MIRS Monday Podcast

MIRS sits down with William Lawrence, a Lansing progressive running in the Democratic primary for Michigan's 7th U.S. House district, covering the greater Lansing area and Livingston County communities. Joining Lawrence is Randy Cantu, a 72 year-old retired General Motors worker residing across the street from where a data center developer plans to build on nearly 400 acres of farmland in the 7th District. Once being a "pretty quiet" guy politically, Cantu has decided to get behind Lawrence's campaign, believing he's "the only one that gets their hands dirty" when it comes to protesting the controversial development. (1:10).

To kick things off, MIRS podcast host Samantha Shriber does a recap of news and interviews from the past week. News ranges from the delayed opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Canada, to Michigan House Speaker, Republican Matt Hall, floating a four month temporary budget for state government if deals don't start moving. MIRS also sits down with Dan Papineau, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce's senior director of strategic initiatives. Dan describes why the Michigan Chamber will be pushing against November's question of whether the state constitution should be re-written (14:00). Also, who is Eric Chung? MIRS sits down with a Democrat running in Michigan's 10th U.S. House district, learning more about how he went from teacher to constitutional lawyer, as well as what it was like growing up in a household of Vietnamese immigrants working in Macomb County's automotive industry (32:30).

This week's episode includes host Samantha Shriber's coverage of the Mackinac Policy Conference, a yearly gathering of government, business and nonprofit leaders hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber. MIRS sits down with David Jurcak, president of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. They talk about hiring tourism employees from overseas, concerns around the Shepler's Ferry monopoly and the United States' 250th anniversary (3:19). U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, the Holly Democrat, also explains why, as a former CIA officer, she sees Chinese cars driving into the country as "surveillance packages on wheels" (27:22). Also, President Brian Calley of the Small Business Association of Michigan says that 42% of members are one to three years away from no longer being able to offer health insurance due to rate increases (40:39).

MIRS editor Kyle Melinn comments on the confusion created when elected officials can't agree on important economic numbers. (00:28) And Senator-elect Chedrick Greene of Michigan's 35th district speaks with MIRS' Samantha Shriber about his background and his thoughts about joining the legislature. (4:34)

Ahead of the Michigan Political Leadership Program fundraising dinner on April 29, MIRS sat down for a one-on-one conversation with keynote speaker Robert Costa, CBS News' chief Washington analyst. Costa shares his concerns about the aftermath of a gunman who reportedly stormed past security at last month's White House Correspondents Dinner, and the future of civic dialogue in American politics. He also talks about the possibility of Michigan seeing a reduction in straight-ticket voters in the fall, and how U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin's (D-Holly) ambitions have become a story for the national media to watch. (1:15)