Lord Xar
11-02-2007, 01:06 PM
Christians Need To Beware Of Mike Huckabee
By Chuck Baldwin
November 2, 2007
This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071102.html
With Christian conservatives trying to scramble to find a Republican
presidential candidate they can support, some of them seem to be
coalescing around former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. Janet
Folger, especially, seems to be trumpeting his candidacy. But is Mike
Huckabee someone Christian conservatives should be supporting? Not
everyone thinks so.
Randy Minton, chairman of the Arkansas chapter of Phyllis Schlafly's
national Eagle Forum, said, "We called him a pro-life, pro-gun
liberal, when I was in the state legislature and he was governor."
Phyllis Schlafly herself was even more direct.
President and Founder of Eagle Forum, Phyllis Schlafly, said this
about Governor Huckabee: "He destroyed the conservative movement in
Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles." She went on to
say, "Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush
as a 'compassionate conservative' are now trying to sell us on Mike
Huckabee."
Even one of Huckabee's strongest supporters within the Religious
Right, Pastor Rick Scarborough, head of Vision America, admitted,
"Mike has always sought the validation of elites." Of course, my
question for Rick Scarborough is, With an indictment such as that, how
can you continue to support Mike Huckabee?
According to an opinion piece written by John Fund in the Wall Street
Journal, "Paul Pressler, a former Texas judge who led the conservative
Southern Baptist revolt, told me, 'I know of no conservative he
[Huckabee] appointed while he headed the Arkansas Baptist
Convention.'"
Fund went on to say that "Mr. Huckabee's reluctance to surround
himself with conservatives was evident as governor, when he kept many
agency heads appointed by Bill Clinton."
Fund also said this about Huckabee: "'He's just like Bill Clinton in
that he practices management by news cycle,' a former top Huckabee
aide told me. 'As with Clinton there was no long-term planning, just
putting out fires on a daily basis. One thing I'll guarantee is that
won't lead to competent conservative governance.'"
Mike Huckabee is also terrible on immigration. According to Jim
Boulet, Jr., executive director of English First, "Rudy Giuliani spent
years defending the right of New York City to remain a sanctuary for
illegal aliens. Yet Giuliani was a veritable Lou Dobbs Jr. on illegal
immigration in comparison to Mike Huckabee."
Regarding Huckabee's stance on immigration, Mr. Minton said, "Until of
late, he has been an open-borders guy on immigration--amnesty, the
whole works. As governor, he wanted to give free college scholarships
to all illegals."
Minton's assertion is backed up by Daniel Larison at The American
Conservative. He said, "Like his fellow presidential candidate [who
recently dropped out of the race], Sen. Sam Brownback, Huckabee
regards it as his Christian duty to help subvert and liberalize U.S.
immigration laws. Together, they embrace the notion that fidelity to
the Gospel requires privileging the interests of non-citizens over
those of fellow citizens."
Ann Coulter agrees: "On illegal immigration, Huckabee makes George
Bush sound like Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). Huckabee has compared
illegal aliens to slaves brought here in chains from Africa, saying,
'I think, frankly, the Lord is giving us a second chance to do better
than we did before.'
"Toward that end, when an Arkansas legislator introduced a bill that
would prevent illegal aliens from voting and receiving state benefits,
Huckabee denounced the bill, saying it would rile up 'those who are
racist and bigots.'
"He also made the insane point that companies such as Toyota would not
invest in Arkansas if the state didn't allow non-citizens to vote,
because it would 'send the message that, essentially, "If you don't
look like us, talk like us and speak like us, we don't want you."'
"Like all the (other) Democratic candidates for President, he supports
a federal law to ban smoking--unless you're an illegal alien smoking
at a Toyota plant."
A former state lawmaker, Minton also said, that Huckabee was not a
"fiscally conservative Republican." Rather, Huckabee was regarded as
just another liberal "tax and spender" in fiscal matters. This is in
direct opposition to Huckabee's boast of "90 tax cuts during his
tenure." And the facts seem to validate Minton, not Huckabee.
An Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration report showed a
"net tax increase of $505 million, a figure adjusted for inflation and
economic growth" on Huckabee's watch.
That Huckabee is a liberal "tax and spender" is also affirmed by Tom
Roeser. According to Roeser, "[Huckabee] hiked state spending 65.3%,
from 1996 to 2004. He supported five tax increases, leading the 'Club
for Growth' to call him a liberal in disguise . . ."
Roeser also points out that "The Cato Institute, a libertarian think
tank with heavy ties to the national GOP, gives him an F grade for
spending and taxes in 2006 and an overall grade of D in his
governorship. During his tenure, the number of state employees
increased over 20% and Arkansas' general obligation debt rose by
almost $1 billion."
