| Who is Mike Huckabee? |
| This is a guy that wants to do away with the IRS, as if to imply that under his leadership no one would have to pay taxes. Then he brags that his degree wasn't in mathematics, it was in miracles.
And people actually voted for this guy for president??? In the 1990s he was a shill for the big tobacco companies who travelled the country denouncing Hillary Clinton's health care plan. [C]onsultants to R. J. Reynolds, a division of Reynolds American, approached Mr. Huckabee with the idea of creating a nonprofit so he could earn money from speaking engagements — and, at the same time, drum up opposition to the Clinton plan. Mr. Huckabee was the only person paid by the organization. Mr. Huckabee, who was president of Action America, has denied knowing that Reynolds money was behind the group — a claim other officers of Action America dispute. Mr. Vigneault said Mr. Huckabee “absolutely” knew of the Reynolds connection. Mr. Huckabee not only knew that Mr. Vigneault and Mr. Graves were Reynolds lobbyists, Mr. Vigneault said, but he also met Reynolds executives in his apartment in Little Rock. “There’s no way he could not have known about the money from R. J. Reynolds,” Mr. Vigneault said. “If he’s saying he didn’t know about the Reynolds money, he’s been less than truthful.” [H]e failed to report his Action America income on his 1994 financial disclosure form, resulting in a “letter of caution” from the Arkansas Ethics Commission in 1997. “Comments like funneling money is where it keeps going, and that’s not what this is about,” Mr. Huckabee told The Associated Press in Little Rock in 1997, referring to the stream of questions from Democrats in Arkansas about contributors to the secretive group. “This is about earning a legitimate income.” “We were opposed to the health care bill because it had a substantial tobacco tax that would impact our consumers,” [Maura Payne, a spokeswoman for R. J. Reynolds] said. “Action America was designed to speak out in opposition to the plan. We did support the organization and Mr. Huckabee’s involvement in it.” Source: "Huckabee Faces Old Queries in New Spotlight " By LESLIE WAYNE - NY Times - December 15, 2007 He wants to replace a progressive income tax that taxes the rich at higher rates than working people, with a "flat tax" that would result in just the opposite. [H]e summarized his “fair tax” plan, which would replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax, as a plan “where you keep your whole paycheck.” Huckabee’s ... idea calls for abolishing the I.R.S. and all current federal taxes, including Social Security, Medicare and corporate and personal income taxes, and replacing them with an across-the-board 23 percent consumption tax. The “fair tax” is a regressive tax that many economists say would put a disproportionate share of the tax burden on people at lower income levels. Critics of the plan say it would be a windfall for the rich. Source: "Huckabee Camp Shifts Focus for New Hampshire" - By PAUL VITELLO - NY Times - December 15, 2007 He is a radical religious fundamentalist who would (even more than Bush) infuse his religious beliefs into government policy. Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister … considers the ‘‘Left Behind’’ books, in which the world comes to a violent end as Jesus triumphs over Satan, a ‘‘compelling story written for nontheologians.’’ [H]e wrote in his book ‘‘Character Makes a Difference,’’ he considers liberalism to be a cancer on Christianity. Huckabee is an admirer of the late Jerry Falwell (whose son, Jerry Jr., recently endorsed his candidacy) and subscribes wholeheartedly to the principles of the Moral Majority. He also affirms the Baptist Faith and Message statement: ‘‘The Holy Bible . . . has truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.’’ Huckabee ... describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology [H]is campaign is really all about his Christian character. His slogan is ‘‘Faith, Family, Freedom,’’ which Huckabee, who was once a public-relations man for the Texas televangelist James Robison, wrote himself. In late November [2007], Huckabee began running a short television ad called ‘‘Believe.’’ It starts with the candidate declaring, ‘‘Faith doesn’t just influence me, it really defines me.’’ As he speaks, the words ‘‘Christian Leader’’ flash across the screen. Mike Huckabee ... has no profession except the ministry He spent a year at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Tex., before dropping out to work for the televangelist James Robison, who bought him his first decent wardrobe and showed him how to use television. To this day, Huckabee regards Robison as one of his role models in the art of communication Source: "The Huckabee Factor" By ZEV CHAFETS - NY Times - December 12, 2007 Like his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, Huckabee is remarkably ignorant regarding international affars, and appears to be proud of it. Huckabee says he believes that the next president of the United States will have to lead Western civilization in a worldwide conflict with radical Islam. For a man with that kind of ambition, he has not been particularly well briefed. On Dec. 4, for instance, he was asked about the National Intelligence Estimate released the day before, which found that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Huckabee said that he hadn’t seen it, though it had been the top news story in the country, maybe the world, for the previous 24 hours. Source: "The Huckabee Factor" By ZEV CHAFETS - NY Times - December 12, 2007 |
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