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December 27, 2006
Huckabee's Fiscal Failures
Andrew Roth
Leon Wolf links to the Club's blog and reminds RedState readers of Mike Huckabee's "manifold fiscal failures" as Arkansas' governor.
Posted at 3:54 PM, December 27, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
October 27, 2006
I'm Mystified Too...
Andrew Roth
From Ramesh at NRO:
"Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, the enthusiasm for whom in some quarters has always mystified me, gets an F for his last term and a D overall [on the Cato scorecard of governors]."
Posted at 4:25 PM, October 27, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
October 20, 2006
More on the Flunking Huckabee
Andrew Roth
The Arkansas News Bureau picked up the story of Governor Mike Huckabee getting an "F" from the Cato Institute, but said that it wouldn't have much affect on Huckabee's image. However, they did quote a political analyst who said that something else would, in fact, hinder Huckabee. Excerpt:
The anti-tax Club for Growth is one group that has repeatedly attacked Huckabee for promoting sales tax increases to pay for education reform, among other spending measures.
Dean Spiliotis, director of research for the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, said the club's dislike for Huckabee may cause problems for the governor in his state.
"If a national organization is willing to put money out there saying 'Don't be fooled, this guy is really a liberal,' that can chip away at (Huckabee), especially in states where you're not well known," he said.
Yes, indeed. Don't be fooled.
Posted at 8:28 AM, October 20, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
October 19, 2006
Mike Huckabee Gets an 'F'
Andrew Roth
The Cato Institute just released their 2006 fiscal report card for all 50 governors. Not surprisingly, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee had a failing performance. Excerpt:
"Mike Huckabee of Arkansas also went from being one of the best governors in America to one of the worst. He receives an F for his current term and a D for his entire tenure. The main reason for the drop was his insistence on raising taxes at almost every turn throughout his final term."
According to the Cato data, Huckabee's most recent score was broken down into 3 parts:
- 'F' for revenue variables (he was dead last among all 50 governors)
- 'C' for spending variables (he was 16th)
- 'F' for tax rates (he was...you guessed it...dead last again)
To put this into perspective, Huckabee had a worst score than Ohio Governor Bob Taft (he got a "C"), who is normally considered the worst governor in the country.
Posted at 5:42 PM, October 19, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
October 16, 2006
Huckabee = Big Government
Andrew Roth
Outgoing Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has been in office for 10 years so it was no shocker to see this recent headline ($) in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, "State's Expenses Soar Over Decade: Report to Panels Shows Outlays Nearly Doubled to $15.6 billion". [emphasis mine]
Posted at 4:39 PM, October 16, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
October 10, 2006
Huckabee Aligns Better with Democrats
Andrew Roth
John Brummett of the Arkansas News Bureau wonders why Mike Huckabee is helping Republican candidate Asa Hutchinson succeed him as governor when his political philosophy is more aligned with the Democrat candidate, Mike Beebe.
It probably has something to do with...oh, I don't know...his futures aspirations.
Posted at 9:03 AM, October 10, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
September 24, 2006
The Huckabee Weather Vane
Andrew Roth
"Huckabee is all over the map philosophically, " writes journalist John Brummett.
Posted at 9:48 AM, September 24, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
September 20, 2006
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Huckabee
Andrew Roth
Ernest Dumas of the Arkansas Times expands on my letter to the DC Examiner editor about Mike Huckabee's convoluted record as governor. The last paragraph below by Dumas is a scorcher:
Bipolar politics has always been Huckabee’s strongest suit. No one is better at saying one thing, doing the opposite and getting credit for both, of talking small government and actually promoting big government. Huckabee can do that in Arkansas, a peculiarly bipolar state where people think of themselves as conservative but like populist stands.
[...] But Huckabee’s real troubles may be with the fiscal hardliners. Already, the Club for Growth tails him wherever he goes. After the Examiner article, in which Huckabee said he thought Bush’s tax cuts for the rich should be made permanent even though he agreed that the party often favored the wealthy, the director of government affairs for the rich man’s club wrote a letter to the newspaper accusing Huckabee of trying to falsify his conservative record.
