Mike Huckabee Thinks Fiscal Conservatives And “Libertarians” Are A Threat

And no, not just Ron Paul-style “libertarians” (I’m willing to bet that most of the Ron Paul crowd voted for Obama because they were never really so much about limited government as being anti-war) but actual mainstream fiscal conservatives like those members of, say, The Club for Growth.
From a review of Huckabee’s new book Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That’s Bringing Common Sense Back to America:

In a chapter titled “Faux-Cons: Worse than Liberalism,” Huckabee identifies what he calls the “real threat” to the Republican Party: “libertarianism masked as conservatism.” He is not so much concerned with the libertarian candidate Ron Paul’s Republican supporters as he is with a strain of mainstream fiscal-conservative thought that demands ideological purity, seeing any tax increase as apostasy and leaving little room for government-driven solutions to people’s problems.

Seems to me that Huck needs to review the words of Reagan:

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism… The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.
Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say… But again, I stand on my statement that I think that libertarianism and conservatism are travelling the same path.

Just as I said again and again during the GOP primaries: Huckabee is no friend to conservatism or freedom in general. He is the sort of big-government populist that has been a yoke around the GOP’s neck for too long now.
The path people like Huckabee would have the GOP walk is one that will lead Republicans to be little more than “Democrats Lite.” Or, essentially, the lesser of two evils for those of us in the liberty-minded community.

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  • http://Array Hoss

    You can’t out Liberal a Democrat.

    Word.

    Huck can fade back into obscurity any time now.

  • Neiman

    Whistler: I think you have misunderstood a conversation between myself and HG, it is not our place to judge anyones eternal fate, that is true. We are told to judge their fruits (words and actions) to determine if they are in accord with Scripture, which is to determine if they are of like mind with Christ on the Gospel and His teachings. But, nonetheless, neither of these things were on my mind, I was talking about Christians not joining with people that dislike Huckabee because of his faith by our words, and our willingness as Christians to accept the sincerity of their faith, even if we disagree with them on many issues.

    Bike Bubba: Your comments were excellent!

  • http://truthisrevolutionary.blogspot.com/ James Kuhn

    I had nothing but ridicule, and even mild contempt for Ron Paul during the primaries. I would chuckle wryly when I heard of some Ron Paul zealot hijacking a thread or interjecting what I considered to be wild-eyed, naive politics into intelligent debate. After all, complete non-intervention is irresponsible and dangerous.

    But he, I have come to realize quite late, and other people like Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin know more about the true principles of this country than Barack Obama, John McCain, and most of the presidents of the United States in the past 50 years put together. Has anyone read his book, The Revolution: A Manifesto? (Again, the title was enough to make me sneer – but then I read it) With the exception of a few areas of Paul’s book (which I still consider somewhat ill-conceived), I found him educated – in the classical, superior sense – and cogent.

    We need to either 1) reform the G.O.P. 180 degrees from its ignorance and populism, or 2) build up a new Libertarian party, after wresting it away from the anarchists/liberals, but staying the course of the sinking ship that is the Republican party is not a viable option.

  • robert108

    His premise is social issues like Marriage, Abortion and rampant homosexuality are in fact fiscal conservative issues.

    Only if they’re subsidized by the taxpayers.

  • http://SayAnythingBlog.com The_Whistler_ofnd

    Neiman, I’m not sure it’s my place to judge his Christian Faith. That seems to be about infinity levels above my pay grade.

    However I am fully able to judge his political credentials.

  • http://insanereindeer.blogspot.com/ Kenny

    He is not the liberal you are making him out to be.

    YES. HE IS.

    He’s a pro-amnesty, tax and spend, big government liberal. What the hell good is a Christian who tells people that if they flaunt the law, that they should be rewarded with free tuition for their children and government benefits? Except for his poisition on abortion, I can’t find common ground with him.

  • http://olorinpc.com/ olorinpc

    The Whistler, very well said.

