What are your thoughts on Mike Huckabee?

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yarborg

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There may be a thread on this already but I didn't see one right off.

Just wanted to see what others think about him. I know there is probably a mixed crowd here but certainly most on this forum are libertarian to conservative. Personally I really like him. I am a strong Christian values voter so he lines up very well with what I am for. He is also well spoken and has clear ideas and goals. I have heard several say "He can't win". I know where this is coming from and I had that initial reaction as well. No one knows his name, he was behind on raising money yada yada. Essentially it comes down to this, he wasn't chosen for us by the political crowd and media we are all sick of so he doesn't stand a chance. Personally I am sick of elections where I am voting for the best of the worst. They almost had me this time too.

If you don't know much about Mike Huckabee check him out here http://www.MikeHuckabee.com.
 
I used to kind of like him, but he seems to have gone over the war-mongering deep end lately, probably trying to show how tough he is. Huckabee seems like a decent guy, but I prefer strong atheist values (ethics), and respect for the US Constitution (including the Bill of Rights), personally.
 
You can't ask for a better candidate when it comes to advocacy of second amendment rights.

However, he is very weak on immigration reform if you consider that he opposes cutting off illegals from non-essential services and favors amnesty for illegals already here. He is close to Bush on immigration.

On taxes, he favors eliminating the Federal income tax and replacing it with a national value added tax (VAT), in other words a sales tax. Is that a good idea in a consumption driven economy like we have here in the US? I tend to think no, it isn't.
 
I don't know: I kind of like the idea of a national sales tax, if it would get rid of the Byzantine IRS tax code, which is a nightmare. There would have to be exemptions for essentials like food and meds, however, for a sales tax to be fair, and maybe even credits for those with really low incomes. There has to be a better system than the one we have, so I give Huckabee credit for at least trying.
 
There would have to be exemptions for essentials like food and meds, however, for a sales tax to be fair, and maybe even credits for those with really low incomes
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Right there you're back to complexity. It wouldn't be long for Congress to promote certain industries or behaviors by reducing the sales tax on certain goods as opposed to others. For example, a 5% tax on autos that get 30+mpg vs. 10% on autos that get 25mpg or less.

A flat 10% tax on income is much better and has worked well where it's been tried in Eastern Europe.
 
A flat 10% tax on income is much better and has worked well where it's been tried in Eastern Europe.
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What is income? It's what comes in, minus deductible expenses.

The deductions are where complexity comes in, so there's no such thing as a simple income tax.

As for Huckabee, if he really wants a federal law banning tobacco smoking, he's a delusional authoritarian who will saddle us with a black market which makes the ones spawned by alcohol and then drug prohibition seem small and tame.
 
I like him a lot. It seems like he actually has a conscience, unlike many other candidates. But I disagree with him about many issues so I probably won't be voting for him.
 
He looked like someone I could support, until I read about his stand on illegal immigation. I have only seen it written (unfortunately, in more than one place), have not heard him say it, so I am not sure if that is his position or what people attribute to him. If so, I'm done with him, because that is Issue #1 with me.

Edited to add:

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=4

This is from his website. He says "yes" to a secure border (whatever he means by that), "yes" to detaining and deporting those who are caught trying to enter the country illegally, but not a word about what to do with those already here....
 
As an athiest, I think he's touting a theocracy that none of us can handle, and his views on immigration are worse than most of the Dems.

OTOH, I'm Pro Choice, Pro Gay Marriage, etc. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is enjoying all the rights instilled by virtue of being a US citizen. I'm no liberal by any stretch but these issues are something I look for in a candidate. Being pro gun and anti ILLEGAL immigration does not a conservative make :D


I say let him slide into oblivion.

Have a great gun carryin' Kenpo day

Clyde
 
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During his early years in office as our goveernor I was a strong supporter of Huckabee. As time passed I soured on him due to some pardons/clemencies he granted. The icing on the cake was when he used the governor's emergency fund to crush computer hard drives to make the information they contained irretrievable. (That action was determined to be lawful by the state Attorney General). While the crushing of the hard drives was lawful, it made me wonder what he wanted hidden.
 
The deductions are where complexity comes in, so there's no such thing as a simple income tax.
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There are supposed to be no deductions in a flat-tax system, that's the advantage of it. A person pays a flat percentage of thier income in tax, no deductions, credits, etc.
 
The problem with a flat income tax is that the people who don't file income taxes (eg, illegal aliens) still don't have to pay taxes.

A consumption tax is a better plan. I think it would be fair to exclude certain items from the tax, such as groceries.
 
There are supposed to be no deductions in a flat-tax system, that's the advantage of it. A person pays a flat percentage of thier income in tax, no deductions, credits, etc.
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OK, suppose I have a small business. Last year, it had $2.6 million in sales. Is that my income? Maybe the stuff I sold cost me a million dollars, and I still had to pay sales commissions, advertising, office expenses, and on and on. Some of those expenses are clearly going to have to be deductible, since I can't pay the tax on $2.6 million.

Others will not be so clear. My truck might seem like a company asset when it's hauling widgets around, but like a personal vehicle when I use it to take my wife out to dinner. My computer might keep the company books, but might also be used to play around on TFL. Are my truck and my computer deductible, and to what extent? How about the spare bedroom which gets used as an office? It wasn't free, and is a company expense. Deductible?

The commonly circulated flat tax plans are simple for people whose taxes are already pretty simple: those who earn a regular paycheck and no other income. For those with complexities in determining just what is "income" after expenses are deducted, the popular flat tax plans won't really simplify that question, but they will at least lower rates, which is always good.
 
Publius, they are talking about applying a flat tax primarily to personal income. If you buy a computer for your business, that is not personal income.
 
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