“On the surface,” he wrote, “Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee may come across as a sensible lawmaker with a silver tongue, but if one takes a closer look at his record, you’ll see a hornet’s nest of fiscal liberalism.”
Huckabee has never been a lawmaker, sensible or foolish, but the observation is not so far off the mark. He has not governed as a right-winger. While next door Gov. Haley Barbour, the former GOP national director, has been trying to slash Medicaid benefits to the Mississippi poor, Huckabee has been working twice as hard to expand them in Arkansas. While he signed two modest tax cuts, he has supported and signed even more and fatter tax increases. The number of state government workers has risen 20 percent on his watch and the state’s general-obligation debt has risen by some $800 million — more than the accumulated debt under all previous governors, unadjusted for inflation — and it would have risen much more if the voters last year had not smacked him down on highway and college bonds.
(For the record, I used "sensible lawmaker" to pseudo-describe Huckabee because I thought "sensible politician" was too much of an oxymoron.)
Posted at 2:30 PM, September 20, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
September 18, 2006
Reminder: Huckabee is a Liberal
Andrew Roth
Last week, Bill Sammon wrote a profile about Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in the DC Examiner newspaper that was widely circulated throughout the blogosphere. The article was very fair, which is customary for Sammon, but it didn't go into enough detail. Therefore, I wrote this letter to the editor, which got published this morning.
Posted at 8:52 AM, September 18, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
August 25, 2006
Arkansas Favors Hillary Over Huckabee
Andrew Roth
According to a recent poll, Arkansas, for the most part a red state, would prefer estranged native daughter Hillary Clinton over current governor Mike Huckabee by a score of 51% to 36%, if the two of them ran against each other in the 2008 presidential election.
Likewise, if the match up were between General Wesley Clark (another candidate with Arkansas roots) and Huckabee, Clark would win 51% to 37%.
While Hillary and Huckabee don't suffer from a lack of name ID in the state (both are at 98%), Clark has just 63% name recognition.
Posted at 9:13 AM, August 25, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
July 6, 2006
Huckabee is Writing a New Book
Andrew Roth
According to this AP article, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is writing a new book. Similar to this recently published book, may I suggest that the governor consider the following as the title?
"Huckabee's Personal Journey: How I became a big-spending, tax-hiking, minimum-wage-increasing, nanny-state-loving, oil-company-bashing, vindictive-newspaper-hating, NCLB-embracing, liberal!"
Posted at 5:00 PM, July 6, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
June 20, 2006
Democrat Gives Huckabee a Lesson on Taxes
Andrew Roth
Anybody who understands basic economics knows that tax rebates do not stimulate the economy. They don't provide additional incentives to produce. That's the role of tax cuts, which lower the cost of doing business. Lower taxes means more commerce, more jobs, and a higher standard of living.
This is no-brainer stuff, but Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee still loves the idea of tax rebates. In fact, even one Democrat in the state legislature understands the difference between rebates and cuts. From the Paragould Daily Press:
While Gov. Mike Huckabee has expressed interest in using some of the projected $600 million state surplus for tax rebates, several local lawmakers disagree and say a rebate will not stimulate the economy or have a significant effect on each taxpayer.
"A flat rebate isn't a good idea and wouldn't make much of a difference in any single taxpayer's household," said Rep. Robert Thompson, D-Paragould. "It would be just a few dollars for each taxpayer and will likely not increase economic activity."
Huckabee on Thursday told city officials from around the state that he hoped lawmakers would consider the rebate because the surplus offers a chance for a "tax reformation."
I think Huckabee's understanding of economics needs a "reformation".
Posted at 9:05 AM, June 20, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
June 17, 2006
Mike Huckabee and the Nanny State
Andrew Roth
The headline of this Baxter Bulletin editorial in Arkansas says it all: Huckabee Promotes 'Nanny Government'. And this blogger calls Huckabee a "nannystatist".
