In their desperate attempt to salvage the status quo, they have launched an all out attack of lies and distortion. Governor Huckabee’s Truth Squad has issued the following response:
Governor Huckabee's record on taxes as a steward of the public’s money has been CLEAR and consistent as a conservative with strong pro-growth.policies. The Club for Growth misrepresents this record.
Governor Huckabee is a fiscal conservative who cut taxes almost 100 times in the state of Arkansas. He doubled the standard deduction and the child care credit, eliminated the marriage penalty, repealed capital gains taxes for home sales, lowered the capital gains rate, expanded the homestead exemption and set up tax-free savings accounts for medical care and college tuition.
The fact is that when Governor Huckabee began in office, the tax rate was 1% for the poorest taxpayers and 7 percent for the richest – the tax rates remained exactly the same when he left the governor’s office 11 years later. The sales tax only went up 1 penny in 10 ½ years and the gas tax 3 cents per gallon.
The Governor believes differently than the Club for Growth – there are many in that group who believe that public FUNDING should never be considered to pay for such things as highways, prisons, schools and Medicare.
About the Video Clip
In 2003 the state's chief financial officer projected a $62.3 million revenue shortfall that would result in cuts in state services, possible layoffs, tax increases or the possible repeal of late 1990s tax cuts.
Governor Huckabee told the Legislature that he would accept any recommendation they could agree on in order to meet the law's requirement to balance the budget. The Legislature was presented a series of options and chose to increase the tax on tobacco.
About the Club for Growth's Attack Ad
The attack ad was financed by Steve Stephens, the chairman of ClubforGrowth.net and a wealthy political rival from Little Rock.
Because Governor Huckabee supports earmark reform, Stephens stands to lose millions of dollars in pork for his businesses when the Governor is elected President.
(“Earmarks” is the term used to refer to a provision in legislation that directs funds to be spent on specific projects. Typically, legislators use earmarks to direct money to a particular organization or project in his/her home state or district. These mandates circumvent the merit-based or competitive allocation process.)
Even the liberal New York Times said that the Club for Growth was distorting Governor Huckabee's record. Last week they wrote an article explaining how the tax increases were used to improve education and infrastructure in Arkansas.
The link to the NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/us/politics/02huckabee.htmlWhy the Governor Raised Taxes
The Arkansas constitution, in a measure that should be lauded by all fiscal conservatives, requires that the state budget be balanced.
More than 90% of the state's budget is spent on education, Medicare, prisons, and human services.
Naturally, cutting spending is always the first response of conservatives, as it was for Governor Huckabee. But that solution is inadequate when there is very little discretionary spending available in the budget.
Unable to resort to deficit spending (as other candidates are able to do), the Arkansas Legislature was forced to raise taxes to pay for infrastructure repair, conservation efforts, court-mandated education expenditures, and unfunded federal mandates.
Governor Huckabee returned almost $400 million to Arkansas taxpayers. He believes it is immoral to take more money from taxpayers than is needed to run the government, and if a surplus occurs because of growth in the economy and good fiscal policy, it should be returned to the people.
He was the first Governor of Arkansas to pass a broad-based tax cut in the history of the state.
He also doubled the standard deduction to $2,000 for individuals and to $4,000 for married couples, as well as the childcare tax credit and eliminated the marriage penalty.
He eliminated the capital gains tax on the sale of a home. He eliminated the state income tax for families below the poverty line.
He reduced the capital gains tax for businesses and individuals.
He indexed the income tax to protect people from paying higher taxes because of "bracket creep."
Governor Huckabee left the state with almost a $1 billion surplus- a state record, setting the stage for further tax reductions. The “Huckabee Surplus” enabled his successor to follow Huckabee’s lead to begin the elimination of the state sales tax on food.
He urged that the surplus should go back to the taxpayers in the form of a rebate or tax cut.
He cut welfare rolls by almost 50 percent.
With respect to the tax and spending that he had under his control, spending rose about six-tenths of one percent a year during his ten-and-a-half year tenure.
Specific Taxes Mentioned in the Attack Ad
Sales Tax Hike (1996): Voters approved 1/8 cent sales tax increase to fund conservation and park services to preserve Arkansas natural and cultural heritage.
Gas and Diesel Fuel Tax Hike (1999): Arkansans supported a 3 cent per gallon fuel tax increase that allowed Arkansas to completely rehabilitate the interstate highway system, changing the interstate system from one of the worst in the country to the best according to Truckers Magazine.
