Public policy should match public opinion

The majority of Iowans believe that a hard day’s work should be enough to cover the bills, seniors should be able to afford their prescriptions, and a woman should be able to make her own health care decisions. Instead of listening to what Iowans want, my opponent Rep. Ashley Hinson is pushing an agenda that’s out of touch with the majority of Iowans, and she is more focused on impressing her political bosses in DC than serving her constituents.

Sixty one percent of Iowans want abortion to remain legal, yet Rep. Hinson co-sponsored a bill to ban abortions nationwide with no exceptions–even in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman’s life. And to make matters worse, Hinson has been trying to mislead Iowans about her stance despite numerous fact checks confirming her support for this extreme bill. Politicians like Ashley Hinson have no place in a doctor’s office making personal health care decisions for Iowa women.

I’m tired of my representative saying one thing here in Iowa and then going to Washington and voting the other way.

I learned about what real service meant from my parents; both of them served in WWII. Growing up on the farm, I learned about a hard day's work and penny-pinching in tough times. When things broke on the farm, we fixed them ourselves. Nothing was ever handed to me. I did farm chores, detasseled and mowed the cemetery, and that helped me pay my way through journalism school at the University of Iowa.

As my parents got older and were both sick at the same time, they relied on the Social Security and Medicare benefits they had earned their entire lives. That’s why it infuriates me that Ashley Hinson supports raising the retirement age, has called initiatives to include dental, vision, and hearing in Medicare coverage “socialism,” and has bragged about closed door meetings with party insiders in Washington to further undermine these programs.

Iowa families are struggling to make ends meet while big corporations are making record profits. Despite telling Iowans she will lower prices on things like prescription drugs, my opponent voted with the pharmaceutical lobby against bringing down insulin costs and capping drug prices for seniors. That’s not fair and it's not the Iowa way.

I’m a lifelong Iowan with a track record of putting Iowa first and working with anyone to get things done, including voting with Republicans to lower taxes and balance the budget in the statehouse. I have voted to cut commercial property taxes to help Iowa businesses and I will work for similar common sense policy in Washington. I will protect the retirement benefits Iowans have earned through a lifetime of hard work. And I will stand up for women’s rights to make their own reproductive health care decisions.

I promise to represent Iowa values in Washington as your next U.S. Congresswoman, and humbly ask for your vote on election day.

Senator Liz Mathis was elected to the Iowa State Senate in 2011, representing parts of Linn County. Mathis was a journalist for 27 years, held a teaching position at Wartburg College and worked at Four Oaks, a children’s mental and behavioral health agency. Mathis is running for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District.