Libertarian wants to repeal income tax, welfare programs, immigration policy

Stewart is running against Republican Joe Mitchell, Democrat Lindsay James and independent candidate Dave Bushaw, who spoke earlier in the day. It is an open race as current U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson pursues a bid for the U.S. Senate. 

Stewart, who lives in Cedar Rapids, has run for office several times, as a Libertarian candidate for governor in 2022, for U.S. Senate in 2020 and in 2018 for Iowa secretary of agriculture.

“The one thing you should not do is you should not vote for a Republican or a Democrat,” Stewart said. 

When asked what sets him apart from Bushaw, who is also running against the major party candidates, Stewart said “45 years of experience.” 

Five policies that ‘won’t cost a nickel’ 

Stewart explained five policy priorities, which he said would not cost more than existing programs already cost. 

First, he called for an elimination of nuclear weapons, because he said they are an “existential threat” to the nation and “nobody needs them.” 

Next, he said he would do away with all income tax, which he said has complex regulations that end up being “just a place where politicians can pass laws.” 

Instead of income tax, Stewart suggested a land tax, which would be levied on top of property tax, based on the value of the land. 

“So income taxes are the worst conceivable idea,” Stewart said. “A land tax is the most fair tax of all.” 

The land tax, he argued, would be easier to understand, and pay, compared to the current income tax program. 

Stewart’s third policy point was an overhaul the current immigration policy that he said “costs a lot of money and makes a lot of people angry.” 

Instead, Stewart suggested a system that allows vetted immigrants to bid for lifetime green cards in an auction system to enter the country. He said refugee and humanitarian cases for immigration should be decided by U.S. citizens, rather than the government. 

Stewart, who said he spends part of his year in Guatemala, said his immigration reform would also allow “anyone who’s not an actual criminal” to purchase a visa to visit the U.S. 

“That’s what we need to do here in America, is an immigration system that’s fair, honest, and makes money,” Stewart said. 

He also said a universal tax on carbon would help to reduce carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. The money collected by the carbon tax, Stewart said, would then be passed along to everyone living in a participating country. The carbon tax rebates, as he called them, would be spread on a per capita basis. The citizen demand to receive the rebates, he argued, would push countries to participate in the carbon tax program. 

“This will work because it gives people the incentive to do the right thing,” Stewart said.

Stewart said that current programs, especially Social Security and Medicare, represent “income transfers” between people who are “relatively poor and working to people who are relatively wealthy and not working.” 

By redirecting payroll taxes from Social Security and Medicare and funding from other government assistance programs, Stewart argued the nation could supply a “universal basic income” to all citizens. 

“So this system is, practically, 100% funded already, and it will guarantee that the only thing that happens is relatively wealthy people will give money to relatively poor people,” Stewart said. 

He explained the universal basic income would be distributed monthly to every citizen 18 years and older, regardless of total income or work status. 

With the universal basic income, he said the nation needs to “eliminate every single welfare program in the entire country” including school lunch vouchers, or farm subsidies for example.  

“I happen to be very passionate about government,” Stewart said in closing. “The one we have is not the one we want. Vote for me because if you vote for a Democrat or a Republican, all you’re doing is you’re voting to perpetuate the current system.”

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