“We’re going to hold Congress accountable with regard to spending,” the Republican told a Fort Dodge audience Saturday morning.

“You’re paying too much because they’re spending too much,” he added. “You’re paying too much because they printed too much. You’re paying too much because they borrowed too much.”

DeSantis spoke to about 50 people at Olde Boston’s Restaurant & Pub, outlining his stances on federal spending, the southern border of the United States and relations with China.

He said being tough with Congress is key to controlling federal spending.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses the crowd at Olde Boston’s Restaurant & Pub on Saturday in Fort Dodge during the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign stop.

“You’ve got to be willing to veto bills that Congress puts before you when they’re overspending,” he said.

The three changes he advocates to control spending are a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, line item veto power for the president (which has been ruled unconstitutional) and term limits for members of Congress.

“If you have those changes you would be able to get a handle on this much, much easier,” he said.

In fact, the presidency briefly had line item veto power, which enabled the chief executive to scrap specific spending items without vetoing an entire bill.

Congress passed the Line Item Veto Act in 1996. President Bill Clinton used that power 82 times before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1998.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Fort Dodge resident, Marta Kramer, listens attentively to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Saturday at Olde Boston’s Restaurant & Pub.

As he did during his July 14 visit to Fort Dodge, DeSantis echoed the call, popular among Republican presidential candidates, for securing the border.

“Mexican drug cartels should not be running our southern border,” he said. “We should have control over our southern border. On Day 1, we’ll declare it a national emergency. We’re going to mobilize all available resources to stop the invasion.”

“We are going to treat the Mexican drug cartels like foreign terrorist organizations and we are going to authorize the use of deadly military force to stop the invasion,” he added.

Big spenders in Congress and Mexican drug cartels aren’t the only entities DeSantis promised to get tough with. He said as president he would be firm in dealing with China.

“I want to avoid having a war against China, but I think the way you do that is through projecting strength,” the candidate said. “The goal is to deter conflict through strength.”

-Messenger photo by David Borer
Mike Cooper, of Twin Lakes, listens as Gov. Ron DeSantis answers Cooper’s question on Taiwan.

To defend Taiwan, he said his strategy would be to “deny China the wherewithal to move.” To do that, he said, the United States will have to beef up its defenses in that area of the world.

He asserted that as governor he barred China from buying land in Florida. He said he would do the same for the entire nation if he is elected president.

-Messenger photo by David Borer
A large crowd filled Olde Boston’s in downtown Fort Dodge for a presidential campaign stop by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday morning.