The Triangle

Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: David P. Gilkey Detroit Free Press/MCT Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee speaks during the GOP presidential debate in Dearborn, Michigan on Oct. 9, 2007.

The presidential candidates for the Republican Party gathered for a debate on Nov. 28. The debate added little to the public's understanding of the issues and the solutions that this country needs.

Candidates seemed more concerned with attacking each other than talking about the issues; and even when they did that it was a scramble to see who could be the toughest guy on the stage, not the candidate with the best plan for the country.

As Giuliani and Romney exchanged personal attacks, Mike Huckabee silently maneuvered into the top spot in the Iowa polls and is quickly gaining in national polls. The former Arkansas governor has appealed to voters with a Chuck Norris endorsement and by billing himself as the "true conservative" in the Republican presidential field.

However, as Huckabee's campaign gains ground, he has created some controversy.

Huckabee loves to talk about his record on cutting taxes "almost 94 times" while he was governor of Arkansas. What he forgets to mention is that he also raised taxes 21 times. Although he didn't raise taxes as many times as he cut them, the net result was that taxes were raised more than they were cut. Huckabee left office with a net tax increase. The tax cuts Huckabee points at are very specific taxes of relatively small amounts that totaled $378 million in savings for the people of Arkansas. However, the 21 times he raised taxes totaled a net increase of an estimated $505 million.

He defended his tax increases by saying that 80 percent of the people in Arkansas voted in increase taxes for highways, but he again fails to give the full story. As governor he increased the taxes without voter approval, and then campaigned against sending the proposal to voters, until finally settling on a proposal that would increase taxes whether it met with the approval of Arkansas voters or not. It is nice to see a Republican that understands that raising taxes can sometimes be important and necessary to improve state services. Although these taxes may have benefited the people of Arkansas, it begs the question of why Huckabee cannot be honest about his record.

He's also flaunting his support for the "Fair Tax" which, according to Huckabee would alleviate the federal government's bureaucratic regulations on the current tax system. He would do this by "abolishing the IRS," but he has continuously failed to mention that he would replace it with another big bureaucracy. His plan would eliminate the IRS, but would create a "Sales Tax Bureau" in the Department of Treasury. The bipartisan Advisory Panel on Tax Reform studied the Fair Tax and rejected it, saying: "The federal administrative burden for a retail sales tax may be similar to the burden under the current system." The fact is that although Huckabee is claiming one thing, his plan would require an equally large bureaucracy to deal with another complex tax code. Again his honesty is called into question.

There are questions about his ethics too. In his first campaign for governor of Arkansas he used his campaign funds to pay himself as his own media consultant and pay a babysitter. When he was finally elected in 1996, he appointed big campaign donors to prestigious posts in the Arkansas state government. It's a practice that has become more common for political leaders, but does that mean it is right? President Bush appointed friends and big donors to political posts, and it had disastrous consequences in the case of Hurricane Katrina. Do we want to have another president that cares more about money than appointing qualified professionals to lead important government organizations?

More questions were left unanswered when Huckabee left office this past year. Before leaving office he carted out the governor's office furniture, and ordered the destruction of over 100 computer hard drives, using $13,000 in state funds to do it. It left many asking what exactly Mike Huckabee was trying to hide.

Several journalists in Arkansas have accused the former governor of bullying reporters that dared to look into his record or question or criticize him. In an almost childish response to newspapers that printed critical material of the governor, his office stopped sending them press releases, no notices of press conferences, and would not respond to their questions.

He also attempted to intimidate a whistleblower in his administration when they leaked information about how Huckabee claimed public money for personal expenses such as dry cleaning bills, panty hose, and meals at Taco Bell. He might have even claimed $70,000 of furniture if the Arkansas Times didn't break the story and show how it violated ethics laws. Huckabee has been sanctioned five times by Arkansas' Ethics Commission, while dodging nine more ethics complaints. The five sanctions total more than $81,000 in unreported campaign gifts and donations.

Mike Huckabee has so far managed to charm many in the national press, but it's clear that many have simply not looked back at his record. Mike Huckabee is a smart Republican and a savvy politician, and although you may think he's telling you the whole truth, remember that there might just be more to it than Huckabee wants us to know. He may be a charming and funny guy, but there are some serious questions about Huckabee's honesty and ethics.

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