With campaign stops scheduled for Jackson, Memphis and Union City, Bill Hagerty made an appearance at NEWS/TALK 101.5 FM – The 180 with Sea Bass – Tuesday.

Hagerty (R-TN) is a candidate for the U.S. Senate Seat held by Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who is retiring.

Among the subjects Hagerty touched on included the economy, health care, China and the Memphis Regional Megasite.

“Weve got to get our economy re-started again, and we’re taking significant measures to do it,” Hagerty said, “One of the things we’ve been working on in the White House Economic Task Force is a new wave of deregulation.”

Hagerty said one of the things he has been arguing, is that the mistakes of the Obama-Biden administration – cannot be repeated.

“Do you remember they put a $1.5 Trillion stimulus package into the economy in ’08 and ’09, but we had the slowest economic recovery in history,” Hagerty said, “Why is that? Because they grew government at the same time – they expanded regulations (and) that’s a break on the economy … we can’t repeat that mistake again.”

Hagerty said ‘tremendous’ problems existed with veterans health care during the Obama administration, and one option is private health care.

“We are making progress,” Hagerty said, “One thing that really drives me crazy, is that the Democrats have put forward a policy for illegal immigrants to come across the border and have immediate access to health care.

“That puts illegal immigrants ahead of our own veterans. The Democrats get this all wrong, all the time.”

Hagerty also offered his thoughts on China’s military growth and trade.

“Products of decades of bad policy … we’ve seen both Republican and Democrat Presidents look the other way. China has been able to mount their aggression,” Hagerty said, “We are standing up to them economically.

“They have been stealing our intellectual property, they subsidize industries (and) they compete unfairly.”

Megasite – “We realize we have a huge opportunity,” Hagerty said, “The state has been working on this for years (but) we’ve got to get that site to a point that it can accommodate a major client like an automotive manufacturer, and when we do that, I think it’s going to have a transformative result on this area.”

Election Day is Thursday, August 6.

(PHOTO: Bill Hagerty, right, visits with Sea Bass on The 180, Tuesday)