Why I Like Mike

The following is a letter from Huck's Army Assistant State Coordinator Joanne Laurent:

I am seeking a few minutes of your time to consider the future of our country. I have spent hours personally compiling this research and I hope you will at least scroll the bold headings and read about any specific issues I’ve addressed that are of importance to you.

I’m asking for your support of Mike Huckabee for president. I Like Mike because, first and foremost, I trust him. He stands for his principles and his politics are not swayed by big money special interest groups. He is honest regarding his positions and is the best candidate to re-unite our currently polarized political parties and states of America. His diplomacy, common sense and mediation skills will be effective both domestically when negotiating with congress & the senate, as well as in foreign affairs. He has the leadership skills that will inspire all Americans to work together for a better America.

Mike Huckabee is of superior intelligence and problem-solving ability. He will use common sense solutions to problems that have been plaguing us for years. His attackers from the news media are representing special interest groups who stand to lose their ability to continue keeping us oppressed under Huckabee’s presidency. His no-nonsense solutions will force them to come clean and they‘re scared silly.

This is such an important election. I’ve never been interested in politics but I’ve watched in horror as our freedoms have been slowly eroded and I felt that I must get involved or be enslaved. I invite you to dig deeper than the current news talk shows and carefully investigate Huckabee’s record. I believe you will find him to be the best man to lead us back to a great and wonderful America.

BEYOND THE NEWS AND THE DEBATES

FACTS ABOUT HUCKABEE THAT I HAVE PERSONALLY RESEARCHED OUTSIDE HIS OWN WEBSITE

2005 Named Public Official of the Year (Headline in Nov, 2005 issue of Governing’s):

“Strong and Strategic Leadership”

Time Magazine named him One of Nation’s Best Governors.

Named: Distinguished Public Health Legislator of the Year. (According to the American Public Health Association, who presented the award, Huckabee was recognized because he “has been a leader in improving the health care for the citizens of Arkansas for many years.”

Recipient of the 2006 AARP Impact Award. This award is given to “10 honorees who did something extraordinary to make the world a better place,”

Honored by Government Technology Magazine

Selected by his colleagues as Chairman of National Governor’s Association

During his long tenure as governor…

Welfare rolls declined by almost half! (Wikipedia)

State economy grew 4.4% beating the national average of 4.2%. (Time Magazine Nov, 13, 2005)

“Huckabee has approached his state’s troubles with energy and innovation.” (Time Nov. 13, 2005)

He has been praised for making children’s health care a high priority. Children without medical insurance fell from 18% to 9%. (Time Magazine)

According to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit fiscal policy research group, Arkansas ranked right in the middle of the nation in measurement of tax burden per capita (CNNMONEY Oct 4, 2006).

FOR:

Supports protecting personal property – eminent domain.

Supports legislation to protect citizens who use deadly force in self-defense against criminal prosecution and civil liability. Huckabee supports 'castle doctrine' law (meaning a man’s home is his castle). (Thursday, Jan 5, 2006 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau)

Protection of the most vulnerable citizens. “Huckabee initiated one of the nation’s most effective programs of insurance coverage for children and has led other governors in seeking to deal with Medicare costs” (Governing’s November 2005 issue).

Protecting the environment

AGAINST:

Racism

Centralized power

Gun Control

FOR THOSE WHO QUESTION HIS FISCAL SPENDING

His opponents have attacked him for tax increases in spite of the fact that he cut over 94 taxes in his state. He was named one of America’s best governors and was re-elected not just once, but twice! In spite of his popularity and impeccable record governing, I’d like to address the tax increase issues to put them to rest.

1). Tax increases were voter approved. During his tenure tax increases were not sneakily passed using deceitful methods, (like they do in my state) but rather, were the result of open and honest discussion and voting. The people of Arkansas loved the way he managed the state. While Huckabee is a strong supporter of stimulating the economy through relieving tax burdens and encouraging free market competition, states still need money to run effectively and provide programs that are desired by the citizens. Also, there were unexpected budget crisis during his tenure as a result of 911 attacks as well as Hurricane Katrina (which his record shows he did a spectacular job of rallying the troops and implementing a smooth-operating method of taking in thousands of flood victims. “That first week after Hurricane Katrina, somewhere between 60,000 and 75,000 evacuees arrived “(Wall Street Journal Sept. 22, 2005).

2). Welfare: “Throughout his tenure as Governor, welfare rolls declined by nearly half and during his last year in office the state's economy grew 4.4%, beating the national average of 4.2%.[121] (Wikipedia).

3). School quality in Arkansas went from ranking below the national average to a high ranking of 8th best in the nation during his tenure. Wow! That’s phenomenal!

I found article after article about the wonderful school achievements under Huckabee’s tenure. He implemented the Smart Start, Smart Step & Next Step programs significantly raising test scores. He believes in “higher standards, tough testing, and strong accountability” (Huckabee-From Hope to Higher Ground). He promotes financial transparency, school and teacher accountability and rewarding excellent teachers. However, he also recognizes that a teacher’s job security should not solely “depend on the performance of a bunch of seventeen-year-old kids on any given Friday night” (p. 47). In addition to raising the bar of teacher expectations, Huckabee supports holding parents and the students accountable for their educational success. (Huckabee- From Hope to Higher Ground).