Posted at 5:53 PM, June 17, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
June 12, 2006
Put the Cuckoo Back into the Clock, Gov. Huckabee
Andrew Roth
Here are some scary quotes that I pulled from an article ($$) published last year in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette titled "Huckabee Lashes Out At Oil Firms Over Profits".
Gov. Mike Huckabee on Thursday night lambasted the profit levels of oil companies, saying they "are stealing from absolutely the poorest people."
"There's no excuse, there's no reason that they [oil companies] should be profiting at that level when everyone else is suffering the consequences."
Market forces are one thing, he said. But "there's a point at which you cannot continue to just gouge people because you can, because they don't have an option. That's not a market. That's an immoral force."
Let's compare Huckabee's comments to those made by people who appear to think similarly:
"Prices have doubled, profits have tripled, and oil companies already are making historic, obscene and record profits." -- Nancy Pelosi
"If we don't fight Big Oil, this country's going down." -- Hillary Clinton
Our citizens are paying more than $3 at the gas pump, while oil companies laugh all the way to the bank to deposit their record profits. Our opponents say we can't stop the big oil companies from gouging the American people. But we say, why not. -- Ted Kennedy
"It is a travesty that oil companies should be making such staggering profits on the backs of Americans trying to fill their gas tanks." - Harry Reid
Birds of a feather...
Posted at 5:56 PM, June 12, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
Huckabee is a Class Act
Andrew Roth
"I've got a map of 7-Elevens, a bunch of blue steel revolvers, and some ski masks. We're going to go all over the country and raise money in a very unique way." -- Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee quoted on how he "plans" to fund his 2008 presidential run.
Posted at 8:26 AM, June 12, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
June 10, 2006
A Lost Vote for Huckabee
Andrew Roth
Dave from the Political Prognostications blog did some research on Mike Huckabee ahead of 2008. Some of that research he found on the Club's blog. He smartly concludes:
I realize that a lot of people have probably already invested a lot in a Huckabee run, which is fine, but I won't be joining them, and I doubt the majority of Republicans will either. Just my 2 cents (1.33 cents after taxes).
Posted at 3:30 PM, June 10, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
June 9, 2006
Huckabee, First Nanny of Arkansas
Andrew Roth
Governor Mike Huckabee is getting grief from Arkansas citizens for passing a smoking ban on various private establishments like restaurants and bars, but despite that, he now wants to take it a step further (surprise, surprise). From the Arkansas News Bureau:
Huckabee responded to one question by saying that he would support a ban on all cigarette sales in the state. Health care cost savings would more than make up for the loss of tax revenue, he said. [emphasis added]
Radley Balko, who also wrote about this, said it best:
It was Huckabee, don't forget, who started this stupid idea of weighing public school children and sending fat report cards home to their parents. Huckabee recently lost more than 100 pounds. Oddly enough, he did it with no help from the government. Yet now he's fully on board with the busybody left. Never underestimate the tyranny of the ex-addict.
UPDATE: National Review's Andrew Stuttaford calls Huckabee a Big Government Republican. Let's echo that message a million times for the next two years. Big Government Republican, Big Government Republican, Big Government Republican...
Posted at 10:28 AM, June 9, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
June 8, 2006
West Virginians Don't Brush Their Teeth
Andrew Roth
I love StateMaster.com. It's a website that ranks the 50 states in all sorts of different ways. For instance, did you know that West Virginia leads the country in having citizens aged 65 and over who have lost all of their natural teeth? A whopping 42.8% of them.
Or that Minnesota had the highest voter turnout with 76.7% of all eligible voters going to the polls in 2004.
Or that Arkansas had the 49th worst gross state product per capita in 2004 (and you know who their governor has been for the last 10 years, right?).
Posted at 4:44 PM, June 8, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 30, 2006
Getting a 'F' for Fat
Andrew Roth
Arkansas should change its nickname from the Natural State to the Nanny State.
Thanks to Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, every school kid in the state gets a 'fat grade' on their report card. It lists their Body Mass Index (BMI) to let them know if they are obese or not (as if they couldn't already tell).
