The Problem with Huckabee
Info, opinions and positions abound. Here is one posted today by Scott Miller, THE CONSERVATIVE POST: Mike Huckabee has been having a good run lately. He’s done very well in all the Republican debates, he is very articulate, and actually pretty funny. He is moving up in the polls in Iowa, getting good press, and has moved into the upper tier of candidates… all with pretty limited resources. So why the title of this post… “The Problem with Huckabee”? Well, while Mike is a social conservative, he has a very spotty record as a fiscal conservative. Pat Toomey lay’s out the case against Huckabee’s fiscal record in Arkansas in a very persuasive piece on NRO: Dump the Huck
Tags: Election 2008, Mike Huckabee, presidential candidate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
During Huckabee’s tenure as governor, the average Arkansan’s tax burden increased 47 percent, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A dyed-in-blue tax hiker, Huckabee supported raising sales taxes, gas taxes, grocery taxes, even nursing home bed taxes. He virulently opposed a congressional moratorium on taxing Internet access, and sat on the sidelines while his Democratic legislature pushed the largest tax hike in Arkansas history into law. What’s more, on his watch, and frequently at his behest, state spending increased by 50 percent, more than double the rate of inflation, and the number of state government workers rose by 20 percent. Yes, as a presidential candidate, Huckabee has signed on as a supporter of the Fair Tax and pledged against raising taxes, but when a candidate’s long and clear record flies in the face of his election-year symbolism, you can chalk it up to politics every time.Pretty devistating case against Mike. While I like Mike Huckabee, and would vote for him over Hillary Claus any day, his big government record in Arkansas precludes me from backing him for the nomination. When you take the true measure of each candidate’s record, it’s clear that the Fred Thompson is really the only solid conservative in the top tier, and that’s why I’m with Fred.
Huckabee makes no secret of his desire to turn the GOP leftward, calling himself a “different kind of Republican,” adopting protectionist positions, and peppering his campaign speeches with the kind of class warfare rhetoric one expects to hear from John Edwards. No doubt, this is the reason that the liberal media is so smitten with him.
Instead of talking about curtailing government spending, Huckabee refuses to endorse President Bush’s veto of a vastly expanded S-CHIP. He is an unabashed fan of No Child Left Behind and an opponent of private school choice. Huckabee is also quickly becoming the labor unions’ favorite Republican, recently gaining a union endorsement along with Hillary Clinton.
Tags: Election 2008, Mike Huckabee, presidential candidate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
2 Comments:
I wonder if you've had a chance to read Huckabee's statements about the recent attacks on his Arkansas record.
Huckabee managed this state WELL for ten years against a rabid opposition while maintaining high popularity among a heavily Democratic population. His only real enemies in Arkansas were Democratic politicians and ultra-leftists. He faced some very serious problems in the state and managed them brilliantly during his tenure.
I suggest you exhibit a bit of fairness in your analysis by listening to both sides of any biography you might encounter about Governor Huckabee.
After all...there's really no reason to believe that any big-money interests could POSSIBLY have an INTEREST in SMEARING Huckabee with distortions of his record sprayed out to a blogosphere in hopes that SOMEONE will repeat the distortions without considering the principal's explanation...is there now?
Whahh.. Whahh.. Cry me a river! Huck is the only one . . . to talk to the unions. He supports the Fairtax which WILL lower the tax burden on the middle class and all the hoopla about Arkansas tax hikes is over the gas tax which the people passed by their own vote. And as far as not being a fiscal conservative, just look at how he uses what little money he has to manage his campaign and pass Rommney in the latest Rassmusen poll!
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