and inefficiencies of our health care system through a painful, personal experience. My dad, who I thought was the Man of Steel himself, was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in the spring of 2016 and passed away later that year. Figuring out the complicated web between his private insurance, Medicare and out-of-pocket expenses left my sisters, my mom and me exhausted. The outrageous costs for the dozens of medicines he was taking, along with other drugs, that would have cost thousands of dollars a month had he survived would have bankrupted most people in America. This should not be the stuff American families are focused on while they or their loved ones are sick or battling to live.

We are a great country, and that demands having a great health care system to match. I see two immediate corrections to our health care system that would dramatically lower costs and still be able to cover everyone in our country:

• Break Big Pharma’s grip on Congress. The pharmaceutical industry is so powerful in fact that, by law, Medicare is not allowed to negotiate prescription drug prices to save seniors money. Major companies like Walmart and Apple use their size and purchasing power to negotiate extremely favorable pricing with their suppliers, but our Congress voted to make it illegal to do the same when it comes to the medicine millions of Americans rely upon to stay alive.
• Institute legal barriers between doctors/hospitals and the pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies. This is necessary to remove the financial incentive for doctors to push more drugs or exams on patients and are only prescribing medicines when absolutely necessary.