The Problem with Huckabee

Info, opinions and positions abound. Here is one posted today by Scott Miller, THE CONSERVATIVE POST: Mike Huckabee has been having a good run lately. He’s done very well in all the Republican debates, he is very articulate, and actually pretty funny. He is moving up in the polls in Iowa, getting good press, and has moved into the upper tier of candidates… all with pretty limited resources. So why the title of this post… “The Problem with Huckabee”? Well, while Mike is a social conservative, he has a very spotty record as a fiscal conservative. Pat Toomey lay’s out the case against Huckabee’s fiscal record in Arkansas in a very persuasive piece on NRO: Dump the Huck

During Huckabee’s tenure as governor, the average Arkansan’s tax burden increased 47 percent, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A dyed-in-blue tax hiker, Huckabee supported raising sales taxes, gas taxes, grocery taxes, even nursing home bed taxes. He virulently opposed a congressional moratorium on taxing Internet access, and sat on the sidelines while his Democratic legislature pushed the largest tax hike in Arkansas history into law. What’s more, on his watch, and frequently at his behest, state spending increased by 50 percent, more than double the rate of inflation, and the number of state government workers rose by 20 percent. Yes, as a presidential candidate, Huckabee has signed on as a supporter of the Fair Tax and pledged against raising taxes, but when a candidate’s long and clear record flies in the face of his election-year symbolism, you can chalk it up to politics every time.

Huckabee makes no secret of his desire to turn the GOP leftward, calling himself a “different kind of Republican,” adopting protectionist positions, and peppering his campaign speeches with the kind of class warfare rhetoric one expects to hear from John Edwards. No doubt, this is the reason that the liberal media is so smitten with him.

Instead of talking about curtailing government spending, Huckabee refuses to endorse President Bush’s veto of a vastly expanded S-CHIP. He is an unabashed fan of No Child Left Behind and an opponent of private school choice. Huckabee is also quickly becoming the labor unions’ favorite Republican, recently gaining a union endorsement along with Hillary Clinton.

Pretty devistating case against Mike. While I like Mike Huckabee, and would vote for him over Hillary Claus any day, his big government record in Arkansas precludes me from backing him for the nomination. When you take the true measure of each candidate’s record, it’s clear that the Fred Thompson is really the only solid conservative in the top tier, and that’s why I’m with Fred.

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