Grand Rapids — The sparring continued Tuesday night when Republican challenger Dick DeVos and Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm faced off in the second gubernatorial debate.

DeVos opened the debate by accusing Granholm of lying to the people of Michigan about his accomplishments as a top executive at Amway Corp. — a direct-selling business — during the last debate and in her campaign advertisements.

"I'm furious," he said. "The governor will say anything to keep her job in Michigan. The people of Michigan deserve better."

Granholm started by saying she wanted to use the debate to explain her plan to turn the state's economy around.

"I have set in motion the most aggressive economic plan of any state in the nation," she said. "It is critical we invest in creating jobs today and invest in all of our citizens."

Although higher education wasn't explicitly discussed, Granholm said getting more college graduates in Michigan will help revolutionize the workforce of the future. She said she is pushing the Michigan legislature to create a $4,000 scholarship for each student in the Michigan school system.

Granholm looked at ease in front of the camera, using her hands in speech and addressing both the camera and the debate's in-house audience. DeVos was charged at times, but overall looked calmer Tuesday than during last week's debate.

"If we double the number of college graduates in Michigan, we will have the most robust economy in the nation," she said.

Both candidates bickered about how to replace the Single Business Tax — a tax on the costs associated with creating and running a business in Michigan — which generates about $1.9 billion annually for the state.

Defending the state's need to generate an additional $2 billion, Granholm said DeVos misled voters in saying that she's calling for a giant tax hike.

"The $2 billion comes from my effort to replace the Single Business Tax," she said. "We love the automotive sector, but we know we've got to enlarge the economy."

DeVos wasn't clear about how the state could produce the additional $1 billion needed to help balance the budget. He said the Single Business Tax would be replaced by a progressive tax on the corporate level.

DeVos stood stiffly with a slight smile for most of the evening and repeated the phrase "we've got to get Michigan back to work" when discussing the best way for all people to receive health services.

"The best way to get access to health care is to have a job," he said. "We have been running jobs out of this state."

Offering a no-frills benefit package on a sliding scale to people in need of health care could revamp the way people get medical attention, Granholm said.

"We need a uniquely American solution to the cost of health care in this country," she said.

In closing, DeVos said, as he did many times throughout the debate, Michigan is in need of a change and he's the man for the job.

"We have to fire the governor and head in a new direction," he said. "The people of Michigan deserve a change in this state. Are you better off today than you were four years ago? I am ready to go to work for you."

In her closing, Granholm said DeVos is better off as a businessman than he was four years ago, but the state is not because he supports unfair trade agreements that put Michigan into its current economic state.

"That is not leadership for Michigan," she said. "Nobody doubts that the Michigan economy is challenged. We have been working all over, and there is more to be done."