Cigarette Tax Hike (2001): The cigarette tax increase of 25 cents per pack was used to fund state healthcare obligations. Arkansas tobacco taxes are still low, 33rd in the U. S.
Nursing Home Bed Tax (2001): The bed-tax on private nursing home patients was instituted to generate revenue for a nearly 3-to-1 match in federal Medicaid funds. Without this revenue low-income patients would not be able to find beds in nursing homes.
Grocery Tax: Huckabee opposed repeal (2002): This was actually a soft drink tax that Governor Huckabee opposed abolishing because it would drain $168 million from the state's Medicaid budget.
Income Surcharge Tax (2003) – In 2003 there was a temporary increase in the income tax to offset the economic recession our country was facing in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. They were needed for one year, and unlike most “temporary taxes,” Governor Huckabee made sure that the legislature kept its promise to the people that it was eliminated after two years.
Tobacco Tax Hike (2003) – This is the tax from the video clip that the Club for Growth uses in their attack ad. In 2003 the state's chief financial officer projected a $62.3 million revenue shortfall that would result in cuts in state services, possible layoffs, tax increases or the possible repeal of late 1990s tax cuts. The Legislature was presented a series of options and chose to increase the tax on tobacco.
Taxes on Internet Access – Governor Huckabee has always been staunchly opposed to any tax on Internet access.
Beer Tax: Huckabee opposed letting the tax expire (2006) – The tax was used to fund programs for abused and neglected children. Without the tax there would be no funds for those programs.
3 comments:
The Club for Growth's support was critical to Senators' Coburn(OK) and DeMint(SC) election as well as the election of Rep. Jeff Flake(AZ). Your statements about earmarks are false because these men are our national leaders against earmarks.
Mike Huckabee is a lot of things but accountable with taxpayer money isn't one of them. God Bless the CFG.
The Club for Growth is funded by, and operated for, and elite group of wealthy folks…many of which make their living from government contracts and tax dollar expenditures. They use a system of 501c3 and c4’s to hide their large, mostly unregulated contribution as they manipulate the system to throw money to themselves, their friends and associates.
Many of these people making these contributions are making money not from the contract itself…but by servicing the large companies that have the contracts. These contributors provide the commercial rental space or the fleets of vehicles; they do the investment banking and legal work…and in many other ways pull the cream of the top of these massive contacts.
The untold story of the last 10 years is the use of nonprofits to completely hide immense financial contributions that have thwarted tax and governmental law …taking these tax dollars away from their intended targets in order to make these very rich people even richer.
In our own state, Gov Mark Sanford is closely aligned with the Club for Growth (and their contributors). He has received MILLIONS of dollars from these out of state rich people that give not only to the C for G but to his 6 nonprofits (which refuse to disclose their contributors)…and Sanford has sent MASSIVE amounts of state dollars to out of state businesses and consultants. Is any of this surprising?
Huckabee, the supposed “outsider,” has been given the stamp of approval by the ultimate political “insider” organization: the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).(The CFR supports combining the United States, Mexico and Canada into the North American Union, which disolves borders and gives corporations unlimited cheap labor)
In a December 16 interview, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked the candidate who his foreign-policy advisers are. “Well, I have a number of people from whom I get policy,” Mr. Huckabee responded, mentioning by name Frank Gafney, Richard Haass, and John R. Bolton. Two of the three, Haass and Bolton, are members of the CFR. In fact, as Wolf Blitzer pointed out to the CNN audience, Richard Haass is president of the CFR.
Huckabee’s anointing by the CFR was evident before the CNN interview, however. The council clued in its members that Huckabee was an acceptable candidate with a November 9 Washington Post op-ed by CFR Senior Fellow Michael J. Gerson entitled “The Huckabee Difference.” In the article, Gerson complimented Huckabee’s “compassion,” as exemplified by his record of government programs for the poor while he was governor. Gerson is the author of Heroic Conservatism, published by the CFR, which attempts to redefine political conservatism into a philosophical view that promotes government as the solution to poverty, rather than the traditional conservative view that individual charity, private charitable organizations, churches, and the free market are better fitted for assisting and uplifting those in need. Before joining the CFR staff in 2006, Gerson had been a chief policy adviser and speechwriter for President George W. Bush.
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