|
on TV. That would be the Pubs debates, once on Bill Mahar, and once on the stump that was shown on cspan. Ihave NEVER gone to any Pub web site...until today! After I posted my opinion of Huck, I decided if I was going to encourage other DUers to do research on him to be aboe to fight against him, it really was up to ME to at least begin to investigate...so I did. Here's some of what I found: From his campaign web site: He's pro Constitutional Ammendment to guarantee marriage is between one man & one woman. He believes in overturning Roe v Wade He believes in Shrub's position on stem cell research-using EXISTING stem cell lines. From Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Huckabee (Wiki did a LOT of good work for us and against Huck!) Criticisms
Fiscal record
Huckabee has been criticized by a conservative group for his fiscal record as governor. He increased state spending 65.3 percent from 1996 to 2004. He also supported 5 tax increases, prompting the Club for Growth to accuse him of being a liberal in disguise.<12> The Cato Institute, a libertarian non-profit public policy research foundation,<13> gave him an F grade for spending and tax policy in 2006, and an overall grade of D for his governorship.<14> During his tenure, the number of state government workers in Arkansas increased over 20 percent, and the state’s general obligation debt shot up by almost $1 billion. <15> Huckabee's campaign has countered these arguments by claiming that Governor Huckabee cut taxes 94 times, although most of them were small deductions and exemptions initiated by the state legislature, and returned almost $400 million to Arkansas taxpayers, including signing the first broad-based tax cut in the history of the state, although this bill was proposed by his predecessor. <16> He doubled the standard deduction and the child care tax credit, eliminated the marriage penalty and the capital gains tax on the sale of a home, and reduced the capital gains tax for both businesses and individuals. After serving as governor for more than ten years, Gov. Huckabee left the state with almost $1 billion in surplus. <17>
Handling of the Wayne Dumond case
Huckabee has also come under criticism for his handling of the case of Wayne Dumond, a convicted rapist who was released during Huckabee's governorship and who subsequently sexually assaulted and murdered a woman in Missouri following his release.<18> Dumond's case had attracted national attention in the mid 1990s from critics of President Bill Clinton who felt the former Arkansas Governor had been too harsh with Dumond because Dumond's victim was a distant Clinton relative. Even before taking office, Huckabee met with Dumond's wife and privately announced his intention that Dumond be set free, stating his unhappiness with the way Clinton had handled the case (Dumond had been attacked and castrated prior to his arrest for the rape).<19> On September 20, 1996, Huckabee publicly announced his intention of commuting Dumond's sentence. There was strong opposition to Huckabee's plan, leaving Huckabee in a difficult situation politically.<18> On October 31, 1996, Huckabee met privately with the parole board to talk about the Dumond case. Some members of the board have since stated that they were pressured to re-examine and vote in favor of Dumond's parole. On January 16, 1997, Dumond was granted parole, just five months after he had been rejected. Huckabee released a statement saying, "In light of the action of the board, my original intent to commute the sentence to time served is no longer relevant."<18> Huckabee has denied influencing the parole board in any way, but acknowledges some responsibility for signing Dumond's parole. His full disclosure of the incident is described in his book From Hope to Higher Ground. At the opening of Huckabee's Des Moines headquarters in Iowa, a protester costumed as a prisoner carried a sign that read "Felons for Huckabee".<20>
Controversial comments
On October 19, 2006, Huckabee appeared on the Imus in the Morning radio show with Don Imus. Referring to his significant weight loss, Imus remarked that Huckabee looked "emaciated." Huckabee joked that "I have just come out of six weeks at a concentration camp held by the (sic) Democrat Party of Arkansas in an undisclosed location, making a hostage tape...That's why I look that way." The National Jewish Democratic Council spoke out against the remarks; deputy executive director David Goldenberg said that Huckabee's comments were "insensitive" and that "making light of the Holocaust isn't something any elected official should be doing."
Huckabee's response was, "I have a great deal of respect for the Jewish people" and "To make such a far-reaching statement is laughable and is the type of allegation that makes people cynical."<21>
Creation of Gift Registry
In November 2006, both Huckabee and his wife drew criticism for creating wedding registries in the amount of over $6000 at both the Target and Dillard's web sites, in conjunction with a housewarming party to celebrate a new house they had purchased in Little Rock. The Arkansas Times, which first reported the story, noted that wedding gifts represent one of the exceptions to a $100 cap on gifts to political leaders under Arkansas law.<22> Huckabee claimed that the registries were intended only for those who were invited to the event, that he was not involved in organizing the event, and that they were classified as wedding registries only because those sites did not have separate categories for housewarming parties.
Illegal Immigration
Huckabee has been criticized for supporting illegal immigration.<23> In his 2005 State of the State address, he complained that a Hispanic student was not able to get financial aid because he was an illegal alien. Huckabee said: "But when he applied for financial aid, he wasn’t eligible for the various scholarships or grants because of his status, a status that he had no decision in or control over." <24> <25> Huckabee opposed a 2005 bill sponsored by Arkansas State Senator Jim Holt which would deny state benefits to illegal immigrants. <26> Huckabee argued that illegal immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits: "They pay fuel taxes. If they're using a fake Social Security number, they're paying Social Security taxes and will never receive any benefit. It would be closer to the truth to say they're subsidizing Joe McCutchen and Jim Holt more than the other way around."<27> When a Mexican consulate opened in Little Rock in 2006, Huckabee strongly supported it.<28> The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported: "Before he left office, former Gov. Mike Huckabee gave $10,000 to Little Rock. The money was given to help the consulate. Former Mayor Jim Dailey had requested that the governor match the city’s Dec. 19 contribution of $50,000 in a letter written Dec. 20. Huckabee’s contribution came from the governor’s $500,000 emergency fund and was one of roughly 20 appropriations Huckabee made from the taxpayer fund in his final days in office." <29> Critics of Huckabee say his support of the Mexican consulate broke federal law. <30> In 2007, Huckabee said, "I just don't think it's realistic to say this weekend we're going to round up 12 to 20 million young people and their children and we're going to put them across the border and they're never going to come back." <31> In a 2007 interview, Huckabee argued against job loss caused by illegal immigration saying, "You know, when people say, 'they're taking our jobs' -- I used to hear that as Governor -- and I started asking this question, 'can you name me any person, give me their name, who can't get a job plucking a chicken or picking a tomato or tarring a roof that would like to do that work?' ....I never, ever, had a person who could come up with the name of a person who could not get a job because an illegal immigrant had stepped in front of them because it was either a job that person didn't want to do or didn't exist."<32>
I'd love to hear some info from our DUers from Arkansas. Lots of things go in when a Gov. is in office for 8 years that never gets national attention! I think THAT's our greatest source! |
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
