It actually could be worse…

Anyone who reads my blogs obviously knows my strong conservative stances especially on economic issues.  I truly do believe that without economic prosperity the rest doesn’t matter because we will not have the resources to fight for what we believe otherwise.  Case in point we won the Cold War because of our economic prosperity in the 1980’s led by the greatest President of our time Ronald Reagan.  I know this blog is going to make some Huckabee supporters angry and possibly some McCain supporters will be happy I wrote this piece.  Who knows?  But I’ve come to the conclusion that Mike Huckabee actually makes John McCain look like Ronald Reagan reincarnated politically.

Ok before I go further I want to note that no John McCain is not and never will be utterly close to the smell of Ronald Reagan’s feet let alone his reincarnate politically.  Nor is John McCain an actual conservative.  I’m just comparing him to Mike Huckabee.  First of all Mike is good on pro life issues.  He’s also good on the protection of marriage.  He’s not a bad culture conservative.  However, he’s a big government tax increasing democrat as far as I’m concerned based on his record.  

As Governor of Arkansas early on in his tenure he actually did do some good things.  He fought for an 80 million dollar tax cut package in 1997.  He cut the state capital gains tax in 1999.  Then it pretty much all goes south and no I don’t mean south as in tax cuts.  He has supported a MULTITUDE of tax hikes throughout his tenure that includes: sales tax hike in 1996; an Internet sales tax in 2001; he opposed the repeal of sales tax on groceries and medicine; signed bills raising gasoline, cigarette, and beds for nursing home patients tax hikes; proposed another sales tax hike in 2002; he opposed a measure to ban the Internet taxes; and allowed a 17% increase in sales tax to become law in 2004.  Make up all the excuses you want this is not conservatism at work.  The wonderful Cato Institute gave Mike Huckabee a D grade on taxes.

Mike Huckabee had a net gain of 500 million in tax hikes.  I’ve seen him refuse to answer this directly when questioned about it.  He claims he cut taxes 94 times as Governor, but in actuallity they were minor tweaks in tax law.  The fact still remains a 500 million dollar net increase.  He not only not opposed many tax hikes he CAMPAIGNED for them.  I’m sorry, but where is Ronald Reagan Conservatism in all of this?  You know that fuel and gas tax hike he says the Arkansas people approved?  Well actually that part of it wasn’t subject to voter approval.  It was actually a bond issue that voters approved and the tax increases would have remained whether the bond issue was approved or not.  Also the Arkansas Supreme Court did not mandate for Mike Huckabee to raise taxes.  It mandated that Governor Huckabee spend more money on state education.  Instead of cutting government waste and finding the funds already in the budget Governor Huckabee’s first answer was to raise taxes.  Again I don’t see that as Reaganesque, but what do I know?

I understand he supports the FairTax now, but what people must not know is that he has only supported that since he got on the campaign trail for the Presidency.  Where in his history does he indicate by his record that he is for this reform?   Also while Huckabee criticizes Romney for “flip flopping” on signing the Americans for Tax Reforms anti-tax pledge Huckabee himself didn’t sign this pledge until after January of 2007. 

This is where I get the most angry.  It’s his record on spending in Arkansas.  From 1996-2004 government spending under Mike Huckabee increased 65%.  That was almost triple that of inflation.  The number of state workers increased 20% under Governor Huckabee’s watch as well.  The state’s obligational debt(money already spent for future years) shot up to a billion dollars.  Huckabee put together a number of Government programs which helps explains the massive increase in spending. 

I’m going to finish with regulation which is another pet peeve of mine as I’ve said in other blogs.  Not only is Huckabee a tax hiker, a big government republican, but also is bad on regulation.  He raised the states minimum wage from $5.15 to 6.25 an hour(to put this in perspective as Governor Mitt Romney only gave up a 25 cent increase in minimum wage to a liberal legislature that was demanding $1.75 increase).  On a state level this bad enough, but he then went on to propose that congress do the same thing on a national level.  Thankfully President Bush and the GOP congress apposed this measure.  He threatened to investigate “price-gouging” after 9/11 if gas prices went too high.  Oh, so he’s also for artificial price control in a price-coordinated economy.  This is further proven by the fact he signed a bill into law that would prevent companies from raising their prices 10% ahead of natural disasters.  Mike you should learn about supply and demand.  Demand goes up(which it would for those kinds of items before a natural disaster) then the price goes up.  He uses liberal rhetoric by saying “the line between capitalism and greed has to be very clearly delineated”.  That’s called class warfare, Mike.  It’s also a form of fascism(no I’m not calling Mike a fascist). 

I could easily go on about this guy’s record, but since he hasn’t a chance in the world to be the nominee I’ll stop here.  I do believe John McCain and Mike Huckabee are the two worst republican candidates we had running this year.  I’ve asked Huckabee supporters repeatedly to discuss his record with me.  No one stepped up to the plate.  I understand Huckabee supporters will be angry with this piece, but I welcome all of you to the table of discussion.  This is, after-all, a free country and debate is welcome.  However, given the choice between the two I have to say I am happy that it’s John McCain.  Ok I’m not “happy” per-say, but as Huckabee’s record indicates yes it indeed could be worse for us conservatives. 

