Rick Stewart, U.S. Senate for Iowa

The Gazette sent questionnaires to Iowa's U.S. Senate candidates and other candidates for federal, state and county offices. The responses are unedited, unless to correct spelling or punctuation. 

To see other candidates' responses, visit our Election 2020 Candidates page. 

Rick Stewart faces Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, Democrat Theresa Greenfield and No Party candidate Suzanne Herzog in the election for U.S. Senate.

Click to see the other candidates' responses:

• Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst

• Democrat Theresa Greenfield

• No Party candidate Suzanne Herzog

State and local governments have seen revenues fall during the pandemic. Should Congress provide more direct aid to states and cities?

Congress has no money of its own, only the money taxpayers give it. In what world does anyone believe Iowans can send a dollar to Washington and expect to get more than one dollar back? Asking Congress to provide "more direct aid" is only a recipe for "more taxes." Better to keep our money here in Iowa, and spend it wisely, as all Iowans know how to do.

The national debt is reaching World War II proportions and may exceed the U.S. GDP. What steps should be taken?

This only requires one step — balance the Federal budget. Until Congress does, the national debt will just keep on getting bigger, and future Americans will just keep on getting poorer.

How can Congress ensure health care access for everyone?

The best solution is a Universal Basic Income of about $1,000 per month, with the premiums from a high deductible private health care plan subtracted from each check. This way no one is required to buy health insurance they don't want, and everyone who wants it can afford to buy a decent, basic health insurance policy, in a competitive private market that will drive prices down and quality up.

Do you support the Green New Deal? What must be done to protect the environment and limit harmful emissions without crippling farming?

The Green New Deal presupposes there are wise people in Washington who know more about reducing our carbon footprint than all other Americans combined. This is laughably false.

There is only one efficient way to move forward — a carbon tax. To make sure politicians don't spend and waste the revenue from the carbon tax, Universal Carbon Tax Rebates should be issued, on a per capita basis, to every American citizen, as a bonus added to their monthly UBI check.

It's easy, it's simple, it's progressive, and it works, so it's the obvious policy.

What needs to be done about the nation's infrastructure? Where do you start, and how do you fund projects? Would you raise the gas tax?

Taxes must always fund government projects, there is no other source of money.

Infrastructure projects by the Federal government are always massive wastes of money and should be avoided. Lobbyists and bureaucrats will skim off much of it, the remainder will be spent inappropriately.

Prudent states like Iowa can keep our infrastructure tax money at home and spend it wisely.

User fees on highways and bridges are always more efficient, and fairer, than the alternatives. They can be electronically assessed based on vehicle weight and miles driven, with payments taken out of your bank account every month, just like an electric, gas, or water bill.

What is your stance on how the federal government should help Americans with student loan debt?

The government has no business lending money to college students, since almost all of that money is captured by educational institutions and virtually none is retained by the student, who just graduates from college with a huge loan to repay.

If the government will permanently get out of the college financing business, I'm willing to forgive up to 100% of existing student loans, with a sliding scale based on 5 years of recent income.

Do you support raising the $7.25-an-hour federal minimum wage? If yes, what would you raise it to? Would you tie the wage to inflation? If no, why not?

There should be no Federal minimum wage, since the going wage varies tremendously from one state to the next. One size fits all is as nonsensical as a Federal rule that everyone has to wear the same winter jacket, regardless if they live in Iowa or Florida.

Minimum wages are a fundamentally bad idea because they hurt poorly skilled workers without jobs the most, but if they make voters feel better about themselves they should at least be limited to States. Purely local regulations would be even better.

How will you involve the public in your decision-making process?

My door is always open, please walk in and sit down. I'll be listening, just like Lincoln did in the White House.

Would you support adding more seats to the Supreme Court or limiting the length of time a justice can serve on the court?

No. When something isn't broken, don't try to fix it.

Should the Confederate flag be removed from federal property?

Yes 

Should military bases named for Confederate leaders be changed?

No

Explain your answer (for both questions above):

Only the Stars and Stripes should fly on federal property. All other flags are divisive and insulting to someone, for no useful purpose.

Americans can be proud of our history without being angry at people who lived almost 200 years ago. Interestingly enough the conflict between the winners and the losers of the Civil War was settled, civilly, toward the end of the 19th century. People who are still upset should probably cool down by reading more history.

In addition I am in favor of eliminating all Federal monuments. Should someone want to erect a monument, they should do it on private property, with private money. We have our Constitution to be proud of, we don't need monuments.

Should the federal government regulate social media to prevent fake news and misinformation?

No. As if the Federal government knows how to do this? That's a job for the media, not unelected bureaucrats.

Would you support a constitutional amendment to eliminate the Electoral College?

No. The electoral college prevents a slight majority from trampling on a large minority. The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing.

Should candidates for federal office be required to release their federal income tax returns?

No. I'm in favor of eliminating all taxes that are not transparent. I could know how much candidates for Federal office pay in taxes just by looking at my own tax returns, were taxes actually simplified to, say, 1 page maximum.

Should there be term limits for members of Congress?

No. Voters are the best term limits. Ending gerrymandering is a more effective way of getting rid of the deadwood.