    Neiman, I’m not sure it’s my place to judge his Christian Faith. That seems to be about infinity levels above my pay grade.

    However I am fully able to judge his political credentials.

    Why do we *have* to judge his religion? Whether we share his views or not, I believe the discussion is about how he views fiscal conservatism. Does his religious views even enter into that?

  • http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com/ Bike Bubba

    Huckabee gets a few things right, starting with abortion, home schooling, firearm rights, and the importance of central government services (roads, schools) vs. peripheral things.

    On the flip side, he has raised taxes (we can debate necessary vs. needless elsewhere), and he sees a somewhat more expansive role of government than I (moderately libertarian) do. He’s Bush, but somewhat more socially conservative, really, and able to speak.

    And this one baffles me. I don’t know what he’s saying, except perhaps “I’m still ticked at ‘no new taxes’ conservatives for derailing my chance at challenging Obama.” While I tend to agree with Huckabee that fiscal conservatives were too hard on him (come on, it was court-ordered for the thousandth time!), I don’t think he needs to be moving us into circular firing squad formation, either.

  • brenarlo

    Government interventionism has worked so well in the past…

  • HG

    I think the GOP could get a lot of members back if they kicked Huckabee out of the party.

    I don’t think we have to kick him out, but definitely do not run this guy.

  • Neiman

    Compassionate Conservatism was a terrible flaw with Bush and Huckabee, it was Liberal Repubicanism; but recalling your earlier commensts about Huckabee during the Primaries, wouldn’t you really like his kind out because they are Christian and want to defend conservative Christian moral-spiritual values?

  • robert108

    Real conservatives are already compassionate, since we support individual independence, along with personal, economic, religious and political freedom. President Bush was trying to pander to the Dems with that expression. Wasteful social spending isn’t “compassion”.

  • http://truthisrevolutionary.blogspot.com/ James Kuhn

    Rob: Thank you for this piece. It is hard to believe! I was a strong supporter of Huckabee back when I counted myself among the GOP. (His amnesty would have been made irrelevant by the passing of the FairTax.) But if he truly said that, he is no friend of conservatives and libertarians.

    Mike Liberty Peterson and you are both right. All pure libertarians would have voted for Barr or Baldwin (or McCain to truly oppose Obama). But the Libertarian Party does have a traditional element of disguised liberals and anarchists.

    Bike Bubba: Your recent post was quite nice.

  • robert108

    BB: You get my point, then. I regard Huck as trying to intrude God into Caesar’s realm. I happen to regard it as inappropriate to try to impose any religion politically.
    To me, the reason to keep govt theft to a minimum has nothing to do with the Bible; it’s just good for the country.
    To me, individual independence is the worldly equivalent to personal salvation. They are both based on the same principle.

  • robert108

    BB: “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s; render unto the Lord what is the Lord’s.”

  • http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com/ Bike Bubba

    Wait a second, Hungry Bear. Huckabee voters were somewhat populistic and strongly pro-life. No way they were going to vote for a big business, late to pro-life candidate like Romney. Maybe they would have gone more to Thompson or Duncan Hunter, but not Romney.

    Again, y’all, no need to set up a polish firing squad here. Huckabee was weak on some metrics of fiscal conservatism, no doubt about it. Weak as well on immigration–or at least changing his mind. But no need to alienate those who supported him here. Just enunciate why fiscal conservatism is the only possible political application of Exodus 20, which contains the 10 Commandments. “Thou Shalt not Steal” and “Thou shalt not covet” pretty much rejects the Democratic platform, no?

  • Danny Phelps

    Huckabee is only a conversative when it comes to social issues. Huck loves government intervention into many areas of our lives such as childhood obesity. He believes the state can stamp this out just by weighing AR school children every so often and sending a piece of paper home with the kid that tells the parent whether they are fat or not. The program is a big waste of time and money, but it made Huck feel good and its not his money so what does he care. Huck and “conversatives” like him deplore govt. power for the Dems, but love it for themselves. Huck rejects liberatarian’s because they deplore military interventions in areas of no national interest to the U.S. Since this policy apparently would result in some harm to Israel – Huck rejects it. Huck was a baptist preacher at one time in his life, but he loves death and lying. Until the GOP cleanses itself of people like Huck and McCain it will not win many more elections.

