Gov. Huckabee loves taxes

As former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee begins to challenge former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney for the lead in the Iowa Republican caucuses, his big-government past continues to haunt him.

Huckabee, a hundred pounds ago, practically begs the Arkansas legislature for a tax increase:

Huckabee is liberal

The Wall Street Journal's John Fund attack's Huckabee's liberal record on MSNBC's Tucker Carlson show:



You can read the full WSJ article here.

Money quote from Phyllis Schlafly:

Phyllis Schlafly, president of the national Eagle Forum, is even more blunt. "He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles," she says. "Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a 'compassionate conservative' are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee."

RINO Bill Owens piles on:

Governors who served with him praise Mr. Huckabee for his ability to work with others, but say he was clearly a moderate. "He fought my efforts to reform the National Governors Association and always took fiscal positions to my left," former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a supporter of Mitt Romney, told me.

Huckabee: unions are the future

Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee's populist campaign continues to stray from conservative, and even Republican ideology with his support of labor unions. This sort of apostasy doesn't go over will with the base.

From Change to Win (a union political website) Huckabee says:

"The real fact is, unions are going to take a more prominent role in the future for one simple reason: A lot of American workers are finding that their wages continue to get strapped lower and lower while CEO salaries are higher and higher.

And the reality is that when you have the average CEO salary 500 times the average worker, and you have the hedge fund manager making 2,200 times that of the average worker, you're going to create a level of discontent that's going to create a huge appetite for unions.

So unions are the natural result of workers finally saying, "Look, I can't go from a $70,000 year job to a $15,000 a year job and feed my family of four." That's when unions are going to come back in roaring form."

This is the hallmark of unionism: violence against workers.

Rudy Giuliani Courting Mike Huckabee

CCP EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS: POTUS candidate Rudy Giuliani is said to be courting social conservative Mike Huckabee as his running mate for the 08 Presidential election. In the category of 'duh', Giuliani is hoping to win back some of the conservatives upset over his stances on abortion, gun rights, and gay marriage.

Will it work?

Who knows, Huckabee has been by far the most enjoyable to watch out of any of the candidates Republican or Democrat and Rudy is looking to be the top contender out of the GOP lineup.

It could very well be a formidable line up if the James Dobson crowd is satisfied by this concession to the point where they would vote Republican instead of third party this election.

More on Huckabee

Not to appear to be flogging a dead horse, but Club for Growth has put up a new site, attacking Mike Huckabee. It's very well done.

Visit www.TaxHikeMike.org for all the details.

From the site, here is Huckabee trying to defend why he was endorsed by a labor union:

More on Huckabee and a national smoking ban

From National Review's The Campaign Spot:

Huckabee Clarifies a Bit on Smoking

Campaign Spot reader Alex writes in with an update from a Mike Huckabee conference call this morning.

Blogger: There’s some concern about your statements regarding tobacco regulation from the Lance Armstrong forum. As a Public Health Professional, I fully support any and all tobacco regulation, but others felt your comments meant you would be building big government and forcing behavior on individuals. Could you clarify your views on tobacco regulation?

Huckabee: Certainly, I don’t believe that we as a government have a right to tell people what to do or not do. The issue is one of workplace safety. The same reason that the government regulates the exposure of radon and other toxic gases in the workplace. In Arkansas I signed a bill that banned smoking in certain public areas and businesses, but not in bars/restaurants, because those were places consumers could more easily choose to go to or not to go. So, in the workplace, if we regulate smoking, it is an issue of worker safety. The responsibility initially lies with the states, of course. The only way this would be a federal responsibility is for it taking on that role as part of OSHA as it regulates other work place safety.

I'm both reassured and unnerved by this. Yes, at the presidential cancer forum, he did mention the restaurant and bar exception, but when asked by Chris Matthews if he would sign a bill banning smoking "in public places," he said, "I certainly would."

I sympathize, I don't like cigarette smoke in my workplace,
but I don't think it's an issue for Congress and the President to resolve.

Secondly, if he really thinks it is an issue of workplace safety, why would Huckabee subject waiters and waitresses, busboys, bartenders, and hosts to cigarette smoke?

