WASHINGTON -- It is very rare, if not unheard of, to catch a
presidential candidate, especially a Republican, in the act of saying
he or she would be willing to sign any tax increase that lawmakers
wished for.
But that's what happened to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has
rocketed to a statistical tie in Iowa with Mitt Romney, largely as a
result of the former Baptist minister's support from evangelical voters
in the nation's first caucus state.
The Club for Growth, an effective tax-cut advocacy group, has been on
Huckabee's back almost from the beginning of his candidacy, sending out
e-mail blasts to party conservatives that paint an abominable picture
of his record on taxes.
Huckabee has been campaigning as a tax cutter, and indeed he did slash
some state taxes during his two terms as governor, but he raised far
more than he cut. The Cato Institute, which monitors the fiscal records
of the nation's governors, gave him a poor-to-failing grade on spending
and taxes.
The Club for Growth has also examined his tax and spend record and
found it wanting. Its verdict: Huckabee could not be trusted to hold
the line on taxes, let alone push it back.
Huckabee of course rejects the charges and said they do not take into
account the many taxes he also cut. He insists he is a committed
tax-cutter who could be trusted to shrink the size of government.
But seeing is believing, and the visual record backs the Club for
Growth up; the Arkansas Journal blog has uncovered a video of Huckabee
addressing the state legislature, virtually begging them to raise any
taxes they wanted, and saying that he would sign the increases into law.
Here's what then-Gov. Huckabee told Arkansas lawmakers: "Again, let me
state what I've said privately as well as publicly, but I want to get
it on the record again. There's a lot of support for a tax at the
wholesale level for tobacco, and that's fine with me; I will very
happily sign that because it's a revenue stream that will meet the
needs if enacted at a level that will help us to meet that $90 to $100
million target, and that's what I would begin to focus your attention
on -- is the target.
"Some have suggested the retail level of tobacco; if that ends up being
your preference, I will accept that. Others have suggested a surcharge
on the income tax; that's acceptable; I'm fine with that. Others have
suggested, perhaps, a sales tax; that's fine.
"Yet others have suggested a hybrid that will collect some monies from
any one or a combination of those various ideas, and if that's the plan
that the House and Senate agree upon, then you will have nothing but my
profound thanks."
This does not sound like someone who is willing to hold the line on
taxes, nor find places in his budget-as many governors have done-where
he could cut spending instead of having taxpayers foot the bills for
bigger and bigger government.
Huckabee says he would like to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service
and replace the income tax with the so-called Fair Tax, which would
impose a national sales tax on virtually everything we buy. But such a
tax would be a disaster for this country, especially for low- and
middle-income Americans who spend a disproportionate portion of their
earnings -- in many cases all of it -- on the necessities of life.
It would wreak untold havoc on the business community, driving down
retail sales and creating an underground economy that would undermine
America's productive marketplace -- especially small businesses that
produce most of the jobs in our country.
The Club for Growth was formed with one purpose in mind: to promote
economic growth by lowering the tax rates, simplifying the tax code and
providing tax incentives to expand business formation, savings,
investment and economic opportunity. It has praised the tax-cut
proposals of Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and other contenders for the
Republican nomination.
But last week Huckabee labeled the respected tax-cutting group "The
Club for Greed," a charge that sounded more like the invective spewed
forth from Al Gore, Howard Dean or socialist Bernie Sanders.
The Arkansas Republican is fond of bashing corporate CEOs and their
salaries, thinks a higher minimum wage won't hurt entry-level job
creation, and apparently doesn't mind slapping higher sales taxes on
the most vulnerable people in our economy.
The next president will face huge fiscal issues in 2009: such as rising
entitlements that threaten to engulf the federal budget and what to do
about President Bush's tax cuts which are due to expire in 2010, a
demise that would raise taxes by trillions of dollars.
That's when we're going to need strong, principled leadership to keep a
likely Democratic Congress from sending income taxes through the roof.
It's something Iowa voters need to think deeply about in the days to
come.
Source: Townhall.com
Not Everyone Loves Huckabee
By Donald Lambro
Monday, December 3, 2007
Republican
presidential candidate Mike Huckabee (C) speaks to attendees at the
Family Research Council's Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC,
October 20, 2007. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES)
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