Mending Fences

Well, Mitt Romney has just suspended his campaign and it was a  long shot for him to win the nomination from here on out anyways.  The question for many conservatives right now is “where do we go from here?” and that’s a valid question.  John McCain can talk up his “conservative” credentials all he wants and he does with the constant “83″ ACU rating they keep touting.  However, what they won’t mention is that in 2006 he received a 65 and in 2007 he received a 56 so his voting has gotten progressively left since 2000 if you look at the bills he tries to push through and some very key votes.  Since John McCain is the nominee at this point I am writing about how John McCain can mend  with conservatives in general.

First of all be very careful about who you choose for the vice presidential slot.  I would like to take this time right now to recommend Mitt Romney because of his economic know-how.  If you take Tom Ridge, George Pataki, Charlie Crist, or even Mike Huckabee you are already on the wrong path.  National security is very important, but impossible without economic prosperity.  None of the above even come close to understanding economy like Mitt Romney.  Frankly you should choose him and just forget about economic matters as to place that squarely in the hands of Mitt and then back whatever he says.  You will look smarter for doing so and frankly many will learn to trust you more. 

Second of all when it comes time to nominate judges to the supreme court you ONLY go get men like Alito or Roberts.  Nothing beneath that.  This isn’t about political conservatism, but rather judicial conservatism.  We do not want to be ruled by 9 people in robes that are unelected.  You want to call yourself the maverick so don’t be afraid to put up a fight with a democrat congress in order to get them through the process.  I put this as a second priority because I believe within the first two years of the next President’s term they will be choosing 1-2 new judges on the court.  I truly believe it’s going to be pretty immediate and this issue is always extremely important.  In fact it may be this reason alone that I vote for McCain in the fall. 

Third when it comes back to economic issues do not raise taxes.  Ever.  There is no excuse for it.  No matter what tax you raise it will slow or “cool” as they like to say certain pockets of the economy.  This includes you’re idiotic stewardship act bill.  Drop it completely.  I am with you on nuclear power, but while that takes any kind of hold within the next 20 years you can not tax people on energy and bring caps on carbon emissions as this will drastically hurt our economy well before we are able to rely more on nuclear energy.  You have an uphill battle with that one in the first place with all of the eco-freaks out there that use fascism to get their ideas across and they don’t even know it.  I would say keep taxes low, but they aren’t low now.  Lower them even further.  Much further.  Do not put caps and regulation in our economy and lower taxes. 

Fourth keep your word on spending.  Fighting pork in our spending bills will make you a conservative hero.  It’s one thing to have a vote in the senate, but another being the leader of an executive branch and in charge of a budget.  Bush has failed miserably with this, but to be fair most of it was national security reasons.  Pork is a drop in the bucket compared to the funds are paying now and are already promised to pay in the years ahead with entitlements.  Romney wasn’t kidding when he said within the next 8 years 70% of our budget will be entitlement spending.  THAT is where we need to attack as conservatives.  You need to show an urgency in reforming social security, medicare, medicaid, welfare, and others.  These are issues that are facing our nation that are nearly as important as the war on terror.  If these issues are not addressed then your mantra on spending has become a shadow of what’s really needed and your complaints are no longer relevant or valid. 

Fifth you need to change your stance on illegal immigration.  You say you want to build the frence now, but your rhetoric and votes in the past leave a lot to be desired.  It’s hard to trust you on this matter.  You need to focus major resources on securing the border and other energy on how to stop the other aspects of illegal immigration such as chain migration and anchor babies.  No more liberal fascist rhetoric such as “I refuse to send an 80 year old woman home” because frankly that’s irrelevant.  No one is advocating mass deportation(although it’s more possible then people think) and stop assuming the issue is about LEGAL immigration.  No one has a problem with legal immigration.  We understand we are the greatest country in the world and that many millions of people wish to come here.  It’s about the rule of law.  It’s about incentive and fairness to those who wish to come here and be citizens.  You can’t become a citizen by breaking our laws to start your life in this country.  You talk about compassion and the rule of law IS compassionate to the American people whom are here now and forever.

Sixth you need to protect our culture as our leader.  Respect the sanctity of life and the tradition of marriage between a man and a woman.  I know there are separations in the conservative movement about these issues such as are they state issues vs culture issues.  To me they are culture issues, but I can come to a happy compromise with this on one platform.  Do not let the judges have control over these issues.  It is not for them to decide.  They are unelected officials and do not have say over what American culture is or was or will be in the future.  Protect the culture by doing whatever you can to keep the courts in check.

These are just a few things that would be a start to mending the fences with conservatives everywhere.   I didn’t mention the war on terror because that is one of the things that most conservatives actually trust you with right now.  I don’t want to downplay how important that issue is, but it’s a non-issue for John McCain as this is one of his strengths.  These are the issues that conservatives care about that you have not shown a lot of strength.  If we conservatives are to trust you and fight with you then you must show a pro-growth, tempered mindset toward being the President.  It was a nice start at the CPAC speech, but it needs to go much further.  You need to show it in your actions and in your plans.  Plans are promises that we can hold you accountable.  Not only are these policies right for the direction of our party, but right for the direction of our country as well.  Senator McCain we are willing to embrace you should you understand conservatism and adopt it as your philosophy.  Believe me when I tell you we would much rather vote for you rather than against a democrat.