  • HG

    It seems to me that it is Huckabee that is trying to alienate some voters by identifying them as a “threat”.

  • robert108

    The Liberaltarians aren’t going to lead anybody anywhere, IMO. They’re all talk and no action. They are paralyzed by their moral relativity.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/realitybasedbob/ realitybasedbob

    Give a man a fish and you need to give him another one every day, he depends on you to eat.

    Pretty sure my man Jesus gave em fish. Bread too.

    What’s Huck’s stance on the fish issue?

  • blakmira

    RE: “most of the Ron Paul crowd voted for Obama because they were never really so much about limited government as being anti-war”

    Hunh??? Any true supporter of Ron Paul in that “crowd” understands fully well how Obama is pro-war. Dr. Paul spoke many times about how Obama was really no different than McCain in many respects and he pushed for a third party vote from his supporters.

    Those that did vote for Obama were still stuck in the “third party is a wasted vote” (when many of these people wouldn’t have voted at all otherwise) and the “lesser of 2 evils” propaganda specifically designed to keep the 2 major parties in power.

    P.S. Perhaps you’re also unaware that Chuck Norris has come out publicly in interviews that he now supports Ron Paul’s philosophy and is starting to see the error of his thinking when supporting Huckabee.

  • Wing Chun Geologist

    Sounds like Huckabee would prefer that I register and vote Libertarian in the next election.

  • Jerry

    Tax. Spend. Interfere. Mismanage. Political Posturing. Pandering to special interest. Pandering to the poor. Naive Incompetence.
    This is where our government is today. Both parties.
    Pushing your Religion is another form of pandering.
    Until Republicans start standing for something more than the same principals Democrats do, why vote for a Republican? You can’t out Liberal a Democrat.

  • Hungry Bear

    I don’t know what he’s saying, except perhaps “I’m still ticked at ‘no new taxes’ conservatives for derailing my chance at challenging Obama.”

    I’m still mad at the Huckster for drawing just enough votes away from Romney to allow McCain to get the nomination. Romney would have been able to articulate what went wrong with the economy and what needed to be done to fix it in ways McCain was never able to.

    It was Huckleberry’s fault that our choice back on election day was between a liberal and a socialist.

    It’s Huckleberry’s fault that we’re going to have a socialist for president.

  • keleka

    This Ron Paul supporter voted for McCain. Additionally, the more I learn of Huckabee, the more impressed I am with his ability to lead.

  • http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

    I think the GOP could get a lot of members back if they kicked Huckabee out of the party.

    His brand of Republicanism, this “compassionate conservatism,” is what led the GOP to election day losses.

    Isn’t Huck one of these RINO’s some of us are complaining about? I am not excited about him as a presidential candidate because he is pretty liberal. Only good thing about him is his stance on guns.

  • Hungry Bear

    Nothing says: We’re a Big Tent Party, more than compassion not welcome here.

    But missplaced compassion can do more harm than good. There were a lot of people in favor of expanding welfare back in the 60s and 70s. It was a compassionate idea.

    It was also a bad idea. It promoted irresponsible behavior, and led directly to much of this country being colonized by urban street gangs.

    America would be a much better country today if the “best and brightest” minds of the 60s and 70s looked toward solutions that reward hard work, delayed gratification, and individual responsibility.

  • http://larryperrault.blogspot.com/ Larry Perrault

    I thought I got enough of this nonsense during the primaries: All of that, “Huckabee’s not a conservative crap. I supported Huckabee from before he announced his candidacy. Yes, I’m socially conservative. But, I was a fiscal and foreign policy conservative before social conservatives existed.