Interesting perspective on "pro-life" and Huckabee

K-Street Mole for Huck has an interesting take on what it means to be "pro-life" as opposed to "anti-abortion" and how that plays out with Mike Huckabee.

While I don't necessarily agree with this take, its certainly worth reading.

The highlights:

Anti-abortion means you believe that abortion is killing a human person with a right to life, and therefore abortion should never or very rarely be legal.


Pro-life means you believe the same thing as someone who is anti-abortion. But it can mean so much more:


- Pro-life means you support the local crisis pregnancy centers and maternity homes that help women in desperate situations give life to their babies. It's more than a bumper sticker - it is time or money shared to give life to individual persons in need.


- Pro-life means you don't support the death penalty whenever there is any reasonable doubt that the person is guilty of pre-meditated murder. (Yes, I know a jury already decided the person was guilty beyond reasonable doubt. But can you really expect a dozen people with no knowledge of legal standards or scientific/evidentially methods of proof to decide to acquit an accused when loved ones of the victim are clearly grieved before them, on the basis of "reasonable doubt"?)


- Pro-life means society gives people the means to be healthy and stay alive. Stay-at-home parents and people too sick to work need access to healing professionals just as much as employees, children and seniors. (The best way to do this is highly debatable by people of goodwill, but a pro-life person agrees this should be the goal.)


- Pro-life means you don't believe you are entitled to carry on activities that endanger the lives of others. You are not entitled to blow carcinogenic smoke into other people's lungs, you are not entitled to sell food or products that carry health risks without at least informing customers about the hazardous contents, and you are not entitled to drunk or reckless driving.


Some Republicans may bristle at some of these aspects of being pro-life. Particularly the last one -- according to some, this is supporting a "nanny state." No. A nanny state tells you that you can't eat Doritos or smoke in your own house. A pro-life state says that Frito Lay has to tell you what is in those Doritos and says you can't smoke in public places where other people have to breathe your exhaust fumes. A nanny state pays for your condoms and Cialis. A pro-life state tells insurance companies they can't refuse to give ongoing necessary treatment to people with chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis or Lyme Disease.


Huckabee is not just anti-abortion. He is pro-LIFE. That's why I think he deserves the votes of all pro-life citizens, regardless of party affiliation. Let libertarians sulk about smoking bans - if you are a pro-family traditionalist, a social-justice Christian, or anyone else who believes that the number one duty of government is protecting our right to life, Huckabee is your man.

I can't say that I support "social-justice," it sounds a lot like socialism with a populist/religious veneer.

Huckabee recieves union endorsement

Just how far has Governor Mike Huckabee strayed from the conservative fold?

Today, Huckabee and Hillary Clinton recieved dual endorsements of The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).

The IAM have decided to endorse both a Democrat and a Republican this election cycle.

"The dual endorsement is intended to involve all IAM members in the upcoming election," said
Buffenbarger. "It is fitting for the union whose early members gave birth to Labor Day to reach beyond traditional partisan boundaries to establish new relationships for the benefit of all working Americans.

On why they chose Huckabee:

"Mike Huckabee was the only Republican candidate with the guts to meet with our members and the only one willing to figure out where and how we might work together,"said Buffenbarger. "He is entitled to serious consideration from our members voting in the upcoming Republican primaries."

Mike Huckabee is willing to work with union thugs?

A round of applause is goes to ALL the other Republicans running for President who ignored the sirens song of these union thugs.

My past concerns about Huckabee, combined with his new union endorsement make it safe to say that Huckabee should NOT be the choice of conservatives.

Problems with Huckabee

Tomes have been written about how conservatives are struggling to find their candidate in the 2008 Presidential race. Rudy, Mitt, John --all the front runners -- have dubious to down-right liberal records.

While many are turning to some of the second tier candidates, especially Mike Huckabee after his surprise "victory" at the Ames Iowa Straw poll, conservatives should take a closer look at these candidates before they jump of their respective band wagons.

Mike Huckabee, of all the second tier candidates, seems the mostly likely to challenge the unholy trinity (McCain, Romney, Giuliani). But Huckabee is far from the "authentic conservative" he claimed to be when he entered the Presidential race.

