Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Mike Huckabee: He left Arkansas a better state
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ^ | 1/6/08 | Paul Greenberg

Posted on 01/06/2008 9:11:08 AM PST by Ol' Sparky

They're back, the out-of-state media types who want to know who this guy is, this presidential candidate out of Hope, Ark.

This year the subject is Michael Dale Huckabee, who's not just a highly effective preacher but a populist. He has a knack for reducing complex issues to simple terms.

There's a species of Republican true believers in Arkansas who've always suspected his bona fides as an honest-to-goodness fiscal conservative and social reactionary. Much the same anti-Huckabee line is now being repeated by the high-powered Club for Growth, which has launched an all-out effort to dub the Huck just another tax-and-spender.

The Club has a point - but only on paper. When you compare the dramatic tax cuts enacted early in the Huckabee administration with the later tax increases, you come up with some $500 million in additional taxes.

But some $400 million of that went to carry out the state Supreme Court's order to keep Arkansas' schools constitutional. Huckabee had little choice.

And as governor, Huckabee did more to improve education than pour money into it; he's been interested in improving outcomes, not just raising inputs.

There were other tax increases in his more than a decade as governor. But should he have left highways in miserable condition? Should he have left the poorest children without health insurance? He left Arkansas a healthier, wealthier state - economically, educationally, physically.

The Huck has his failings as a policymaker. He's got a weakness for untested schemes like the national sales tax he's supporting as a substitute for the income tax. His experience in foreign policy is a vacuum.

But his usual, practical approach to pressing problems isn't anything Huckabee need be ashamed of. Quite the contrary. If he's failed the Club for Growth's litmus test, he didn't fail his state.


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Arkansas
KEYWORDS: aliens; ar2008; huckabee; huckster; illegalimmigration; paulgreenberg; quislings
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-126 next last

1 posted on 01/06/2008 9:11:10 AM PST by Ol' Sparky
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

Yeah, when he left!


2 posted on 01/06/2008 9:13:47 AM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky
No thanks, I have seen an ex govenor of Arkansas. I have lived in Dallas and have seen what the Southern Babtist and how they rule.

Nope not me. Sorry.

3 posted on 01/06/2008 9:15:50 AM PST by hadaclueonce (shoot low, they are riding Shetlands..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

Is it true that Huck wants for his Secretary of Defense Chuck Norris?


4 posted on 01/06/2008 9:17:52 AM PST by Poincare
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hadaclueonce

I can’t trust anything or anybody coming out of that state.Not after the last time.


5 posted on 01/06/2008 9:18:35 AM PST by Farmer Dean (168 grains of instant conflict resolution)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky
I'm a conservative. Huckabee is not.

No thanks.

6 posted on 01/06/2008 9:19:53 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

Simple test for all elected officials:

Was the governmental footprint larger or smaller at the end of his term, compared to the beginning?


7 posted on 01/06/2008 9:21:46 AM PST by EyeGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky
Huckabee is a socialist.

1. Health care he is a socialist

2. Environment he is a socialist

3. Taxes he is a socialist

8 posted on 01/06/2008 9:22:09 AM PST by Gipper08 (a real conservative for Congress... Aaronhankins.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

Does anyone have a link to Sean Hannity’s latest radio interview with Huckabee?


9 posted on 01/06/2008 9:22:13 AM PST by Lakeshark (Thank a member of the US armed forces for their sacrifice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: hadaclueonce

Huckabee is an ultra liberal Southern Baptist


10 posted on 01/06/2008 9:22:43 AM PST by Gipper08 (a real conservative for Congress... Aaronhankins.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky
He did a nice job of mouthing empty platitudes at the most recent debate.
11 posted on 01/06/2008 9:22:51 AM PST by Dagnabitt ( McCain-Kennedy: Amnesty for Illegals, Contempt for Americans.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

He left Arkansas a better state

For Mexicans.


12 posted on 01/06/2008 9:23:35 AM PST by bill1952 (The right to buy weapons is the right to be free)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky
a better state....

YEAH, RIGHT!...(liberalspeak/newspeak:) MORE & MORE & MORE TAXES AND NANNIE-STATE MORONS IN CHARGE....its' all for the chil'ren, (the lost freedoms/more taxation) don't cha know....

13 posted on 01/06/2008 9:24:37 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (just b/c your paranoid, doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you....Run, FRed, Run. :^)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

There is only one good thing you can say about the Huckster, “He’s Not Willard”.


14 posted on 01/06/2008 9:26:51 AM PST by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

15 posted on 01/06/2008 9:28:36 AM PST by Dan Lacey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=057486f0-1e51-4bb7-8c32-90b7ced0f78a


16 posted on 01/06/2008 9:29:55 AM PST by TornadoAlley3 ( UNITED BY OUR CORE BELIEFS Fred08)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

Not too hard.


17 posted on 01/06/2008 9:30:47 AM PST by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Poincare; Ol' Sparky
Is it true that Huck wants for his Secretary of Defense Chuck Norris?

Huckabee mentioned Duncun Hunter for Secretary of Defence:‘‘What you do,’’ he [Huckabee]explained, 'is surround yourself with the best possible advice.’ The only name he [Huckabee] mentioned was Representative Duncan Hunter of California. ‘Duncan is extraordinarily well qualified to be secretary of Defense,’ he [Huckabee] said.

18 posted on 01/06/2008 9:31:18 AM PST by FreedomProtector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: bill1952
"He left Arkansas a better state"

For murderers and rapists who claimed to have a conversion experience. Compare that to GW, who signed the death warrant for a twice murderess, in spite of a bunch of softheaded Christian leaders in the mold of Huckafraud, who sniveled long and loud that she should be spared. Bleeding heart Conservatives are probably more sickening than their Democrat counterparts.
19 posted on 01/06/2008 9:31:26 AM PST by attiladhun2 (Islam is a despotism so vile that it would warm the heart of Orwell's Big Brother)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Ol' Sparky

Wow, sounds as though they are attempting a Clinton by rewriting his governorship.


20 posted on 01/06/2008 9:31:55 AM PST by Dustbunny (The BIBLE - Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-126 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson