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 But, in the interim, he doubled the standard deduction and the child care credit, repealed capital gains taxes for home sales, lowered the capital gains rate, expanded the homestead exemption and set up tax-free savings accounts for medical care and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Most impressively, when he had to pass an income tax surcharge amid the drop in revenues after Sept. 11, 2001, he repealed it three years later when he didn't need it any longer.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
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Huck supporters like his softer side
By: David Mark
Nov 27, 2007 05:55 PM EST
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Rep. Bob Inglis is a staunch social conservative who opposes gay marriage and abortion and believes the concept of intelligent design should be taught in public schools along with evolution.
But that’s not what’s driving his support for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in South Carolina’s Jan. 19 primary — giving a glimpse into Huckabee’s unorthodox strategy for translating his Iowa momentum into success in Dixie.
Inglis, a South Carolina Republican, said that despite being wooed by all the leading GOP presidential candidates, he went with Huckabee because of his emphasis on more consumer-friendly issues like health care, federal arts funding, climate change and other topics that would appeal to broad group of voters, not just traditional social and Christian conservatives.
“It’s probably not what people would have expected out of a Baptist preacher from Arkansas," Inglis said in an interview. “He's a conservative who’s focused on the future, and rooted in principle and experience. It’s the reason people are taking a look.”
As Huckabee gains traction in Iowa ahead of the Jan. 3 caucuses — within striking distance of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, or even statistically tied, according to some polls — he must find a place to translate a strong Iowa finish into continued momentum. South Carolina, rife with movement conservatives who would be comfortable with Huckabee’s Arkansas twang, appears to be his richest target.
Find the complete story here:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/7066.html
Nov 27, 2007 05:55 PM EST
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Rep. Bob Inglis is a staunch social conservative who opposes gay marriage and abortion and believes the concept of intelligent design should be taught in public schools along with evolution.
But that’s not what’s driving his support for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in South Carolina’s Jan. 19 primary — giving a glimpse into Huckabee’s unorthodox strategy for translating his Iowa momentum into success in Dixie.
Inglis, a South Carolina Republican, said that despite being wooed by all the leading GOP presidential candidates, he went with Huckabee because of his emphasis on more consumer-friendly issues like health care, federal arts funding, climate change and other topics that would appeal to broad group of voters, not just traditional social and Christian conservatives.
“It’s probably not what people would have expected out of a Baptist preacher from Arkansas," Inglis said in an interview. “He's a conservative who’s focused on the future, and rooted in principle and experience. It’s the reason people are taking a look.”
As Huckabee gains traction in Iowa ahead of the Jan. 3 caucuses — within striking distance of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, or even statistically tied, according to some polls — he must find a place to translate a strong Iowa finish into continued momentum. South Carolina, rife with movement conservatives who would be comfortable with Huckabee’s Arkansas twang, appears to be his richest target.
Find the complete story here:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/7066.html
IA Poll: Huckabee Leads
Governor Huckabee is now in the lead!
Read the story here:
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/ia_poll_huckabee_leads.html
Read the story here:
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/ia_poll_huckabee_leads.html
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Huckabee: US Enslaved to Saudi Oil
(AP / Washington) — Consumers are financing both sides in the war on terror because of the actions of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday.
The former Arkansas governor made the comments following what he suggested was a muted response by the Bush administration to a Saudi court's sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes for a woman who was gang raped.
"The United States has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women," Huckabee said on CNN's "Late Edition."
"Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we're paying so that the Saudis get rich — filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas," schools "that train the terrorists," said Huckabee. "America has allowed itself to become enslaved to Saudi oil. It's absurd. It's embarrassing."
Huckabee said "I would make the United States energy independent within 10 years and tell the Saudis they can keep their oil just like they can keep their sand, that we won't need either one of them."
Find the complete story here:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1687336,00.html?xid=feed-rss-netzero
The former Arkansas governor made the comments following what he suggested was a muted response by the Bush administration to a Saudi court's sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes for a woman who was gang raped.
"The United States has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women," Huckabee said on CNN's "Late Edition."
"Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we're paying so that the Saudis get rich — filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas," schools "that train the terrorists," said Huckabee. "America has allowed itself to become enslaved to Saudi oil. It's absurd. It's embarrassing."
Huckabee said "I would make the United States energy independent within 10 years and tell the Saudis they can keep their oil just like they can keep their sand, that we won't need either one of them."
Find the complete story here:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1687336,00.html?xid=feed-rss-netzero
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Huckabee: Instill hope for future. Support strong families.
By Mike Huckabee
• special to the register
• November 21, 2007
America's greatest generation hasn't come and gone; I believe it is yet to be born. My vision for our country is for all Americans to share that optimism.
To make it a reality, we need capable leadership committed to making America stronger, more unified, more secure and abounding in opportunities for us to realize our dreams. We need leadership that will instill hope in the future for every American family, and I'm prepared to provide that leadership.
Americans deserve better than the partisan gridlock of "horizontal" left-versus-right politics in Washington that has held us back from our full potential. They deserve leaders who will practice "vertical politics" by lifting our country up, not tearing us apart. We must identify common goals for all Americans and work across party lines to achieve those goals the way I did as a Republican governor with a Democrat legislature in Arkansas for 10-plus years.
America's strength is in its people, so America should be a nation that protects and celebrates every life and recognizes that strong families are the foundation of a strong country. Strong families start with a mother and father, but they thrive with leaders who help them build a society where each of us has the tools to succeed and build a healthier, brighter future for our children.