    Huckabee opposed all of this commercial bailout stuff from the beginning and has never waivered. It’s no big surprise to me. I always knew he was more of a fiscal conservative than Romney or Thompson, who attacked him as otherwise for political reasons. Huckabee always found that ironic and a new one. The Club for Growth’s year-long campaign was a mercenary one to pay off some of their biggest donors; a few were Romney partisans and 1 was an Arkansas billionaire who had a stick in his wealthy craw because Huckabee hadn’t suitably hopped to (read: kissed butt) on a pet project.

    If you are a scrupulous conservative, maybe you have had some problems as I have with John McCain. Fred Thompson was one of McCain’s best bussies in The Senate, and a co-sponsor of McCain-Feingold. Mitt Romney ran left of Ted Kennedy on a lot of issues in their Senate race, and as Mass governor proposed and implemented a state health insurance mandate. As governor he also massively increased fees, though he avoided raising taxes and pardoned NO ONE (0), already having in mind to run for the Republican presidential nomination.

    Yes, Huckabee signed some tax increases as Arkansas governor. They rebuilt a dilapidated highway system and upgraded the school system. That’s what state governments do and they don’t pay for it with money from gum machines. Arkansas was way behind the times on both and both improved from the bottom 10% to the top 10% in the country.

    Instead of reacting like seals to fish that people throw, some people just need to do their homework and take a good look at the record.

  • http://insanereindeer.blogspot.com/ Kenny

    See what I have been saying HG, not one word about Huckabee’s sincere Christian faith and his being worthy of respect for having strong Judeo-Christian moral-spiritual values and his willingness to be ridiculed for his faith?

    Why must one honor their opponents before attacking their ideas. Except for his position on abortion, I see NOTHING positive about Huckabee, and find him to be a liberal.

  • http://olorinpc.com/ olorinpc

    looked toward solutions that reward hard work,
    delayed gratification, and individual responsibility.

    I couldn’t agree more… however our elected officials seem to think that “bailouts” and “economic stimulus” are more important than “responsibility.”

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/realitybasedbob/ realitybasedbob

    Nothing says: We’re a Big Tent Party, more than compassion not welcome here.

    I think it’s a winner and Palin is your candidate.

  • Mike Liberty Peterson

    This is definately an older article by Huckabee but yeah. As a Ron Paul republican, I must say that I voted for McCain/Palin largely on my abortion stance. As for your bet that most of us voted for Obama, I would have to respectfully disagree…. Being in the Paul camps in the GOP Iowa Caucus races, one of the biggest things we did for entertainment was make fun of the Obama campaign and its message of (baby-killing) “hope and change.” I think it’d be more accurate to say- knowing my Paul peeps- we were split down the middle with voting for (mCain)-Palin and Conservative third parties such as the Constitution and Libertarian Party.

    http://i33.tinypic.com/2h4b2aq.jpg
    (photo of me and Dr. Paul)

  • http://olorinpc.com/ olorinpc

    Hungry Bear… it is that line of thinking (that Rob quotes from Huckabee) that is the exact reason I left the GOP.

    The concept of smaller government and fiscal responsibility have become dirty words. Yes I went to the Libertarians… but primarily for the reasons of personal responsibility, fiscal responsibility, and smaller government.

    It angers me to think that the GOP leaders now view this as a bad thing… makes me really wonder if there is hope for the GOP.

  • Pfeh

    Careful Rob, Chuck Norris is on Huckabee’s side. And you’ve seen “Walker”, right? ;)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDUQW8LUMs8

  • http://olorinpc.com/ olorinpc

    Rob, I think you are right… to a point. What the GOP needs to go to get people back (and “get the younger people” as they talk about) is to actually kick all of the “compassionate conservatives” out of party positions of power.

    No body believes the republican brand anymore because the actions make the rhetoric a joke. That is why they got trompted in this last election.

