Ramaswamy brings campaign back to Creston

With the Iowa caucus weeks away, Republican candidate for president Vivek Ramaswamy campaigned Friday afternoon in Creston as part of another tour of southern Iowa. He has been in Creston, Mount Ayr and several other southern Iowa towns within the past month.

The Columbus, Ohio, resident and businessman claiming to be the youngest ever Republican candidate at age 38, took questions from the audience at Pizza Ranch. One was about taxation.

Ramaswamy said he is in favor of a flat tax at 12%.

“That is the way to go across the board,” he said. “Eliminate a lot of the croniest deductions.” He said the tax compliance cost because of the tax complications cost $750 billion. “Just give that money back to the people. Flat the tax code as low as the tax rate as possible for as broad as possible. Everybody should pay some amount of tax. It’s good everybody pays the same 12%.”

He said that is way to grow the economy.

He is also in favor of accessing and using all fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas and to “embrace” nuclear. He is also in favor of financial motivations to get people to work, rather than not.

“Exisiting politicans are not going to get that done,” he said.

He said the country’s national debt of $34 trillion can be helped by selling oil and natural gas to buy down the debt.

“That is the single most effective thing we can do,” he said about the debt.

Ramaswamy said the most recent $7 trillion of the debt is the support for Ukraine in its war against Russia which started in February 2022. He called it “Iraq 2.0″ meaning it does nothing to advance America’a causes.

Ramaswamy said he will end the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms division of the federal government which he called fundamentally hostile to the Second Amendment. He also warns of red flag laws where people can file to have relatives not able to acquire or possess weapons because of their mental health.

“They are basically a Constiutional violation,” he said. “We do have a mental health epidemic spreading across the country.”

His solution is to put people with mental health issues who are potentially violent to others in mental health institutions that have been shut down instead of removing guns from law abiding citizens.

Under Iowa Gov. Terry Brandstad, the state’s mental health institutions were closed in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant. Two more are still in operation.

Ramaswamy said he is a practicing Hindu.

“That is different than the traditional faith bakcground of those who run for president. But not as different as you think.” He said he want to private, parochial schools. “God puts here for a purpose. We are his instruments. He works through us. He works through us in different ways because we are all equal.”

He said his parents taught him family is foundation, marriage is sacred and between a man and woman. “Divorce is not some option you pick off a menu of preferences when things go a little wrong.” He said he read the 10 commandments, a guideline of rules in the Bible, in ninth grade and explained how they reflect his own personal values and ethics.

“Are those values strange or foreign? It certainly looks like that in today’s culture.” He made reference to subjects taught in school or with businesses and employee manuals.

“They are not foreign to most of us. As your next president, will I stand for those values? You are darn right I will. I hope to reach the next generation as I am a person from, the next generation to make faith, family and patriotism and hard work cool again. That is my goal.”

The Iowa caucus is Jan. 15.