Pimpin Turtle Dot Com
12-11-2007, 01:17 PM
While I haven't read everything written on Huckabee's campaign site, I have been listening to him in the debates and know a bit about his record here in Arkansas. Here are some of my concerns.
I worry about the spiritual health of a religious leader who abandons his call to ministry in order to enter politics.
In a recent debate, I was surprised to hear Huckabee claim that most of the Founding Fathers were clergy members. Looking at one set of Founders - the signers of the Declaration of Independence - there was only 1 out of the 56 (John Witherspoon) who was a minister at the time; 3 others in the group were former ministers. 4 out of 56 does not make a majority. What other falsehoods (or the politicians' favorite lie - twisted statistics) has Huckabee claimed as fact?
Huckabee had a problem with ethics while in office in Arkansas. <http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12205>
Huckabee, along with most of the current Republican candidates, doesn't care about the limits that the Constitution places on the federal government. In many areas (education, energy, agriculture, preemptive acts of war, etc.) he advocates ignoring our fundamental law in favor of expansive government and/or ignoring the separation of powers that was designed to keep us free.
Huckabee's desires to further socialize medicine are inconsistent with free markets and run counter to traditional Republicanism.
Huckabee supports the so-called "Fair Tax" plan, which would replace the income tax with a sales tax around 35% (the Fair Tax proponents often use incorrect calculations to claim a lower percentage) which, when levied at every sale of raw materials used to produce consumer goods, would also cause huge price increases. While this plan would eliminate the oppressive, thieving income tax, its entire goal is to replace the income tax revenue with another tax and as such is not a reduction of taxes. I have not heard Huckabee propose specific reductions either of taxes or of government programs. While Huckabee lowered some taxes in Arkansas, overall he raised taxes. <http://taxhikemike.com>
In his speech at the Ames, IA straw poll this summer, and again at a televised debate (I think it was in Dearborn), Huckabee stated that the government should be able to know, at any time, where every illegal alien is in the country; if the government can't track people as well as UPS or FedEx can track packages, Huckabee thinks we should hand the job over to one of those companies. This is problematic on a couple major levels:
1) There is no way to know exactly where the illegals are without a massive institution in place to monitor people's movements around the country and a national ID issued to every citizen and alien. Such a system would require routine identification checks in our everyday travels. A free society does not need to monitor its citizens.
2) Huckabee's idea reeks of standard statist fare - ignoring reality in order to increase government's size and power. He misses the point completely that illegal immigration is an economic problem caused by the U.S. handing out free education and welfare to those we know are illegal aliens - cut off the handouts and we will eliminate the masses of illegals entering the country.
The Best Candidate
There is not a better candidate than Ron Paul <http://ronpaul2008.com>. Ron Paul is the only candidate who has ever inspired me to become politically active.
Ron Paul has a proven track record of traditional Republican values and exceptional integrity during 10 terms in the U.S. House. John McCain called Ron Paul "the most honest man in Congress". His fellow Republican Congressman, John Duncan of Tennessee, said
"Ron Paul is one of the most principled and
courageous men I have ever known. He believes
in our Constitution and votes that way in
Congress, even when he sometimes has to stand
almost alone. I have the greatest respect and
admiration for Ron Paul, and I believe this
nation would be a much better place if we had
more people like him in public office
throughout our land."
Ron Paul is consistently at the top of The New American's "Freedom Index" (nee Conservative Index) <http://thenewamerican.com/node/4750> (scoring 100%), rating "congressmen based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements".
Ron Paul was a military surgeon during the Vietnam War and an OB/GYN who has delivered over 4,000 babies (he is 100% pro-life). As a doctor, when patients could not afford to pay, he refused to accept government welfare payments and instead treated those patients for free.
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Ron Paul has attracted a huge number of grassroots supporters with his message of limited, constitutional government. On November 5th, 37,000 supporters donated $4.2 million to his campaign in the largest fund-raising day ever for a Republican candidate (his campaign has raised around $9 million so far this quarter). Attempts by other Republican candidates (including Huckabee) to duplicate Ron Paul's grassroots support have failed miserably - the support is not created by his campaign organization, but by his message.
Ron Paul, while hated and reviled by many powerful elites in Washington and in the corporate media, is truly the people's choice to fight big government corruption - having thousands gather to hear him speak like they did a while ago in Reno, NV <http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7390030> is a common event.
The defining American question, of our time and all other times since the Revolution, does not concern national security and nebulous foreign threats, but whether we believe in the freedoms that the Founding Fathers claimed for us. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and we must watch our elected officials (and our own base natures) the closest. As Tocqueville wrote, "The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money."
Please spend a little time finding out more about Ron Paul online <http://google.com/search?q=Ron%20Paul>. If you don't have a good Internet connection for watching YouTube videos, I'd be happy to mail you a DVD containing a few of Ron Paul's speeches and debate highlights.