  • HG

    Huck is no conservative. I like the guy, but I don’t want him representing conservatism. He needs to stay out of the elected office.

  • http://northerngleaner.blogspot.com/ Gene

    I heard Mike in an hour long interview on Medved.

    He is not the liberal you are making him out to be.

    He is not saying what has been represented him to be saying. Get a good summation of what he says in his book and in interviews.

    His premise is social issues like Marriage, Abortion and rampant homosexuality are in fact fiscal conservative issues. I agree with him. I won’t embarrass you by stating the obvious but what does it cost our country and out tax dollars to deal with the results of a flawed education system, aborted babies that aren’t carrying the Social Security Load, Aids, and other things.

    I am waiting to get all the information before UNLIKE other commenters here I prepare to push Mike under the bus.

  • Neiman

    I don’t think we have to kick him out, but definitely do not run this guy.

    See what I have been saying HG, not one word about Huckabee’s sincere Christian faith and his being worthy of respect for having strong Judeo-Christian moral-spiritual values and his willingness to be ridiculed for his faith? No, you just join the enemies of Christ and you have nothing good to say about a fellow Christian. Reject his more liberal, false compassion that is not good for the party, sure; but why not a good word for the man? Or, is your silence because you really despise his faith?

  • Hungry Bear

    As someone who really couldn’t care less all the morality issues (gays, abortion, South Park, Playboy, wardrobe malfunctions), what makes me a conservative is my desire to see government kept small and taxes low.

    It sounds like Huckabee wants to kick me out of the GOP

  • Neiman

    Hungry Bear: Quite right, misplaced compassion is cruel and does more harm than good. It would have been far better had welfare been tied to mandatory job skills education, and a set course wherein each person within a set time frame worked themselves off welfare and made posiitive contributions to society. That would have left true compassion for the truly needy, unable to care for themselves.

    Give a man a fish and you need to give him another one every day, he depends on you to eat. Teach him how to fish, give him the tools to fish and proper incentive (no more free fish) and he will feed himself and his famiuly for a lifetime, sell fish to others that are hungry and contribute to society. Otherwise, all you have is a bunch of lazy, fishy smelling welfare [edited by the Whistler, no apology] s on a government plantation.

  • http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com/ Bike Bubba

    Actually, Matthew 22:21 reads this way:

    They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

    But that’s somewhat beside the point; what I’m doing by citing Exodus 20 is to simply note that if Christians desire to apply Biblical principles to government–as any voter ought to be voting for his most cherished principles, wherever they come from–they need to understand that voting to take one man’s property for their own use qualifies as theft and covetousness.

    See what I’m getting at here? Directing a Biblical argument to religious voters hardly qualifies as trying to establish a theocracy, and quite frankly, addressing the Decalogue to the issue of fiscal profligacy ought to unite two groups that, unfortunately, seem to be (again) gearing up for that circular firing squad.

    To, of course, the detriment of both factions.

  • http://www.bikebubba.blogspot.com/ Bike Bubba

    First Kathleen Parker, now it’s Mike Huckabee lining us up for a polish firing squad to get rid of the problems with the GOP….yeesh. If they succeed, next time Obama won’t need ACORN to help him out…..

  • robert108

    I don’t consider buying votes with other peoples’ money to be anything resembling “compassion”. It’s more like “theft”.

  • http://olorinpc.com/ olorinpc

    robert108 – bingo. Nice way of putting it.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com robport

    Hunh??? Any true supporter of Ron Paul in that “crowd” understands fully well how Obama is pro-war. Dr. Paul spoke many times about how Obama was really no different than McCain in many respects and he pushed for a third party vote from his supporters.

    which is why there aren’t really a lot of people who take Ron Paul all that seriously.

    PS: I don’t care what Chuck Norris thinks about much of anything.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com robport

    I think the GOP could get a lot of members back if they kicked Huckabee out of the party.

    His brand of Republicanism, this “compassionate conservatism,” is what led the GOP to election day losses.

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