I can't lie, part of me likes Huckabee.

There is not doubt that he will be 100% pro-life and 100% pro-gun. However, Huckabee's populist rhetoric and big-government solutions have me running scared.

Yesterday, Huckabee called for a national smoking ban. (You can watch the video here.)

While I'm not a smoker, the issue of federally mandated behavior control is at the heart of nanny-government. While I enjoy going to Colorado restaurants and bars and not smelling like John Boehner's ash tray, but there is a larger, small-government issue at stake.

This sort of populism is a branch of the tree of George W. Bush's so-called "Compassionate Conservatism" that he has used to grow the size, scope and authority of federal government. Bush's brand of nanny-big government "conservatism" has expanded government to levels that the Clinton's only dreamed about. To all appearances, it looks like Huckabee is part of this big-government crowd.

Adding this idea to Huckabee's comments about main street vs. wall street, his opposition to school choice vouchers, as well as his references to the "club for greed" should give all conservatives pause.

It is also informative that long time Arkansas political writer John Brummett believes that Huckabee is cut from the same political tactics mold as Bill Clinton:

Mike Huckabee has always had a more liberal side than the left thinks and Hillary Clinton a more conservative one than the right thinks. ...

First, the liberal side of Huckabee:

Fresh from his Iowa straw vote impetus, which came courtesy of his conservative side, Our Boy Mike appeared at the monthly newsmaker breakfast of the Christian Science Monitor. What he pronounced prompted an official with the Club for Growth, the extreme economic conservative group that's been trying without success to bedevil him, to say disapprovingly that Huckabee sounded like he was doing "John Edwards' poverty tour."

At this breakfast, Huckabee declared that:

-People aren't doing as well economically as broad indicators suggest. Costs of health care, gasoline and college tuition have them struggling to break even. The next president must be sensitive to that.

-It's ridiculous to say God belongs to any school of political thought. One's religious values must influence more issues than abortion. Those values should make one an environmentalist who cares about poor people. (He didn't say anything about "environmental wackos," which he uttered last century in one of his right-sided moments.)

-Governors without much foreign policy experience can succeed in foreign affairs, as evidenced by the performances of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and, get this, Bill Clinton. Huckabee didn't mention the similarly situated George W. Bush, coming back later under questioning only to say he meant no disrespect to the current president and that history will judge Bush more favorably than contemporary views.

Part of this is tactical by Huckabee. But part of it is genuine. He is a political quilt with patches of pettiness, meanness, hyperbole, hypersensitivity, ethical impairment, generosity and open-minded compassion.

(H/T: Politico.com's Jonathan Martin blog.)

Bottom line: a Huckabee presidency would be a Pyrrhic victory for the Conservative Movement.

Iowa Straw Poll

The clear victor of Saturday's Iowa Republican Straw Poll is Governor Mike Huckabee.

Mitt "RINO" Romney may have actually won the poll, but Huckabee made the strongest showing and elevated himself to the top tier of candidates.

I'm in the process of tracking down some Colorado guys who went to the straw poll to get there first hand reactions. I'll post their reactions, once I get them.

In the mean time, read National Reviews analysis of Huckabee here.

Full Straw Poll results:

Iowa state auditor David Vaudt has unofficially certified the Iowa Straw Poll results. With 14,203 ballots having been reportedly cast, here are the results as per (http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/) …

1. ROMNEY: Gov Mitt Romney won the 2007 Ames straw poll, receiving 4516 votes, or 31%.
2. HUCKABEE: In a surprise, Gov. Mike Huckabee finished second with 2587 votes at 18.1%
3. BROWNBACK: Sen. Sam Brownback with 2192 votes and 15.3%
4. TANCREDO: Tom Tancredo with 1961 votes, 13.7%.
5. PAUL: Ron Paul with 1305 votes, and 9.1%
6. THOMPSON: Tommy Thompson, 1,039 votes, 7.3%
7. THOMPSON: Fred Thomson with 203 votes.
8. GIULIANI: Rudy Giuliani with 183 votes.
9. HUNTER: Duncan Hunter with 174 votes.
10. MCCAIN: John McCain with 101 votes.
11. COX: John Cox with 41 votes.