With all eyes on Michigan for today’s Republican primary, I interviewed one of the Wolverine State’s congressman, Rep. Mike Rogers, about Michigan’s economic struggles, the likelihood of a presidential executive order on earmarks and what he expects for the upcoming year on Capitol Hill.

Despite the exciting activity taking place across his state today, Rogers is in Washington for the start of a new session of Congress. Without a favorite in the GOP race for president, he’s remaining focused on policy debates on Capitol Hill, perhaps none bigger than the economic stimulus package being discussed by President Bush and congressional Democrats.

Rogers knows firsthand what it’s like to live through a poor economy. His state has suffered more than any other under the leadership of Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose tax-and-spend plan to revive the state’s economy backfired miserably and has left Michigan with a 7.4% unemployment rate.

Now that all eyes have turned to the national economy, Rogers said it’s not surprising to see Sen. Hillary Clinton put forward a plan that would do more harm than good. Clinton’s massive plan would cost a whopping $70 billion and serve mostly as a short-term handout to the neediest families. According to the Republican National Committee, which maintains a “Spend-O-Meter” for Clinton’s proposals, Clinton’s latest plan would bring the total to $848.6 billion in new spending during just one term in office.

Rogers knows that throwing money at the problem won‚Äôt work. That‚Äôs what Granholm did when Michigan fell on hard times — raising taxes on individuals and business to pay for more government spending. Granholm tried to ‚Äútax the state‚Äôs way to prosperity,‚Äù Rogers told me. It turned out to be a horrible disaster, and for that reason he isn‚Äôt optimistic about what congressional Democrats will propose at the national level.

“I think the Democrats are going to go back to their roots and say, ‘If we have more government spending and we don’t necessarily cut taxes, we’ll stimulate the economy,’” he said. “I’m not optimistic that they won’t go back to big spending and high tax rates. They think that works for America, and that’s what they’ve been preaching about since they took over.”

Rogers said conservatives need to remain committed to a free-market approach that emphasizes competition and injects capital into the economy through lower tax rates. He dismissed the Democrats‚Äô idea of issuing tax rebates — similar to the $600 refund Bush gave taxpayers in 2001.

“What is going to stimulate job growth?” Rogers said. “Rebates alone can’t do it and won’t do it in and of itself. Our corporate tax rate is one of the highest among industrialized countries. We need to take a serious look at how we make anybody doing business in America more competitive. That means looking at the tax rates from stem to stern.”

In addition to pushing for lower tax rates, Rogers said conservatives on Capitol Hill must be committed to fiscal restraint when it comes to government spending. I asked him about the president’s consideration of the executive order canceling lawmakers’ pork-barrel projects.

‚ÄúI‚Äôm not sure he can do it by executive order, but anything that starts drawing attention and starts putting pressure on what is an explosive problem here is OK by me,‚Äù Rogers said. ‚ÄúI believe transparency — good old fashion sunlight — cures all the dumb things that sneak their way into these bills.‚Äù

He added, “In the seven years I’ve been here, I’ve found that it is incredibly difficult to crack the nut of the appropriations process. I argue that there are Republicans and Democrats and then there are the appropriators.”

Rogers chastised Democrats for breaking most of the promises they made during the 2006 election regarding fiscal restraint. He cited their promise to cut earmarks in half as one of the broken commitments.