Posted on 01/11/2008 10:34:38 AM PST by Maelstorm
| Friday, January 11, 2008 1:05 PM By: Newsmax Staff |
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Fred Thompson went on the attack against Mike Huckabee at Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, sharply criticizing the candidate he clearly sees as a rival for the evangelical vote in South Carolina.
In the debate sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party, the heated exchange went like this:
THOMPSON: “This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and its future. On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution. You have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security.
“On the other hand, you have the direction that Governor Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies.
“He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy and the tradition of, blame America first.
“He believes that Guantanamo should be closed down and those enemy combatants brought here to the United States to find their way into the court system eventually.
“He believes in taxpayer-funded programs for illegals, as he did in Arkansas.
“He has the endorsement of the National Education Association, and the NEA said it was because of his opposition to vouchers.
“He said he would sign a bill that would ban smoking nationwide. So much for federalism. So much for states' rights. So much for individual rights.
“That's not the model of the Reagan coalition, that's the model of the Democratic Party.”
HUCKABEE: “The Air Force has a saying that says that if you're not catching flak, you're not over the target. I'm catching the flak, I must be over the target.
“Fred, I want to say, I appreciate the analysis of my record, but let me try to give you some of the facts of my record.
“I came into Arkansas as a governor. Put in that position as a lieutenant governor when my predecessor, a Democrat, was forced out of office on a felony conviction.
“I did something that had not been done in my state in 160 years. I cut taxes, with the legislature working with me, and we continued to do that 94 times.
“We cut spending. I'll tell you, the most painful time of my being a governor in 10 1/2 years was looking at a budget 91 percent of which was pretty well fixed on education, Medicaid, and prisons -- and cutting 11 percent out of that budget…
“Everywhere I went, I had people protesting me and screaming and yelling and doing demonstrations because I cut government. But I stayed faithful to the things that Ronald Reagan stayed faithful to.
“You know, if Ronald Reagan were running tonight, there would be ads by the Club for Growth running against him because he raised taxes a billion dollars in his first year as governor of California. It would be $10 billion today.”
Thompson and Huckabee did agree later in the debate that the commander of a U.S. Navy ship did the right thing by choosing not to fire on Iranian boats that were harassing American vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the week.
Thompson quipped about the Iranians: “I think one more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they’re looking forward to seeing.”
© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Such a mature attitude, for a CIC want-a-be.
Hillary say the same thing.
How is he on immigration, revamping SS, government spending and entitlements? He is not conservative, he is a moderate democrat that sees a party in distress and an opportunity.
I think the next debate they are at Fred should bring a case of Metamusil for the Huckster and tell him he is going to need to keep up with him.
I noticed that at the time,too. Hopefully, we're not the only two who did.
Keep drinking the curmudgeon-conservative kool-aid, if you like.
You’re as nuts as Huck and McCain.
Your not...
"Of course they kept electing you!. You were a Republican governing just like a Democrat in a majority Democrat state. That doesn't bolster your conservative credentials at all."
Huckleberry’s record doesn’t square with your claim that he supports most of those positions.
You just keep on spamming that laughable list on every thread you see.
Pro-border security and immigration enforcement? Not according to his record.
Small government fiscal conservative? Try again...
Pro private/home education? Then why is the NEA for him and the HSDLA against him?
I like Huckabee's positions on life, marriage and RKBA, but he is at best a moderate on fiscal issues, questionable on immigration issues, and an unknown quantity on national security. I am not for McCain either.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1952131/posts
Barnett’s debate analysis is astute and correct: Fred is very skilled and has great command of the issues, except he was attacking someone who is even better. Huckabee is exceptional whose package of skills is often sold short.
1st: Huckabee: Credible Commander In Chief. It was not only possible but easy to imagine Huckabee as the leader of 300 million people. Tonight heralded the arrival of Mike Huckabee as a force in this race. Not a spoiler, not a wildcard, but a force.
2nd: Thompson second. Fred really has a great command of the issues. His comments on the economy were cogent and well-informed. He gets bonus points because his observations don’t seem like the product of pre-debate cramming. Problem is, Fred was attacking an exceptionally skilled politician [Huckabee is exceptional whose package of skills is often sold short]
John McCain == strange pleasure in being his own worst enemy
Giuliani == utterly irrelevant
Romney == invisible,hardly anything original or inspiring
Ron Paul == Washington Generals.
He is pro-home school and anti voucher. I am the same way, we home school and before that we sent our children to the parochial school.
I am against vouchers (was in favor of them up to about a year ago) because of what has happened in Great Britain.
I do not want ANY goverenment dollars flowing to private schools. I would rather see a tax credit for parents who do not send their children to public schools at a rate the voucher would be for.
It could even be the earned income type credit which can result in a tax return even when tax paid is 0.
I've spent quite a bit of time doing exactly that; plus I've met the man in person. He even spoke in person at my caucus site last week here in Iowa. And I'm not buying him as a conservative. He's a pro-life, pro-family John Edwards.
Huckabee supports the National Service Academy a training ground for liberal bureaucrats on our dime:
Academy ‘08
Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee met with Academy Co-Founder Chris Myers Asch in Iowa in August. “This is a great idea!” Gov. Huckabee exclaimed. “I wish I’d thought of it.”
Huckabee is the third presidential candidate to publicly endorse the Academy, joining Democrats Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Biden are co-sponsors of the U.S. Public Service Academy Act in the Senate.
http://www.uspublicserviceacademy.org/08/
Of course the NEA would love it. Free school for libs!
Huckabee is mischaracterized as liberal on economic issues.
Huckabee gets negative press for the sales tax going up. I have much less issue sales taxes esp at the state level then I do with income taxes, as sales taxes are voluntary and income taxes are not. Taxing work/productivity/income is evil. Income taxes/property taxes/estate taxes are central the tenants of marxism, sales taxes are not.
Huckabee’s positives on taxes:
Pushed through a Democrat legislature the first, major broad based tax cuts in the state’s history (168 years)
Pushed through a Democrat legislature an $80 million tax cut package.
Cut the state’s capital gains tax by 25%.
Established a Property Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights
Limited the increase in property taxes to 10% a year for individuals and 5% per taxing unit
Eliminated the income tax for families below the poverty line.
Increased the standard deductions.
Eliminated the marriage penalty.
Eliminated bracket creep by indexing the income taxes to inflation, thereby preventing taxpayers from moving into a higher bracket when their paychecks increase due to inflations.
Doubled the child care tax credit.
Eliminated capital gains tax on the sale of a home.
The Huckster sure wasn’t very “Pro-Border Security & Immigration Enforcement” when he was Arkansas governor. His record and his stump speech do not match.
One has to look at Huckabee’s electability. He borders on promoting theocracy - wanting to impose certain Evangelical Christian religious principles on people nationally. That will scare the you know what out of moderates, liberals and the urban/suburban voters. I could see any non-Evangelical urban/suburban woman opening their eyes quite wide at the statement about the duty of subordination to one’s spouse.
Fred, on the other hand, promoted federalism, which moves the issues of the predominance of any codified moral principles to the state and local level. It allows for at least some areas to run by different rules and regional cultural expression.
Ban on smoking, supports the federal drug war (but Fred does too), federal funds for fatherhood initiatives, low-income energy and other things.
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