Just another reason to support school choice.
Posted at 6:06 PM, May 30, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 22, 2006
Mike Huckabee is a Big Blue Liberal
Andrew Roth
Blogger Big Red Lance of Arkansas links to the Club's blog post about Mike Huckabee and adds:
"The more I've heard and read about Governor Huckabee since I've been down here, the less I've liked him. He is a fairly big social conservative, but when it comes to fiscal issues, he's as much a big-government, welfare-state advocate as any hardened Democrat."
Well said, Husker Lance. Well said.
Posted at 4:24 PM, May 22, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 21, 2006
Mike Huckabee is a Liberal, a Continuing Series
Andrew Roth
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is revealing his true liberal colors again.
According to this Washington Times article from May 17, the governor wants to end his final term in office with a "bang, not a whimper", in part by rebating a large portion of the state's $600 million budget surplus.
That's all fine and good, but two short days later came this report from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Excerpt:
Gov. Mike Huckabee on Thursday said he wasn't going to put much effort into convincing legislators to pass a tax rebate this year.
The article goes on to say that Huckabee still won't give up on the issue, but that he's "not going to stir it up."
So much for the bang, eh Guv?
That surplus is the peoples' money. They worked hard for it and they deserve it back. But the Governor doesn't want to work hard in return to make sure they get it. And judging from some other comments he made in the article, he doesn't seem to know whether tax rebates or tax cuts are the best option for the public. (That's a no-brainer for anyone with a nominal understanding of supply-side economics. Tax cuts provide pro-growth incentives, rebates do not.)
Regular readers of the Club's blog know that Mike Huckabee is a liberal in Republican clothing, but for those of you who are new to the website, let's recap.
Here is Huckabee's laundry list of liberal offenses (which seems to get longer and longer with each passing day):
- Huckabee signed a gas tax hike in 1999
- He called for a state sales tax hike in 2002
- He signed a 25-cent cigarette tax hike in 2003
- He publicly opposed the repeal of a sales tax on groceries and medicine in 2002
- He increased state spending 65.3% from 1996 to 2004
- He allowed a major tax hike package to pass in 2004
- He received a "D" grade on fiscal issues from the Cato Institute in 2004
- He raised the minimum wage this year
- He called No Child Left Behind the greatest education reform effort by the federal government "in my lifetime."
- He has actively gone after so-called "price gougers"
Whew! With a record like that, Huckabee isn't some kind of softer, gentler Republican when it comes to fiscal issues. He's not even a squishy moderate. Instead, he's a monument of liberalism. The one thing he's selling - big government - is the one thing that the frustrated Republican base in this country isn't buying, now or in a couple of years.
If you'd like to learn more about Huckabee, bookmark our Huckabee-Only section of the blog. I plan to update it often.
Posted at 4:14 PM, May 21, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 9, 2006
Mike Huckabee is a RINO
Andrew Roth
One of the Club's interns found this button in a hallway closet here at the office. I have no idea where it came from, but it was a pleasant surprise.
Posted at 6:21 PM, May 9, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 8, 2006
Huckabee on the Radio
Andrew Roth
A reader of the Arkansas Times' blog left the following comment on their website earlier today:
"'Ask the Governor' is on KARN AM 920, FM 102.7 tomorrow starting at around 9:06 am [CDT]. I look forward to hearing people take him to task..."
Well, there you go. If you're in Arkansas, be sure to call into the station and ask the governor why he's a big-spending, tax-hiking, minimum-wage-spiking, anti-private-property governor. The numbers to call are (866) 275-8255 or (501) 433-8255.
I suspect that Huckabee staffers are reading this blog so expect the governor to be prepped ahead of time. Don't accept canned answers.
UPDATE (5:07pm): It looks like you can listen to the show via the Internet here (although you do have to register first).