Furthermore, according to the Washington Times, "Until recently, he
[Huckabee] had refused to sign the famous no-tax pledge offered to
candidates by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform."
In spite of Huckabee's proven big-government, big-spending, and
pro-amnesty record, however, some Christian conservatives are falling
for his conservative rhetoric. It seems that all a Republican
candidate has to do is start talking "pro-life" and "pro-marriage" and
he or she will gain the support of certain Christian conservatives.
First it was Bob Jones, III endorsing the liberal former governor of
Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, and now it is Janet Folger endorsing the
liberal former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee. Why any Christian
leader would want to support a man with such a dubious record truly
escapes me.
Christians need to beware of Mike Huckabee. He is not a conservative.
Even worse, he is not a constitutionalist. He is an opportunist,
however. This is demonstrated by the fact that many of his supporters
are openly posturing (with Huckabee's consent, obviously) for an
opportunity to run Huckabee as a potential Vice Presidential candidate
with either Giuliani or Romney at the top of the ticket.
Let me ask the reader something. How could a principled pro-life,
pro-Second Amendment, pro-Constitution conservative be willing to run
on a ticket with a liberal presidential candidate such as Rudy
Giuliani or Mitt Romney? That's right, he couldn't.
I say again, beware of Mike Huckabee!
P.S. I would like to invite everyone who lives within driving distance
of Pensacola, Florida to come hear the former Chief Justice of the
Alabama Supreme Court, Judge Roy Moore, "The Ten Commandments Judge,"
this Sunday, November 4, 2007 at Crossroad Baptist Church. The service
begins at 10am CST. In my opinion, Judge Roy Moore is one of America's
greatest Christian statesmen. He will be speaking live and in person
to the people of Crossroad Baptist Church this Sunday, November 4. The
church is located at 6800 Mobile Highway (US Highway 90), 1/2 mile
past the Fairgrounds in Northwest Pensacola.
As a point of reference, Pensacola is located in the western-most tip
of the State of Florida, about 50 miles East of Mobile, Alabama.
Pensacola is approximately a 5 hour drive from Atlanta; a 6 1/2 hour
drive from Orlando; a 3 hour drive from New Orleans; and a 7 hour
drive from Nashville.
By Chuck Baldwin
November 2, 2007
This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071102.html
With Christian conservatives trying to scramble to find a Republican
presidential candidate they can support, some of them seem to be
coalescing around former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. Janet
Folger, especially, seems to be trumpeting his candidacy. But is Mike
Huckabee someone Christian conservatives should be supporting? Not
everyone thinks so.
Randy Minton, chairman of the Arkansas chapter of Phyllis Schlafly's
national Eagle Forum, said, "We called him a pro-life, pro-gun
liberal, when I was in the state legislature and he was governor."
Phyllis Schlafly herself was even more direct.
President and Founder of Eagle Forum, Phyllis Schlafly, said this
about Governor Huckabee: "He destroyed the conservative movement in
Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles." She went on to
say, "Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush
as a 'compassionate conservative' are now trying to sell us on Mike
Huckabee."
Even one of Huckabee's strongest supporters within the Religious
Right, Pastor Rick Scarborough, head of Vision America, admitted,
"Mike has always sought the validation of elites." Of course, my
question for Rick Scarborough is, With an indictment such as that, how
can you continue to support Mike Huckabee?
According to an opinion piece written by John Fund in the Wall Street
Journal, "Paul Pressler, a former Texas judge who led the conservative
Southern Baptist revolt, told me, 'I know of no conservative he
[Huckabee] appointed while he headed the Arkansas Baptist
Convention.'"
Fund went on to say that "Mr. Huckabee's reluctance to surround
himself with conservatives was evident as governor, when he kept many
agency heads appointed by Bill Clinton."
Fund also said this about Huckabee: "'He's just like Bill Clinton in
that he practices management by news cycle,' a former top Huckabee
aide told me. 'As with Clinton there was no long-term planning, just
putting out fires on a daily basis. One thing I'll guarantee is that
won't lead to competent conservative governance.'"
Mike Huckabee is also terrible on immigration. According to Jim
Boulet, Jr., executive director of English First, "Rudy Giuliani spent
years defending the right of New York City to remain a sanctuary for
illegal aliens. Yet Giuliani was a veritable Lou Dobbs Jr. on illegal
immigration in comparison to Mike Huckabee."
