Posted on 12/21/2007 2:13:47 PM PST by FocusNexus
In order to ensure that the presidential white papers continue to be thorough and relevant, the Club for Growth decided to issue an updated account of Mike Huckabee's economic record.
"Over the pas ten months, Governor Huckabee's embrace of his liberal economic record as governor and his populist, protectionist rhetoric on the campaign trail has only confirmed the Club for Growth's original assessment," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. "Huckabee himself admits that he is a 'different kind of Republican,' a code word for more government involvement, less personal freedom, and greater dependence on government bureaucrats."
"Huckabee is proud of his tax hikes, his spending increases, and his regulatory expansions as governor, and he has not indicated that he would govern any differently as president. Nominating Mike Huckabee for president or vice-president would constitute an abject rejection of the free-market, limited-government, economic conservatism that has been the unifying theme of the Republican Party for decades."
(Excerpt) Read more at clubforgrowth.com ...
I think anyone considering voting for Huckabee should read this to get the know the real Huckabee.
The Club for Growth provides a lot of specifics of Huckabee's record.
The club for growth has no credibility.
As long as he's not a 'compassionate conservative.'
/sarc
How so?
I'd be very interested in what they have to say about the other candidates as well.
I'll grant you that Huckabee is likeable and was a far better governor than Clinton despite raising taxes. But the truth of the matter is that he is in way over his head and needs to attract more than the Gomer Pyle vote to win.
They endorse Rudy. After that, anything they say goes into the “RINO” bin.
“I’d be very interested in what they have to say about the other candidates as well.”
They do indeed have white papers — facts and opinions about other candidates as well, links right from their home page:
They also have this:
The Anti-Huck List
Nachama Soloveichik
The Club for Growth PAC may have been the first to take on Huckabee, but we now find ourselves in very good company. As Huckabee surges in the polls, many prominent actors in the conservative movement are rallying against Huckabee’s candidacy for one reason or another. With each day, the list continues to grow, and I have started keeping track:
Club for Growth PAC
National Review Editors
Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
John Fund
Jonah Goldberg
Don Lambro
Robert Novak
Tony Blankley
George Will (twice!)
Investors Business Daily Editorial Board
Richard Viguerie
Kim Strassel
Washington Times Editorial Board
Michael Barone
Rush Limbaugh
Laura Ingraham
Charles Krauthammer
Peggy Noonan
Stephen Hayes
Phyllis Schlafly
Deroy Murdock
Ryan Sager
Chuck Muth
Ann Coulter
Huckabee, on the other hand, is great on social issues such as the right to life and pro-second amendment. But he is not great on economic issues and a major malfactor on border security. So if the national right to life council endorses him, I'm not going to say that they are worthless or RINO, just that I am not going to follow their advice because the Huckster's weakness on other important issues can't be overlooked because of his great stance on pro-life issues.
About Club for Growth
Club for Growth is a national network of thousands of Americans, from all walks of life, who believe that prosperity and opportunity come through economic freedom. We work to promote public policies that promote economic growth primarily through legislative involvement, issue advocacy, research, training and educational activity.
The primary tactic of the separate Club for Growth PAC is to provide financial support from Club members to viable pro-growth candidates to Congress, particularly in Republican primaries.
Club for Growth Policy Goals:
Making the Bush tax cuts permanent
Death tax repeal
Cutting and limiting government spending
Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts
Expanding free trade
Legal reform to end abusive lawsuits
Replacing the current tax code
School choice
Regulatory reform and deregulation
The Club for Growth focuses on FISCAL conservatism. Based on that Giuliani is INFINITELY more conservative than Huckabee.
Also, I don’t think they endorsed anybody, but they did run ads AGAINST Huckabee, they consider him so dangerous.
No they didn't.
The Real Conservative
"When I am president, I will build a fence." Amnesty and illegal immigration are not healthy for the U.S. or Mexico. "We need to be a nation of high fences and wide gates." ..Fred Thompson
"My idea of Gun Control is a good, steady aim." ..Fred Thompson
"Saddle Me Up"
Oh dear me. Might have known we had another whining huckaninny on our hands.
I see the CFG says nothing about the Huckster’s most glaring fault—his enthusiastic support for illegal immigration. that’s because they love it too.
Nope, my choice is Thompson. I just calls em like I sees em.