Posted at 4:49 PM, May 8, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
Huckabee's 'Pettiness'
Andrew Roth
The editors of the Arkansas Leader are voicing their disappointment with Governor Mike Huckabee for removing the Arkansas Times from his office's press list. Here are the first two paragraphs of their Saturday editorial:
After more than a dozen years in state office, Gov. Huckabee still has not developed the thick skin and the serenity that marks great politicians, and this week it cost him again. When he retaliated against the pesky Arkansas Times by shutting the paper off from the news flow in the governor's office, it made the national prints.
No one outside Arkansas would have cared, except Huckabee is running for president, and his pettiness will make shakers in the Republican Party wonder if he is ready for prime time. (The governor's office often leaves us in the dark about his activities, but that may be on account of his staff's ineptitude rather than retaliation for the criticism we've lobbed at him.)
Posted at 2:17 PM, May 8, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 7, 2006
Huckabee Doesn't Respect Private Property
Andrew Roth
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee recently signed a bill that banned smoking in public places like restaurants and bars. Now he supports a bill that would ban smoking in a person's own car if children are present.
What's next, Governor? Ban smoking in peoples' homes?
Posted at 6:32 PM, May 7, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
Huckabee Hates Big Profits
Andrew Roth
Like a reliable liberal, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee doesn't like it when businesses make larger-than-usual profits. Here are four incidences where he toes the Democratic party line by using the heavy hand of the government to threaten or restrict 'price gouging':
- In 1997, he signed a bill into law that would prevent companies from raising their prices a mere 10 percent ahead of a natural disaster. Services like roof repair and tree removal would be targeted. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 07, 1997)
- In 2001, he orders regulatory agencies in Arkansas to investigate price-gouging in the nursing home industry. This is after he signed into law a bed tax that nursing homes could pass onto their patients. (AP, June 15, 2001)
- Also in 2001, he threatened to investigate price-gouging after 9/11 if gasoline prices went up too high. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 12, 2001)
- In 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, a CBS TV station in Little Rock reports, "Huckabee says the best thing the state can do is actively prosecute anyone who's price gouging". (11 KTHV, September 2, 2005)
Roof repair, tree removal, nursing homes, and gas stations. You have to wonder, which industries are safe from Huckabee's crusade to limit profits? For now, we have to assume that none are.
Posted at 4:05 PM, May 7, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
Huckabee's Stock is Going Down
Andrew Roth
If Mike Huckabee were a stock, Arkansas columnist Kane Webb suggests you sell him now.
Posted at 3:56 PM, May 7, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 6, 2006
The 'Petulant' Huckabee
Andrew Roth
Previously, I wrote about the spat between Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and the weekly tabloid, the Arkansas Times. Because he received negative press from the Times, Huckabee vindictively stopped sending news releases to the paper.
This week, the Times struck back with full force by teaming up with allies and getting the Association of Alternative Weeklies to issue a letter to Huckabee. John Brummett of the Arkansas News Bureau offers his perspective on the showdown:
The governor's action is simply indefensible, mainly for its sheer brattiness. He's entitled not to like the paper. He's not entitled to be nearly so tiny about it.
[...]
But probably the Times' most effective alliances - in this matter, at least - have been two they couldn't possibly have orchestrated, which is what makes them more effective.
The Little Rock daily newspaper, a Republican and Huckabee-admiring organ that indeed buys ink by the barrel, and which catches about as much deserved grief from the Times as Huckabee, found itself unable to defend the governor editorially.
And the national Club for Growth, an archconservative, small-government outfit that previously had attacked Huckabee as a liberal and therefore unfit for the Republican presidential nomination, was all too willing to jump on this revelation of infantile hypersensitivity to advance the notion of Huckabee's presidential unfitness.
