The Huckabee tax record
Mike Huckabee used last week's Repulican presidential debate to again make the claim that he's a great tax-cutter. The Arkansas Leader editorial page, as ever, stands ready to correct the record.
Huckabee said that he had a consistent record of tax cutting and that he had slashed taxes in Arkansas “94 times.” His record is this: He signed one big tax cut, a 1997 income tax revision drafted and passed by the other party. He supported two other smaller tax cuts that became law.
He fought elimination of the sales tax on groceries. He raised taxes far more than he cut them. He raised them so much that treasury surpluses set records his last two years in office.
If Huckabee can fashion himself into a major candidate — the Iowa straw poll in August is his goal — his dissimulation as a world-class tax cutter will not be permitted to pass.
No one cares to set the record straight now, but you can be sure that his rivals will pin him if he becomes a threat. Huckabee’s best bet is to be honest about his values and his record.
In a state with the poorest education and weakest public services in the country, he worked practically with Democrats to get things done, even when his own party was not much help and even when they required more taxes.
If he cannot win on that record and on straight talk, he cannot win on anything. Too bad the first big debate did not help him see the light.





Comments
Think that is why Arkansas republicans seem to exhibit a lukewarm support for his candidacy?
A far cry from the state support for Clinton. Where are the FOBs of the Huckabee campaign?
Posted by: Stump
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May 7, 2007 01:01 PM
There is nothing so bad as a candidate's lies exposed. Geo W. Bush is living proof. His repeated lies are exposed daily. Not only does Lies and Cheaters play well for the wives of Howard Stern fans
it is beginning to play well with the rest of us.
With a rating of just 35 percent, Bush's standing is the weakest of any second-term president at this point in 56 years.
So let Huckabuck lie.fall into the Bush pattern..cause the meltdown hasn't started and he doesn't matter yet...but should the day come when his record gets exhumed then get your spin artists out Bro Rev Guv, you're gonna need dozens of them. On the web it moves very fast. Your son getting busted is the first step. That solidifies the wingnut vote you or one of your look-alikes will get anyway, but how does it play in Virginia? Colorado?
That healty stuff you preach...just wait till the media gets a load of your family portrait. If you rise it's coming. And by all means have Jethrine campaign for you, like in Calif and Colo.
Posted by: Lwood
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May 7, 2007 03:06 PM
The Arkansas Leader is about as unbiased towards Huckabee as the American Spectator was towards Bill Clinton.
Posted by: Prouster
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May 7, 2007 04:41 PM
Biased or not, the facts are
the facts. Huckabee lies all
the time. That won't work on
the national level. People are
looking for straight forwardness
after years of Bush lies.
If he were smart, he'd tell the
truth for a change and say tell
why he did what he did.
I ran into a Ft. Smith Republican
in Hope Arkansas a week
ago. He said Huckabee was a
"liar."
Posted by: The Bold and The Blue
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May 7, 2007 05:14 PM
And I talked to a Jonesboro Democrat on the phone Sunday afternoon who told me that Hillary is a...well, it rhymes with "hunt." What does that prove?
Posted by: Prouster
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May 7, 2007 05:51 PM
Two correct answers! What a day.
Huckabee is a liar and yes, Hillary by birth, does have a cunt.
Posted by: Lwood
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May 7, 2007 07:28 PM
It is interesting that Huck claims to be a tax-cutter. In one of my re-election campaigns, he sent out a letter to voters in my district, from his office, in support of my opponent. In it, Huckabee attacked me for having voted for the largest tax increase in Arkansas history. It turned out that the dastardly "tax increase" was Huckabee's own highway bond program, that he had aggressively lobbied me to vote for.
Mike, what goes around ...
Posted by: Jim Lendall
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May 7, 2007 08:19 PM
Good one Lwood.
Prouster, what's your friend's definition of a *unt? I'd really like to know. Has your friend worked for her, has he ever even met her? That's strong, offensive language, and I am curious why he called Hillary Clinton that name.
Posted by: BlueRidge
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May 7, 2007 08:55 PM
Prouster, that was beneath you, and I hope you know it. "Liar" is what Huckabee is, plain as "94 tax cuts". Your friend's word about Hillary is, at the very least, plainly sexist, and at worst a puerile playground taunt against a girl. Tell him to grow up.
Posted by: widj
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May 7, 2007 09:31 PM
Everytime...same thing...
If they can't defend something,
they just attack the Clintons.
When you meet your maker
and he brings up all your
wrongdoings, will try it on him
too? Good luck....
Posted by: The Bold and The Blue
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May 8, 2007 03:01 AM
I'm not blaming anything on the Clintons. I'm using the exact same level of rhetoric that you are (ad hominems delivered by a third party of the same political persuasion.) It's different when you do it, of course. I'm not sure why, it just is.
Posted by: Prouster
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May 8, 2007 06:48 AM
Prouster, gotta disagree on this one. "Liar" is a description - a charatarological summary based on perceived actions. We can debate whether or not Huck lies and we can debate whether or not that alleged lying rises above some norm to come to summarize his honesty or lack thereof. (I personally think it is a strong description that may go too far, but also think Huck should stay out of the No-Spin Zone.)
Your comparison is truly an ad hominem that relates in no way to any behavior on Hillary's part and which cannot be factually defended or debated (as lying can). Nice try, but they're not comparable.
Posted by: Theodosius
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May 8, 2007 02:04 PM
>Nice try, but they're not comparable.<
When has that ever mattered to a wingnut?
_
Posted by: Lwood
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May 8, 2007 03:56 PM
Well, it matters to me.
Posted by: Theodosius
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May 8, 2007 11:56 PM
I do not support Mike Huckabee for lots of reasons including: taxes (raised them), scandals (more than you can shake a stick at), illegal immigration. You can read more here at http://www.opposehuckabee.com/.
Posted by: Ash Lux
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December 6, 2007 05:53 PM