Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson slams Harris’ economic plan, gun proposals

Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson fielded questions on Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic plan, gun restriction proposals and more during a telephone town hall event Monday night.

Hinson, a former state lawmaker and former KCRG-TV news anchor, is running for a third term representing Northeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. She faces Democrat Sarah Corkery, a breast cancer survivor, disability rights advocate and Cedar Falls small-business owner, in the November election.

Harris economic plan

Hinson was asked about Harris’ recently unveiled economic agenda.

The Democratic presidential nominee laid out plans to lower the costs of food, housing, health care and child care. Her plan includes a ban on price gouging on groceries, a $6,000 child tax credit for families with newborns and $25,000 in down payment assistance for certain first-time homebuyers and incentives for starter homebuilders.

Harris has also joined her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, in calling for the eliminating of taxes paid by tipped workers. But, unlike Trump, Harris has proposed pairing the elimination of federal taxes on tipped income with a bump in the national minimum wage. Tipped earnings would still be subject to payroll taxes.

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Hinson asserted Harris’ economic plan amounts to government price fixing that would lead to shortages and food rationing. She also pointed to an editorial from the Washington Post Editorial Board that slammed Harris’ plan for supplying “populist gimmicks” over “delivering a substantial plan.”

The Republican from Marion contrasted Harris’ plan with Trump’s, who has championed a slew of tax-cutting measures, including preserving the tax cuts he signed into law in 2017 that are set to expire after 2025.

He has also promised to “to unleash American energy and lower costs for American families,” his campaign said in a news release Monday.

Hinson blamed trillions in “wasteful spending” approved by Democrats in pandemic stimulus money, clean energy and climate mitigation investment programs for worsening inflation — creating a surge of consumer spending that collided with chronic supply problems to boost prices.

“We have to get people off the sidelines of the economy and back into the workforce,” Hinson said. “We need to grow our population. We need to expand the Child Tax Credit to help support families. We need to bring more manufacturing back to our country, and we need an all-of-the-above energy strategy.”

Gun restrictions

Asked what she is doing to protect gun rights, Hinson criticized Harris' stance on gun control and her prior support for a “mandatory gun buyback program.”

“The Biden-Harris administration has done everything in their power to undermine the Second Amendment and demonize the law-abiding gun owners,” Hinson asserted. “ … So I'm continuing to fight these gun control attempts.”

While running in the presidential primary in 2019, the then-California senator said she supported the mandatory buyback of assault weapons. It did not apply to all guns, and Harris has since distanced herself from that position.

Harris has said “every person should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence,” and that her administration would push the passage of an assault weapons ban, red flag laws and universal background checks.

Hinson said she supports legislation that would prevent the White House from using a public health emergency to enact federal gun control measures. She also co-sponsored legislation that would allow individuals eligible to carry a concealed firearm in one state to carry or possess a concealed handgun in another state that allows its residents to carry concealed firearms.

The bill preempts most state and local laws related to concealed carry and establishes a private right of action for a person adversely affected by interference with a concealed-carry right established by the bill. Everytown for Gun Safety says the bill would force each state to recognize the concealed carry standards from every other state, even those that have weaker standards and do no require a permit.

Hinson also co-sponsored legislation to remove short-barreled rifles used for home defense and competitive shooting from the National Firearms Act and to rescind a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule on stabilizing braces created to help disabled combat veterans.

“Iowans support our law-abiding gun owners. We don't support criminals who break the law, and we need to make sure that line is clear,” Hinson said. “But I will not support any of these sweeping anti-firearm regulations coming out of this administration.”

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