Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, spoke for about an hour to 75 persons, including some curious Democrats, in Jefferson July 30.
He said his reason for visiting all 99 Iowa counties during this campaign cycle “is to convince you that America is not on the downhill of its greatness, that America can be great again. But it can’t be great again if we don’t make some serious changes.”
Iran nuclear deal: Huckabee is “adamantly opposed” to the Iran nuclear deal. He called the agreement a “blank check” to the Iranian government, “a government that for 36 years has said ‘Death to America’ and said that they would kill us all if they had the chance…. This is a government that has said they would destroy Israel, wipe it off the face of the map. They said they’ve already developed the missiles.”
Huckabee said that pre-conditions to any negotiating with Iran should have included the release of four American hostages held there; and end to rhetoric calling for destroying America; and recognition of Israel as a sovereign state. He said U.S. negotiators should have promised Iran that “our boot will be on your throat for as long as you continue to be this belligerent and uncivilized and act like savages instead of a bunch of people that we can sit down at a table and talk with…. We don’t have to bomb you, we’ll bankrupt you, but you are not going to have a nuclear device and we’re not going to ease up and let the sanctions go away. We’re going to make it tougher. You do not beat a bully by being weak in front of the bully. You beat the bully by being tougher and make the bully end up with his rear end on the ground, not yours. This deal puts our rear end on the ground instead of the bully’s, and it’s a bad deal, bad for America, bad for Israel, bad for the world, and we must rescind it if we cannot stop it.”
Fair tax: Dismantling the IRS is a key point of the Huckabee campaign. He said a new economic policy would benefit those who sweat daily to earn a living, and that the best policy would be a fair tax. A fair tax would replace the federal income tax with a tax at the point of consumption. There would be no withholding from paychecks, but taxes would be paid when goods are purchased.
Huckabee mentioned “illegals,” pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers as being exempt from income tax, but with a fair tax, they would pay also. With a fair tax, citizens would file for an exemption from taxes paid on necessities, rather than filing income tax. “Now, the economic advantage goes to people who are legal, and the economic disadvantage goes to people who aren’t. Does that make more sense to you than punishing people who are doing right, or punishing the people who are doing wrong?…. Our current economy punishes the people who are doing the right thing. We reward the people who are doing the wrong thing. We pass the fair tax, we change those rules, and we bring some common sense back to how to operate the economy,” Huckabee said.
He said imposing the fair tax would take away the incentive for employers to hire illegal workers and for people to work illegally, reducing the number of undocumented persons crossing the U.S. border. He also said he would secure the border within one year of becoming president.
Need moral clarity: “Even if we can fix the economy, even if we can make this a safe and secure world, which we must do, let us not kid ourselves. This country also has to have moral clarity in order to succeed, moral clarity in order for us to prosper. I don’t think you can explain America without an understanding of how God has intervened in this country in the way it was founded and the way it has been sustained over the past 239 years. Folks, we need to once again believe, understand, and honor the God that our forefathers depended upon, for His grace and His intervention that made us a free people. Without that, I don’t think we’ll stand. I’m not sure we can invoke His blessing if we don’t acknowledge His providence. This has to happen in the country. As president, I promise I will not forget where we come from as a nation, and I will not forget how we have to move forward to become great again.”
Other points:
Social security – He would not reduce social security payments in the future. Funding going into Social Security is decreasing because payrolls are decreasing. A fair tax would increase funding for Social Security because all taxes paid would go into the general fund, and Social Security and Medicare would be paid for through the general fund, not dedicated payroll taxes.
National debt – Huckabee would bring back $11 trillion in U.S. capital now in other countries, creating more jobs. He would also sell federal bonds at 1 percent above the current market rate to fund infrastructure improvements using documented U.S. laborers.
Foreign policy – His experience comes from trade missions as governor of Arkansas. He would build the military that is strong enough that no other country would engage the U.S. in a fight.
Education – He would reduce the federal role in education, returning control back to the states, local districts, and parents. The U.S. Department of Education would serve only as a clearinghouse of best practices.
Campaign practices – Huckabee said he would not talk about other candidates, and he challenged Iowans to speak up against negative campaigning. “I can’t stop it, but you can. When a presidential candidate comes to Greene County and they start talking about one of the other candidates, you should just say, ‘Excuse me. I was really thinking about voting for you, that you’re on my list, but I want you to know that you aren’t anymore because I vowed that anyone who would speak ill of another Republican candidate is somebody that absolutely could be written off my list as a person I could possibly support. When candidates hear that from enough people, and people close their votes and their checkbooks to candidates who denigrate the other Republicans in the field, we will have a different atmosphere.”
Health care – Huckabee would dismantle the Affordable Care Act because “it’s all lies.” He would take the same approach to chronic disease as President Kennedy took to the Space Race. Huckabee said there would be cures for cancer, heart disease and diabetes within 10 years of his inauguration.
Abortion – Huckabee would invoke the Fifth Amendment (guarantee due process) and the 14th Amendment (equal protection) to protect unborn babies. “We have to stop the slaughter of innocents.”
