Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Huckabee is a Fiscal Conservative

By Dick Morris

As Mike Huckabee rises in the polls, an inevitable process of vetting him for conservative credentials is under way in which people who know nothing of Arkansas or of the circumstances of his governorship weigh in knowingly about his record. As his political consultant in the early '90s and one who has been following Arkansas politics for 30 years, let me clue you in: Mike Huckabee is a fiscal conservative.

A recent column by Bob Novak excoriated Huckabee for a "47 percent increase in state tax burden." But during Huckabee's years in office, total state tax burden -- all 50 states combined -- rose by twice as much: 98 percent, increasing from $743 billion in 1993 to $1.47 trillion in 2005.

In Arkansas, the income tax when he took office was 1 percent for the poorest taxpayers and 7 percent for the richest, exactly where it stood when he left the statehouse 11 years later. But, in the interim, he doubled the standard deduction and the child care credit, repealed capital gains taxes for home sales, lowered the capital gains rate, expanded the homestead exemption and set up tax-free savings accounts for medical care and college tuition.

Most impressively, when he had to pass an income tax surcharge amid the drop in revenues after Sept. 11, 2001, he repealed it three years later when he didn't need it any longer.

Finish the article here:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/11/huckabee_is_a_fiscal_conservat.html

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Huckabee supporters! Please take a minute to check this post out from the GA Republican. If you live in America and support Mike and the Fair Tax this is for you, especially those in SC. Thanks!

Read the Post Here

11 Smiths for Huckabee said...

I noticed that you are from TN. What congressional district are you in?
www.11smithsforhuckabee.com

11 Smiths for Huckabee said...

Huckabee is coming to Nashville!
On Monday, January 28, Governor Huckabee will be coming to Nashville for a fundraiser luncheon.

We will not be attending the $1,000 a plate luncheon. However, we are getting together a group of supporters to meet him at the airport when he arrives. (We have been in touch with Jennifer Hatten from the Little Rock office and she has arranged for us to meet him there.)

The last report we had is that we need to be at the hangar by 11:00 a.m. Governor Huckabee will have a tight schedule and will probably not be able to spend much time there, but we would like to have a crowd there to encourage him.

If you are interested in joining us in welcoming Governor Huckabee to Tennessee, please leave a comment on our blog. We will let you know where to meet and will keep you updated on any new information we get.
www.11smithsforhuckabee.com

11 Smiths for Huckabee said...

I thought you might be interested in our new Huckabee video, "A Call to Texans." You can view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhApGSuT2BY

Please post this on your blog and pass it on to all your friends in Texas!