Regarding Huckabee's stance on immigration, Mr. Minton said, "Until of
late, he has been an open-borders guy on immigration--amnesty, the
whole works. As governor, he wanted to give free college scholarships
to all illegals."
Minton's assertion is backed up by Daniel Larison at The American
Conservative. He said, "Like his fellow presidential candidate [who
recently dropped out of the race], Sen. Sam Brownback, Huckabee
regards it as his Christian duty to help subvert and liberalize U.S.
immigration laws. Together, they embrace the notion that fidelity to
the Gospel requires privileging the interests of non-citizens over
those of fellow citizens."
Ann Coulter agrees: "On illegal immigration, Huckabee makes George
Bush sound like Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO). Huckabee has compared
illegal aliens to slaves brought here in chains from Africa, saying,
'I think, frankly, the Lord is giving us a second chance to do better
than we did before.'
"Toward that end, when an Arkansas legislator introduced a bill that
would prevent illegal aliens from voting and receiving state benefits,
Huckabee denounced the bill, saying it would rile up 'those who are
racist and bigots.'
"He also made the insane point that companies such as Toyota would not
invest in Arkansas if the state didn't allow non-citizens to vote,
because it would 'send the message that, essentially, "If you don't
look like us, talk like us and speak like us, we don't want you."'
"Like all the (other) Democratic candidates for President, he supports
a federal law to ban smoking--unless you're an illegal alien smoking
at a Toyota plant."
A former state lawmaker, Minton also said, that Huckabee was not a
"fiscally conservative Republican." Rather, Huckabee was regarded as
just another liberal "tax and spender" in fiscal matters. This is in
direct opposition to Huckabee's boast of "90 tax cuts during his
tenure." And the facts seem to validate Minton, not Huckabee.
An Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration report showed a
"net tax increase of $505 million, a figure adjusted for inflation and
economic growth" on Huckabee's watch.
That Huckabee is a liberal "tax and spender" is also affirmed by Tom
Roeser. According to Roeser, "[Huckabee] hiked state spending 65.3%,
from 1996 to 2004. He supported five tax increases, leading the 'Club
for Growth' to call him a liberal in disguise . . ."
Roeser also points out that "The Cato Institute, a libertarian think
tank with heavy ties to the national GOP, gives him an F grade for
spending and taxes in 2006 and an overall grade of D in his
governorship. During his tenure, the number of state employees
increased over 20% and Arkansas' general obligation debt rose by
almost $1 billion."
Furthermore, according to the Washington Times, "Until recently, he
[Huckabee] had refused to sign the famous no-tax pledge offered to
candidates by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform."
In spite of Huckabee's proven big-government, big-spending, and
pro-amnesty record, however, some Christian conservatives are falling
for his conservative rhetoric. It seems that all a Republican
candidate has to do is start talking "pro-life" and "pro-marriage" and
he or she will gain the support of certain Christian conservatives.
First it was Bob Jones, III endorsing the liberal former governor of
Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, and now it is Janet Folger endorsing the
liberal former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee. Why any Christian
leader would want to support a man with such a dubious record truly
escapes me.
Christians need to beware of Mike Huckabee. He is not a conservative.
Even worse, he is not a constitutionalist. He is an opportunist,
however. This is demonstrated by the fact that many of his supporters
are openly posturing (with Huckabee's consent, obviously) for an
opportunity to run Huckabee as a potential Vice Presidential candidate
with either Giuliani or Romney at the top of the ticket.
Let me ask the reader something. How could a principled pro-life,
pro-Second Amendment, pro-Constitution conservative be willing to run
on a ticket with a liberal presidential candidate such as Rudy
Giuliani or Mitt Romney? That's right, he couldn't.
I say again, beware of Mike Huckabee!
P.S. I would like to invite everyone who lives within driving distance
of Pensacola, Florida to come hear the former Chief Justice of the
Alabama Supreme Court, Judge Roy Moore, "The Ten Commandments Judge,"
this Sunday, November 4, 2007 at Crossroad Baptist Church. The service
begins at 10am CST. In my opinion, Judge Roy Moore is one of America's
greatest Christian statesmen. He will be speaking live and in person
to the people of Crossroad Baptist Church this Sunday, November 4. The
church is located at 6800 Mobile Highway (US Highway 90), 1/2 mile
past the Fairgrounds in Northwest Pensacola.
As a point of reference, Pensacola is located in the western-most tip
of the State of Florida, about 50 miles East of Mobile, Alabama.
Pensacola is approximately a 5 hour drive from Atlanta; a 6 1/2 hour
drive from Orlando; a 3 hour drive from New Orleans; and a 7 hour
drive from Nashville.