Posted at 3:48 PM, May 6, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 5, 2006
Shutting the Window on Huckabee's Campaign
Andrew Roth
While reviewing all of the potential candidates for the 2008 presidential race, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post writes:
Mike Huckabee: The Arkansas governor makes the Line for a second straight month largely on potential. Huckabee is the candidate seemingly best equipped to appeal to social conservatives (he is a Baptist minister) while also offering an unorthodox appeal to other elements within the party (note the media coverage he's gotten from his emphasis on nutrition, exercise and weight loss). But -- and it is a big but -- Huckabee just hasn't capitalized on the momentum he had coming into 2006. It doesn't help that his decision to sign a minimum wage increase last month drew the ire of fiscal hawks in the party -- led by the Club For Growth, which called Huckabee a "liberal." The window for Huckabee to move into the top tier is still open, but not as wide as it once was. [emphasis added]
And might I add that it was more than just the minimum wage that drew our ire. Huckabee is a habitual tax-and-spender. As I previously reported:
- Huckabee signed a 3-cent gas tax increase in 1999
- He called for a state sales tax hike in 2002
- He signed a 25-cent cigarette tax hike in 2003
- He allowed a major tax hike package to pass in 2004
- He increased spending by 65.3% from 1996 to 2004
Also, recall that the Cato Institute gave him a "D" on their 2004 governors' scorecard.
Huckabee is currently a second-tier candidate for the 2008 race for the White House. After more and more people become aware of his awful fiscal record, he'll be a no-tier candidate.
Posted at 5:06 PM, May 5, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
May 1, 2006
'The Huckster'
Andrew Roth
Boy, that Huckabee sure is thin-skinned. I previously reported that he vindictively banned the Arkansas Times from receiving news alerts distributed by the governor's office. Now the U.S. News and World Report is getting in on the action. Excerpt:
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a likely 2008 GOP presidential hopeful, has never been a fan of the Arkansas Times. And why should he be? "We have been very critical of him," says Editor Max Brantley. But now it's payback time. Brantley says the guv has stopped E-mailing releases and schedules to the popular tabloid. "A guy who has a hard time with a throwaway mag," says Brantley, "will have a heck of a time in the national spotlight. He ain't royalty." Right back at you, says Huckabee. "We don't have to hand-deliver information with a bow tie on it," he says. "That's special treatment." Anyway, most of the info is on his state website. "I guess he is too lazy to access it," says the guv. It won't end with name-calling--Brantley's considering suing.
(Side note: The Arkansas Times, which I'm happy to help in this endeavor, mentioned the Club in this blog post, but has the wrong impression of us. They called us an "anti-tax group of very wealthy folks". We're used to being labeled as "wealthy folks" or "fat cats", but this is the real truth.)
Posted at 3:16 PM, May 1, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
April 29, 2006
The Wacky Adventures of Mike Huckabee
Andrew Roth
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is doing some weird things lately. First, he's doing rice commercials. That's right, rice. From a news report:
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will promote the versatility and nutritional benefits of rice during a 60-second radio spot to air in central Arkansas. In the radio spot, Huckabee tells consumers about research showing rice eaters have healthier diets than non-rice eaters, the Dietary Guidelines recommendation to eat six servings of grains each day and how rice can be combined with other healthy foods.
Also, it appears that Huckabee's office will not recognize the Arkansas Times as a news organization. From the Times' blog:
It's official. Gov. Mike Huckabee is refusing to provide routine media services to the Arkansas Times. The newspaper has been stricken from the e-mail lists for routine news releases, public scheduling and other items widely disseminated to members of the public and the media.
[...]
The Times is, of course, a news medium. We report news on this blog and in our weekly print edition on a regular basis. But definitions are largely irrelevant. The Freedom of Information Act is the public's law, not a press law. Rights abridged under the law for one are rights abridged for all.
But this is of course primarily a First Amendment issue. The governor has decided to punish us for our opinions by withholding a publicly financed service. We don't think this practice can stand legal scrutiny and we intend to review our options in that regard.
Posted at 12:52 PM, April 29, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
April 15, 2006
Huckabee Isn't a Liberal?
Andrew Roth
The Arkansas Leader newspaper ran an editorial this morning, stating that Governor Mike Huckabee really, truly isn't a liberal, despite our claim to the contrary. Funny thing is, they prove our point for us. Here's a excerpt (emphasis added):
The Club for Growth, a big-business organization that wants to free business from government restraints, privatize Social Security, curb government services for the needy and slash taxes on big business and the rich, said Huckabee's nine years as governor greatly expanded government and taxes.