In January when Governor Huckabee announced he was forming an exploratory committee, the CFG released a white paper on his tenure in Arkansas. Governor Huckabee was the first candidate scrutinized even though he entered the race after Sen. McCain, Mayor Giuliani, Sen. Brownback, and Governor Romney.
What was the reason the CFG thought he was worthy of moving to the head of the line? The tax burden during his time in Arkansas was better than under Mitt Romney’s in Massachusetts. Likewise, his record on spending was better than Mayor Giuliani, who increased spending more than under his Democratic predecessor. So why was Governor Huckabee singled out as inconsistently conservative?
The reason is that one of the CFG’s biggest donors and organization officials is a longtime political rival of Governor Huckabee.
In August the Club for Growth began running attack ads in Iowa on Governor Mike Huckabee. Salon.com found after checking disclosures through the IRS that the ads had been paid for by “a Little Rock neighbor and political rival of Huckabee’s named Jackson T. “Steve” Stephens Jr.” Not only did Stephens provide the $125,000 to Club for Growth.net, he serves as the chairman, along with his Arkansas business associate, Gary Faulkner. Stephens has contributed over $1 million to CFG
So what do you think Huck would say on his own website?
Go and read the specifics with references at the COG’s website on taxes.
Taxes
The Club for Growth is committed to lower taxes across the board. Lower taxes on work, savings, and investments lead to greater levels of these activities, thus encouraging greater economic growth.
Governor Huckabee touts himself as an economic conservative, writing in his biography that he “pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history” and “led efforts to establish a Property Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights” early on as governor,[1] but he only offers a small piece of the picture. It is true that Governor Huckabee fought for an $80 million tax cut package in 1997 that was passed by the Arkansas Legislature;[2] cut the state capital gains tax in 1999;[3] and passed the Property Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights in the same year, limiting the increase in property taxes to 10% a year for individuals and 5% per taxing unit.[4] However, his record over the rest of his ten-year tenure tells a starkly different story.
Immediately upon taking office, Governor Huckabee signed a sales tax hike in 1996 to fund the Games and Fishing Commission and the Department of Parks and Tourism.[5]
He supported an internet sales tax in 2001.[6]
He publicly opposed the repeal of a sales tax on groceries and medicine in 2002.[7]
He signed bills raising taxes on gasoline (1999), cigarettes (2003)[8], and a $5.25 per day bed-tax on private nursing home patients in 2001.[9]
He proposed another sales take hike in 2002 to fund education improvements.[10]
He opposed a congressional measure to ban internet taxes in 2003.[11]
In 2004, he allowed a 17% sales tax increase to become law.[12]
By the end of his ten-year tenure, Governor 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,[13] garnering a lifetime grade of D from the free-market Cato Institute. While he is on record supporting making the Bush tax cuts permanent, he joined Democrats in criticizing the Republican Party for tilting its tax policies “toward the people at the top end of the economic scale,”[14] even though objective evidence demonstrates that the Bush tax cuts have actually shifted the tax burden to higher income taxpayers.
Finally, Governor Huckabee opposed further tax cuts at a 2005 gathering of Iowa conservatives.[15] On January 28, 2007, Governor Huckabee refused to pledge not to raise taxes if elected President, first on “Meet the Press”[16] and then at the National Review Conservative Summit.[17] The evidence suggests that his commitment to protecting taxpayers evidenced in his early gubernatorial years may be a thing of the past.
http://www.clubforgrowth.com/2007/11/updated_huckabee_white_paper.php
The CFG takes great pains to explain that Romney was working with a mostly Democrat legislature but fail to mention that the same was true for Huckabee. CFG praised Romney for cutting 300 million from the budget but fail to mention that Huckabee did the same thing.
CFG fails to mention that Arkansas has to have a balanced budget by law. Here is a quote from the Romney paper:
“Facing a $650 million deficit he inherited from the previous administration, Romney convinced the unfriendly State Legislature to grant him unilateral power to make budget cuts and unveiled $343 million in cuts to cities, healthcare, and state agencies.”
If Mass had a balanced budget law, Romney would have had to raise taxes by over 300 million.
Do you find it odd that the CFG would write it first paper on Huckabee back in January? It is also the only one to have an update.
I looked at one of the references from the CFG paper on Huckabee and found that CFG was trying to make Mike’s record look worse than it was. Im not saying his record is perfect but he more fiscally conservative than he gets credit for.
Post 37
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