Speaking at an American Spectator/Americans for Tax Reform breakfast this morning, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) declined to announce he was running for president but said that if he did jump in he “would run to win.” McCotter tackled a wide range of subjects ranging from the competition with China’s model of government to the unfairness of the Wall Street bailout.

The five-term congressman suggested the Republican presidential field lacked a strategic approach to foreign policy and argued that globalization makes isolationism untenable. He opposed a rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan, fearing a Taliban resurgence. But McCotter cautioned against describing opposition to any specific intervention, like the president’s Libya adventure, as isolationist. There can be no “one size fits all” approach to different countries where the U.S. has different strategic interests.

McCotter argued that the U.S. was following the monetary policies that led to Japan’s “lost decade” and that government was stifling innovation. Describing the Ryan plan as “a good start,” he laid out of his vision for entitlement reform. Working with TAS contributor Peter Ferrara, his proposal would avoid tax increases and benefit cuts by allowing people to invest in their retirements and use market-based competition to control health care costs. He referred most Michigan issues to state and local officials, but vowed Detroit would come back from the economic doldrums.