Huckabee really can't deny that. Taxes have risen considerably, the state government payroll has swelled by a whopping 20 percent, and vast new public health services have been put in place. That is the Republican definition of liberal, although liberals would object to how he went about it.
[...]
Huckabee a liberal? By low Southern standards, maybe. He will need to find a way to turn it to his advantage.
There is no way that Huckabee can spin his liberal record "to his advantage". After 6 years of big government spending, GOP-style, we don't need to make it worse by promoting Huckabee to a higher office.
Posted at 10:43 AM, April 15, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
April 14, 2006
Huckabee Wants Art, Art, and More Art
Andrew Roth
The National Art Education Association, an offshoot of the top teachers' union (the NEA), apparently honored Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee last month. Here's what Huckabee said, as reported by the Associated Press:
Huckabee said funding for the arts is essential for every student, in every school, in every part of the country.
"There's nothing wrong with [sic] a girl who can throw a perfect curve ball. But there's also nothing wrong with a child who can paint," he said.
Posted at 6:02 PM, April 14, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
Huckabee is the Anti-McCain
Andrew Roth
Conservative political consultant Matt Lewis writes:
"[W]hile McCain has been working to cultivate cultural conservatives, Huckabee seems to be doing his best to alienate fiscal conservatives.
He has somehow become embroiled in a feud with the Club for Growth (which is currently being played out on their blog). It is one thing to support a minimum wage hike. It is quite another thing to take pleasure in picking a fight with one of DC's most effective conservative groups.
Read the rest. (Lewis also blogs at Human Events)
Posted at 11:04 AM, April 14, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
April 13, 2006
No Huckabee Left Behind
Andrew Roth
Here's a liberal gem from the Washington Times:
[Huckabee] called President Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative the greatest education reform effort by the federal government "in my lifetime."
Posted at 3:35 PM, April 13, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
Huckabee Spins Out of Control
Andrew Roth
Apparently Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took a verbal jab at the Club for Growth yesterday while trying to defend his support for a minimum wage hike that he signed into law earlier this week.
In a Bizarro-world spin effort, he said it was a "conservative" decision to hike the minimum wage because it prevented a worse alternative. Well, there's nothing conservative about this quote that I pulled from an Arkansas newspaper:
Huckabee said he'd prefer that the minimum wage be increased federally and not on a state-by-state basis.
"I wish that it would be addressed on the federal level, that's what should be happening," Huckabee said.
I would have figured that the disastrous price controls of the 1970s would have taught Republicans that such policies produce shortages. In the case of the minimum wage, not only is it a tax hike on small businesses, but it also increases unemployment. Any simple supply and demand graph can show you that.
Also, digging up a quote from 2001, Huckabee seemed willing to take legal action against the mean and evil "price gougers" in the wake of 9/11.
No true conservative would countenance such economically harmful ideas. And that's one of the reasons why Huckabee is no true conservative.
(For those of you who are coming to the Club's blog for the first time, you can read my previous posts about Huckabee here, here, here, here, and here.)
UPDATE (1:58pm): The Blue State Republicans blog gets in on the action. Referring to the minimum wage hike and also a state-wide smoking ban that Huckabee approved, they write, "...these actions are decidedly un-conservative."
Posted at 11:41 AM, April 13, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
April 10, 2006
Mike Huckabee is a Liberal
Andrew Roth
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee seems to think that the goverment is better at helping the poor than the free market.
He just signed a bill into law that would raise the state's minimum wage, but in 2002, he publicly opposed a bill that would have repealed the state sales tax on basic necessities like groceries and medicine.
Incidentally, did you know Arkansas had the second highest poverty rate in the country from 2002 to 2004?