SCHOOLS BEFORE HUCKABEE: “As Arkansas falls behind the rest of the nation in teacher salaries, public school funding, and …” (McNally, Casey: Charting a New Law for Charter Schools in Arkansas).

POST-HUCKABEE SCHOOLS “Arkansas placed eighth in the nation in Quality Counts, the annual report by Washington-based Education Week that ranks the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on education policies and student achievement. Overall, the state earned an 80.5 (B-minus), fewer than five points behind topscoring New York, which had an 84.9 (B). Quality Counts 2008 was released today.” (Arkansas Dept. of Education, Jan 9, 2008)

4). Gas Tax: The voters voluntarily approved a gas tax increase for the purpose of improving roads. Here’s the result: “Arkansas roads ranked at the top of Overdrive Magazine’s “Worst Roads list in 1999 and our Most Improved list in 2004.” (Overdrive, January 2008 - Viewpoint by Linda Longton).

5). “Did you know Arkansas has a Revenue Stabilization Law, which prevents deficit spending?” (DFA Arkansas Dept. of Finance & Administration – Office of Budget—Facts about Arkansas FY05)

EXAMPLES OF WAGE INCREASES

Faulkner County Wages have increased by 13.1% Since 2001 (U.S. Department of Labor - Faulkner County, Arkansas, Friday, March 09, 2007)

Benton County Wages have increased by 24.4% Since 2001

(U.S. Department of Labor – Benton County, Arkansas, Friday March 09, 2007)

LITTLE MONEY - BIG ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In the Iowa caucuses, Romney spent a whopping $ 322.58 per vote while Huckabee got better results with only $ 47.44 per vote (The Huffington Post Jan. 12, 2008). With this kind of fiscal talent and good stewardship of finances imagine what he can do with social benefit programs!

Another example of big things Huckabee can do with little money comes from learning about how he quickly he reacted with innovative crisis-management techniques. He jumped right in to help and adeptly handled an unusually large influx of Hurricane Katrina victims. Mike Huckabee is a proven leader. He’s a leader who can unite people to work together for the common good and make great things happen that benefit everybody.

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a taxpayer group that opposes federal and state tax increases, voted Huckabee as its Friend of the Taxpayer. (Wikipedia) “Governor promises to protect the wallets of American taxpayers” WASHINGTON, D.C. –“ Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR), who is seeking the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, signed the Presidential Taxpayer Protection Pledge on Friday” (Americans for Tax Reform website www.atr.org

TAX INCREASE FACTS

Bed Tax: Huckabee has been criticized by his opponents (not by citizens of Arkansas) for raising nursing home tax. This was a federal matching program that generated more dollars… a very smart move.” It is true, as Huckabee said, that the industry strongly supported the measure. The president of the Arkansas Health Care Association said the group was "ecstatic" that the governor signed the bill into law, according to the Democrat-Gazette. Huckabee had vetoed a bill that would have raised the funds through a tax on tobacco products. Huckabee also told Fox News that the bed tax "increased the quality of care by increasing the staffing requirements." (Facts Check “ Huckabee's Fiscal Record”)

November 21, 2007). Arkansas Health Care Association President Jim Cooper stated the private nursing home tax was necessary in order to avert future huge tax increases as a result of years of mismanagement.[126] (Wikipedia).

Schools: “It is true that in November 2002 the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the state's funding of its public schools violated the equal protection clause in the Arkansas Constitution. Public schools in poorer parts of the state were being underfunded. The court gave the state until Jan. 1, 2004, to correct the problem. So Huckabee is correct in claiming that he was under a court order to increase public school funding. (Facts Check “Huckabee’s Fiscal Record” Nov. 21, 2007). Please see information about the amazing improvement in schools during his tenure.

Gas Tax: He has been criticized by opponents for raising gas tax. This was voter-approved by special election .

“Voters increased their own gas taxes to fund long-overdue highway repairs in 1999.” This vote overwhelmingly passed 64% to 36%. (Best Governor article – Time Magazine 11/13/05 by John Cloud).

CONCLUSION

Imagine taking a shovel full of mud and flinging it on a freshly painted, white wall. It takes only one second to splatter mud all over that white wall. But it might take several hours to clean off all spots of mud that were splattered. I have attempted to clean the parts of Huckabee’s wall that seem to be of most importance to you within a space that you can reasonably be expected to spend the time reading. The slanderous statements made against Huckabee by his unscrupulous opponents can best be combated by conscientious voters who take the time to research and investigate the facts. I encourage you as concerned citizens to research anything that you find questionable and encourage the same of your friends. “Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.” Ronald Reagan

Please visit www.mikehuckabee.com for more information.

If you would like to help our grassroots efforts visit www.huckabeemeetup.com to find (or start) a group near you.

I will be starting a Pullman MeetUp group very soon.