DETROIT — Amid surging popularity in the polls both nationwide and within the state of Michigan, Republican presidential hopeful and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum unveiled his economic policy plans at a campaign stop at the Detroit Economic Club at the Cobo Center yesterday.

Santorum, who spoke to a crowd of about 300 people, sought to establish his economic credentials over other presidential candidates, most notably former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who received an endorsement from Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in Farmington Hills yesterday.

In his speech, Santorum said he did not support the federal government’s 2009 bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, and he discussed Michigan’s troubled economy over the last few years.

“The government should not be involved in bailouts, period,” Santorum said.

Santorum addressed his proposed tax policy that would simplify and reduce taxes in order to “help promote a strong and healthy society.” To make up for revenue lost due to lowered taxes, Santorum said he would decrease federal spending by $5 trillion over the next half decade.

“Less spending each year, every year, and we will reach a balanced budget in five years,” Santorum said.

He added that spending reductions and tax cuts alone would not allow the country to succeed economically, culturally or socially. To encourage American manufacturing, Santorum said he would implement policies — like as a zero percent corporate tax rate — that would benefit manufacturing companies.

“Manufacturing, making things, is the key to wealth creation in any society,” Santorum said.

Santorum also suggested large-scale changes to energy policies. Specifically, he emphasized the importance of cheap energy, citing that countries with high standards of living have lower energy prices and noting that the 2008 economic recession was exacerbated by high energy costs.

Santorum said President Barack Obama views American oil, gas and coal resources as a “liability,” but Santorum said he believes it is necessary to extract more natural energy resources.

“I want to open up the Alaska Wildlife Refuge to create more opportunities for us to extract oil,” Santorum said.

Santorum criticized Obama in a variety of areas, specifically stating that he was “suffocating” the economy, adding that Obama was more concerned with forcing automakers to produce cleaner cars than with encouraging oil drilling and pipeline creation.

Santorum added that Obama’s views are not compatible with a country “that believes in free people and free markets.”

In a question-and-answer session after the speech, Santorum said Obama instigated a “war on private education,” citing community colleges and private schools as the only way to meet the “exploding demand” for skilled and semi-skilled labor.

He also discussed the need to fund private schools to help meet the needs of businesses.

Students from Eastern Michigan University, Baker University and several high schools in Michigan attended Santorum’s speech.

Noah Crowder, a senior at Chelsea High School in Chelsea, Mich., came with his government class and said he enjoyed the speech.

“I think he hit a lot of issues that were really true to Detroit and the Michigan area,” Crowder said.

Gary Lesnau, a teacher at Divine Child High School in Dearborn, Mich., accompanied his students to the speech and said it was an educational trip.

“It’s good exposure to the people who are the movers and the shakers in this country,” Lesnau said.

Amy Pestenariu, a senior at Divine Child, said she thought Santorum would be a good candidate for students and the youth to support.

“Younger people should be concerned about the job market, and, in that respect, he would be a good candidate for them,” Pestenauriu said.