Strong families need better schools with higher standards that incorporate personalized learning to enable every student to master basic skills while also developing their individual talents so they can exceed those higher standards. Government policies should support families who educate their own children, not put up barriers for them. As president, I'll work with the states to raise standards and incorporate programs, like music and arts education, that also teach creativity, a skill vital to succeeding in our economy.
Complete article here:
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071121/OPINION01/711210348/1036/Opinion
• special to the register
• November 21, 2007
America's greatest generation hasn't come and gone; I believe it is yet to be born. My vision for our country is for all Americans to share that optimism.
To make it a reality, we need capable leadership committed to making America stronger, more unified, more secure and abounding in opportunities for us to realize our dreams. We need leadership that will instill hope in the future for every American family, and I'm prepared to provide that leadership.
Americans deserve better than the partisan gridlock of "horizontal" left-versus-right politics in Washington that has held us back from our full potential. They deserve leaders who will practice "vertical politics" by lifting our country up, not tearing us apart. We must identify common goals for all Americans and work across party lines to achieve those goals the way I did as a Republican governor with a Democrat legislature in Arkansas for 10-plus years.
America's strength is in its people, so America should be a nation that protects and celebrates every life and recognizes that strong families are the foundation of a strong country. Strong families start with a mother and father, but they thrive with leaders who help them build a society where each of us has the tools to succeed and build a healthier, brighter future for our children.
Strong families need better schools with higher standards that incorporate personalized learning to enable every student to master basic skills while also developing their individual talents so they can exceed those higher standards. Government policies should support families who educate their own children, not put up barriers for them. As president, I'll work with the states to raise standards and incorporate programs, like music and arts education, that also teach creativity, a skill vital to succeeding in our economy.
Complete article here:
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071121/OPINION01/711210348/1036/Opinion
Huckabee Makes Crucial Gains Among GOP Base
By JAKE TAPPER
TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 21, 2007
Propelled by little more than his message and political skills, Republican presidential contender former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has vaulted into a statistical dead heat for first place in crucial, first-in-the-nation caucus state Iowa, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.
Huckabee's surge is equal parts size and intensity, having gained considerable ground among key parts of the GOP base in the Hawkeye state — evangelicals, conservatives, weekly churchgoers and abortion opponents — with 50 percent of his supporters "very enthusiastic" about him, compared with 28 percent of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's supporters.
The affable underdog achieved all this on a shoestring budget with little national infrastructure and close to no support from the Republican establishment.
"The people of Iowa are pretty savvy when it comes to politics," Huckabee told ABC News in an interview. "They are folks who, you know, they auction their cattle, but not their presidential candidates. And so just because somebody's gone in there and spent a bunch of money doesn't necessarily mean the people of Iowa say, 'He's my guy.'"
Huckabee, who placed second in the Iowa Straw Poll in August, suggested that for the last "11 months, everybody's been writing my political obituary each month, saying, 'He can't go on, he can't go on, he doesn't have enough money.' And here I am, tied. I mean, that's not supposed to happen. But it's happening because Americans are electing a president, not somebody who's going to head the fundraising for the United Way."
He insisted that with a successful showing in Iowa Jan. 3, he would have sufficient staff "from the momentum of Iowa, through the next few states, in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Michigan and Nevada" to win the nomination.
Finish the article here:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3894906&page=1
TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 21, 2007
Propelled by little more than his message and political skills, Republican presidential contender former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has vaulted into a statistical dead heat for first place in crucial, first-in-the-nation caucus state Iowa, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.
Huckabee's surge is equal parts size and intensity, having gained considerable ground among key parts of the GOP base in the Hawkeye state — evangelicals, conservatives, weekly churchgoers and abortion opponents — with 50 percent of his supporters "very enthusiastic" about him, compared with 28 percent of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's supporters.
The affable underdog achieved all this on a shoestring budget with little national infrastructure and close to no support from the Republican establishment.
"The people of Iowa are pretty savvy when it comes to politics," Huckabee told ABC News in an interview. "They are folks who, you know, they auction their cattle, but not their presidential candidates. And so just because somebody's gone in there and spent a bunch of money doesn't necessarily mean the people of Iowa say, 'He's my guy.'"
Huckabee, who placed second in the Iowa Straw Poll in August, suggested that for the last "11 months, everybody's been writing my political obituary each month, saying, 'He can't go on, he can't go on, he doesn't have enough money.' And here I am, tied. I mean, that's not supposed to happen. But it's happening because Americans are electing a president, not somebody who's going to head the fundraising for the United Way."
He insisted that with a successful showing in Iowa Jan. 3, he would have sufficient staff "from the momentum of Iowa, through the next few states, in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Michigan and Nevada" to win the nomination.
Finish the article here:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=3894906&page=1
Sunday, November 18, 2007
TN Buck for Huck!!!!
Attention fellow Tennesseans!!
Lets help Gov. Huckabee reach his November Goal by donating "A Buck for Huck".
If we all band together, we can do our part to ensure Gov. Huckabee reaches his goal in November. This can be accomplished if we all donate at least $1. So, come one!, lets get going, and live up to our nickname: The Volunteer State.
Lets help Gov. Huckabee reach his November Goal by donating "A Buck for Huck".
If we all band together, we can do our part to ensure Gov. Huckabee reaches his goal in November. This can be accomplished if we all donate at least $1. So, come one!, lets get going, and live up to our nickname: The Volunteer State.
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