Today is shaping up to be Mike Huckabee day here at All American Blogger, so it seems fitting to dig a little deeper into Mike’s stand on the issues. All the quotes below come from mikehuckabee.com
Faith And Politics
The First Amendment requires that expressions of faith be neither prohibited nor preferred. We should not banish religion from the public square, but should guarantee access to all voices and views. We should share and debate our faith, but never seek to impose it. When discussing faith and politics, we should honor the “candid” in candidate - I have much more respect for an honest atheist than a disingenuous believer.
There is only one word in there that I wonder about. I don’t know if it’s government’s business to guarantee access to all voices and views in the “public square”. It’s certainly government’s business not to banish or encourage any one set of beliefs, but guarantee doesn’t fit my bill. Besides that, I think Governor Huckabee has a good common sense approach to the question of faith and politics.
Sanctity Of Life
I support and have always supported passage of a constitutional amendment to protect the right to life. As President, I will fight for passage of this amendment. My convictions regarding the sanctity of life have always been clear and consistent, without equivocation or wavering. I believe that Roe v. Wade should be over-turned.
This is where Duane and I have a different set of views. I think that partial birth abortion is flat out murder, and I know Duane will agree with me on that 100%. But I don’t support the blanket “Abortion is murder” argument. During the first few weeks of a pregnancy, I believe a woman should have the right to end her pregnancy before the fetus begins to develop. I know this is grounds for a very long debate, but I just don’t think human life begins at the instant of conception. Making abortion illegal again won’t stop them anyway, so the debate is pointless.
I also don’t think the sanctity of life ends in the delivery room. The government should not be in the business of executing criminals. I have always found it frustrating that so many pro-life politicians have supported the death penalty.
Education
We need to test teachers as well as students, fire teachers who aren’t competent, and impose reasonable waiting periods for teachers to gain tenure. We should provide bonuses and forgive student loans for high-performing teachers to work in low-performing schools. Just as there are executives in the corporate world who specialize in turning around failing companies, we need teachers who are “turn-around specialists” for failing schools.
First off, the Federal Government shouldn’t be in the business of education. The Department of Education should be abolished, and we should move away from the idea of government schools. So while Huckabee’s ideas make sense under the current system - the current system should be scrapped.
Health Care
Our health care system is making our businesses non-competitive in the global economy. General Motors spends more on health care than it does on steel, $1,500 per car. Starbucks spends more on health care than it does on coffee beans. We have an employer-based system from the 1940’s, a system devised not because it was the best way to provide health care, but as a way around World War II wage-and-price controls. Costs have skyrocketed because the party paying for the health care - the employer - and the party using the health care - the employee - are not the same. It is human nature to consume more of something that is essentially free.
Workers complain that their wages are stagnant, but businesses reply that their total compensation costs are rising significantly because they are paying so much more for health care. Health care costs are adversely affecting your paycheck, even if you’re healthy. Some Americans are afraid to change jobs or start their own businesses because they’re afraid of losing their health insurance. It is time to recognize that jobs don’t need health insurance, people do, and to ease the burden on our businesses. Our employer-based system has outlived its usefulness, but the answer is a consumer-based system, not socialized medicine.
I couldn’t agree more. Give the Governor a gold star for that one.
Taxes & The Economy
Here comes the money shot…
The FairTax will replace the Internal Revenue Code with a consumption tax, like the taxes on retail sales forty-five states and the District of Columbia have now. All of us will get a monthly rebate that will reimburse us for taxes on purchases up to the poverty line, so that we’re not taxed on necessities. That means people below the poverty line won’t be taxed at all. We’ll be taxed on what we decide to buy, not what we happen to earn. We won’t be taxed on what we choose to save or the interest those savings earn. The tax will apply only to new goods, so we can reduce our taxes further by buying a used car or computer.
Our current progressive tax system penalizes us for working harder and becoming more successful. As we climb the ladder, the government lurks on each rung, hungry for a bigger bite out of our earnings. The FairTax is also progressive, but it doesn’t punish the American dream of success, or the old-fashioned virtues of hard work and thrift, it rewards and encourages them. The FairTax isn’t intended to raise any more or less money for the federal government to spend - it is revenue neutral.
Yes, yes, yes!
Gay Marriage
I support and have always supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As President, I will fight for passage of this amendment. My personal belief is that marriage is between one man and one woman, for life.
As a man who has been married for ten years, I agree that “marriage” is a union between one man and one woman for life. I am firmly against “gay marriage”. But we don’t need a constitutional amendment to tell us that. If two men or two women want to dress up, have a ceremony, and form an economic union - so be it. I don’t like it, but I don’t want my government involved in it. Marriage is a special thing. It is a religious rite for many people. Allowing gays to “marry” cheapens the sacrament. Civil unions should be legal. If two gay men choose to spend their lives together the way a married couple would, we shouldn’t deny them the right to visit each other in the hospital, or to have insurance benefits, or to inheritance. So sorry Mike, I disagree with you on this one… sort of.
Immigration
My number one priority is to have a secure border. Right now, we have too many people entering the country illegally, and this must stop. We can’t turn the tide until we stem the tide. We need to know who is coming into our country, where they are going, and why they are here. We need to create a process to allow people to come here to do the jobs - plucking chickens, tarring roofs, picking fruits - that are going unfilled by our citizens. They must have a tamper-proof, scannable I. D. with a finger or retinal scan, so that their employers know they belong here.
We can’t turn the tide until we stem the tide. That’s pure gold. Another gold star for the Governor.
Those are some of the big issues. While I don’t agree with everything Mike Huckabee says, there aren’t really any deal-breakers in there either. I hope you will check out Mike Huckabee’s website and spend a little time reading more about his stance on the issues. I’m a Ron Paul man myself, but I think Mike Huckabee would make a fine President. You can’t make an informed decision about the people who want to represent you until you become informed. So go get informed about Mike Huckabee.