Posted at 5:08 PM, April 10, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
Mike Huckabee Tries to Poison the Well
Andrew Roth
John Hawkins at Right Wing News interviewed Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and specifically asked him about the blog post I previously wrote where I listed all of his tax hikes. Excerpt:
John Hawkins: Now, a related question on taxes...According to your bio, you "pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history." On the other hand, let me ask you about this. The Club for Growth blog noted several tax raises that you had during your time in and they said, "Huckabee signed a 3-cent gas tax increase in 1999. He called for a state sales tax hike in 2002. He signed a 25-cent cigarette tax hike in 2003. He allowed a major tax hike package to pass in 2004." So, where do you stand on taxes on the national level? Are there any taxes you think need to be cut? Any you think need to be raised? What do you think about that?
Mike Huckabee: Well, The Club for Growth, in a typical fashion, acts more like a talk show host than they do a serious seeker of facts and they have a lot of nice tools that they use for their own fund raising mechanism to show that they're champions of conservatism, but I find their message sometimes appalling. For example, one of the taxes they claimed that I had supported, I -- in fact -- didn't sign. I don't have much of a veto power in Arkansas.
Just like a politician, Huckabee uses the infamous Poisoning the Well fallacy of logical thinking. By seemingly discrediting a portion of my argument, he gives the appearance of discrediting the whole thing. But critical readers will know that he didn't even refute my claims (because they are facts), and if you read the rest of the interview, you'll see that he poorly explains the rest of his argument.
Bottom line: Mike Huckabee is still a tax hiker. And if you could hear me say that, I'm using my best Maury Povich impersonation.
Posted at 10:16 AM, April 10, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
March 10, 2006
Do You Want a 'D' President?
Andrew Roth
As regular Club blog readers know, I'm no fan of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is being considered as a quiet contender for the presidency in 2008. For instance, the Cato Institute gave him a "D" grade, the 3rd worst rating among non-freshman state executives, when they ranked the country's governors in 2004.
Tim Carney, writing for National Review, had this to say:
"Huckabee is certainly not alone as a Republican governor eager to raise taxes, but his tax-and-spend fever has effects in Washington..."
GOP party activists are meeting in Tennessee this weekend for an event that will showcase all of the potential 2008 candidates for the Republican nomination. I hope someone will take Huckabee to task for being an habitual tax hiker.
However, if he gets glowing reviews, you'll hear from me again next week.
Posted at 5:10 PM, March 10, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
March 4, 2006
Mike Huckabee is Still a Tax Hiker
Andrew Roth
Chuck Todd of National Journal ranks the potential candidates for 2008. He offers the top five Republicans and the top five Democrats, along with a list of "the rest" and "the wildcards".
Surprisingly, Todd ranks Huckabee as a top tier candidate, putting him at #5. He writes:
"Short of McCain and Warner, no presidential candidate seems to be getting better press right now than Huckabee. He's come a long way from the guy who was on the brink of political death in 2002. If there is a "social" or "movement" conservative that has a legitimate shot at doing well in Iowa, it's Huckabee."
For the life of me, I don't know why Huckabee is getting good press. Are memories so short that people don't remember (or didn't know) that he's a tax-hiking, big-spending governor?
Posted at 5:31 PM, March 4, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
February 27, 2006
Mike Huckabee is a Tax Hiker
Andrew Roth
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a potential candidate for president in 2008, sat down with a few bloggers last week while he was in town for a National Governors Association meeting (Read here and here). He seems to have gotten a fair treatment from them, but nobody asked him why he has been a habitual tax-hiker while in office. Let's run through the laundry list:
- Huckabee signed a 3-cent gas tax increase in 1999
- He called for a state sales tax hike in 2002
- He signed a 25-cent cigarette tax hike in 2003
- He allowed a major tax hike package to pass in 2004
And this guy wants to be the Republican nominee for president in 2008? He also opposes school choice, and spends money like a drunken sailor (he increased spending 65.3% from 1996 to 2004).
I'm sorry, but he is NOT one of the best Republican governors in the country and he's not presidential material. Period.
(all tax and spending information provided by Americans for Tax Reform - no link)
Posted at 5:31 PM, February 27, 2006 | Trackback | Print | #
