Monday, January 07, 2008

Time to Buck the Huck

To Huckabee or Not Huckabee, that is the question.

Or at least that's the question facing Republicans. Should they choose Mike Huckabee as their presidential nominee?

Here's the answer: no.

To be blunt, Huckabee would be a disaster.

The American-based free-market group Club for Growth recently published a report on Huckabee which found:

* By the end of his ten-year tenure, (as Governor of Arkansas) Huckabee was responsible for a 37% higher sales tax in Arkansas, 16% higher motor fuel taxes, and 103% higher cigarette taxes
according to Americans for Tax Reform (01/07/07), garnering a lifetime grade of D from the free-market Cato Institute.

* Under Governor Huckabee’s watch, state spending increased a whopping 65.3% from 1996 to 2004, three times the rate of inflation (Americans for Tax Reform 01/07/07). The number of state government workers rose 20% during his tenure (Arkansas Leader 04/15/06), and the state’s general obligation debt shot up by almost $1 billion, according to Americans for Tax Reform.

* Governor Huckabee has consistently supported and initiated measures that increase government’s interference in markets, thereby impeding economic growth.

Enough said!

Oh, and Huckabee's foreign policy ideas also leave a lot to be desired.

So Republicans, choose whoever you want as your next leader as long as its not Huckabee.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay... sounds good but let me ask you this, what was the state of the economy at the end of his term? This is a well known 'poor' state isn't it? (real conservative)

Anonymous said...

Americans need to wake up!

They're broke!

Their "right man" was clearly the wrong man, and now, they are thinking of picking amongst the same bunch of broken records.

Why not vote for the guy who clearly walks the walk and talks the talk...

Heck, if they don't want Dr. Ron Paul, send him up here...

rondi adamson said...

Plus, he's a crazy ass homophobe.

Anonymous said...

Rondi couldn't have said it better regarding both Huck and Paul.

Huckabee is merely a social conservative. He's pretty liberal otherwise, and in my opinion, his social conservatism actually is liberal in the sense that it promotes more government intervention in people's lives. However, that's of less concern to me than his economic record and his stunning ignorance on foreign policy. For goodness' sake, he was tricked into congratulating Canada on preserving its "National Igloo" on television! That is not someone I want in the White House, both because I love Canada and because I hate the thought of another President who doesn't even know the most basic facts about the world.

Anonymous #2- Ron Paul merely tolerates Canada's existence. He wants to end free trade with you. He doesn't totally hate Canada because it has a population that is predominantly (though not completely) white. He has taken money from and been photographed with white supremacists and is pretty damn proud of it. He has taken more money in earmarks back to his district than any other Congressman, so he's proven he really doesn't care that much about reigning in spending. He is unrealistic in how he views America's relationship with the rest of the world (thinks one shouldn't exist). He has only "walked the walk" with regards to Iraq, depending on what walk one is desiring to take. Exiting from Iraq now is an even bigger mistake than entering in the first place.
Oh, and he's NOT a libertarian. He's a confederate. HUGE difference, but no one seems to recognize that.

Anonymous said...

I don't know where you get your information on Ron Paul but you might want to read some of his own positions before you spout off.

http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/

Monkey Loves to Fight said...

Finally something we agree with. He is about as far as you get from being a Libertarian. He is left leaning on economic policies while ultra right wing on social policies. The fact Ron Paul and Huckabee are in the same party amazes me though considering how little in common they have. Although a federal Liberal, I am centre-right on economic policy since I support smaller government, but not cutting it to the bone, just reducing it to a more managable size, while I am socially liberal.

And I fully agree with Rondi Adamson on the first one, but not the second one. In fact I think Ron Paul of all the leaders in all parties has the most sensible foreign policy. His is one the founding fathers envisioned of non-interventionism. Believe it or not, war is about increasing the size of government not reducing it.