--
Jeremy Weathers
I worry about the spiritual health of a religious leader who abandons his call to ministry in order to enter politics.
In a recent debate, I was surprised to hear Huckabee claim that most of the Founding Fathers were clergy members. Looking at one set of Founders - the signers of the Declaration of Independence - there was only 1 out of the 56 (John Witherspoon) who was a minister at the time; 3 others in the group were former ministers. 4 out of 56 does not make a majority. What other falsehoods (or the politicians' favorite lie - twisted statistics) has Huckabee claimed as fact?
Huckabee had a problem with ethics while in office in Arkansas. <http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12205>
Huckabee, along with most of the current Republican candidates, doesn't care about the limits that the Constitution places on the federal government. In many areas (education, energy, agriculture, preemptive acts of war, etc.) he advocates ignoring our fundamental law in favor of expansive government and/or ignoring the separation of powers that was designed to keep us free.
Huckabee's desires to further socialize medicine are inconsistent with free markets and run counter to traditional Republicanism.
Huckabee supports the so-called "Fair Tax" plan, which would replace the income tax with a sales tax around 35% (the Fair Tax proponents often use incorrect calculations to claim a lower percentage) which, when levied at every sale of raw materials used to produce consumer goods, would also cause huge price increases. While this plan would eliminate the oppressive, thieving income tax, its entire goal is to replace the income tax revenue with another tax and as such is not a reduction of taxes. I have not heard Huckabee propose specific reductions either of taxes or of government programs. While Huckabee lowered some taxes in Arkansas, overall he raised taxes. <http://taxhikemike.com>
In his speech at the Ames, IA straw poll this summer, and again at a televised debate (I think it was in Dearborn), Huckabee stated that the government should be able to know, at any time, where every illegal alien is in the country; if the government can't track people as well as UPS or FedEx can track packages, Huckabee thinks we should hand the job over to one of those companies. This is problematic on a couple major levels:
1) There is no way to know exactly where the illegals are without a massive institution in place to monitor people's movements around the country and a national ID issued to every citizen and alien. Such a system would require routine identification checks in our everyday travels. A free society does not need to monitor its citizens.
2) Huckabee's idea reeks of standard statist fare - ignoring reality in order to increase government's size and power. He misses the point completely that illegal immigration is an economic problem caused by the U.S. handing out free education and welfare to those we know are illegal aliens - cut off the handouts and we will eliminate the masses of illegals entering the country.
The Best Candidate
There is not a better candidate than Ron Paul <http://ronpaul2008.com>. Ron Paul is the only candidate who has ever inspired me to become politically active.
Ron Paul has a proven track record of traditional Republican values and exceptional integrity during 10 terms in the U.S. House. John McCain called Ron Paul "the most honest man in Congress". His fellow Republican Congressman, John Duncan of Tennessee, said
"Ron Paul is one of the most principled and
courageous men I have ever known. He believes
in our Constitution and votes that way in
Congress, even when he sometimes has to stand
almost alone. I have the greatest respect and
admiration for Ron Paul, and I believe this
nation would be a much better place if we had
more people like him in public office
throughout our land."
Ron Paul is consistently at the top of The New American's "Freedom Index" (nee Conservative Index) <http://thenewamerican.com/node/4750> (scoring 100%), rating "congressmen based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements".
Ron Paul was a military surgeon during the Vietnam War and an OB/GYN who has delivered over 4,000 babies (he is 100% pro-life). As a doctor, when patients could not afford to pay, he refused to accept government welfare payments and instead treated those patients for free.
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Ron Paul has attracted a huge number of grassroots supporters with his message of limited, constitutional government. On November 5th, 37,000 supporters donated $4.2 million to his campaign in the largest fund-raising day ever for a Republican candidate (his campaign has raised around $9 million so far this quarter). Attempts by other Republican candidates (including Huckabee) to duplicate Ron Paul's grassroots support have failed miserably - the support is not created by his campaign organization, but by his message.
Ron Paul, while hated and reviled by many powerful elites in Washington and in the corporate media, is truly the people's choice to fight big government corruption - having thousands gather to hear him speak like they did a while ago in Reno, NV <http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7390030> is a common event.
The defining American question, of our time and all other times since the Revolution, does not concern national security and nebulous foreign threats, but whether we believe in the freedoms that the Founding Fathers claimed for us. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and we must watch our elected officials (and our own base natures) the closest. As Tocqueville wrote, "The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money."
Please spend a little time finding out more about Ron Paul online <http://google.com/search?q=Ron%20Paul>. If you don't have a good Internet connection for watching YouTube videos, I'd be happy to mail you a DVD containing a few of Ron Paul's speeches and debate highlights.
--
Jeremy Weathers