TAXES AND IMMIGRATION: RESPONSE TO ROMNEY'S ATTACK ON HUCKABEE ON THE SITUATION ROOM (11/26/07)

Mitt Romney is at it again. This time he's attacking Huckabee, saying that Huckabee is no Reagan. Obviously Romney was always a great admirer of Reagan (NOT) and he was a supporter of Reagan-Bush policies in the '80's (NOT). I will allow Romney to tell you that himself, watch the video below.


MORE RESPONSE:

FISCAL:
Joe Carter wrote an article on Reagan and attacks by club for growth. This is pretty relevant to this blog post as well.

http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004053.html

Quote:

After being elected Governor of California in 1967, Ronald Reagan reneged on a campaign promise and signed into law the single biggest tax increase in the state's history: $1 billion. (At the time, the total state budget was only about $5 billion. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, the increase in today's dollars would be $10 billion.)

If the Club for Growth had been around in 1980, Reagan might not have become President. The influential fiscal conservative group would surely have done everything in their power to prevent the Gipper from gaining the nomination. They would have attempted to derail Reagan's campaign just as they are now doing to Gov. Huckabee.

More Articles on this topic:
An Endorsement of Mike Huckabee: http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004044.html
The CFG's Hypocrisy on Earmarks: http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004079.html
Rebutting NRO's Editorial: http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004093.html
Hucks Army collection of data: http://forum.hucksarmy.com/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=755 (Membership required)
Huckabee vs Romney (Tax Burden): http://forum.hucksarmy.com/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=746 (Membership required)
Huckabee's response on WSJ: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010794
Campaign's response to the Nursing Tax: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_id=563
Hucks Army research on Tax Hike Video: http://forum.hucksarmy.com/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=1667

ON IMMIGRATION: Don't forget Reagan's Amnesty plan of 1986. The border wasn't built under Reagan, nor the illegal immigration situation was solved. I'm not saying that it was a good thing, nor am I saying that Huckabee is going to do the same. I'm just laying out the Reagan record.

There has been a lot of talk about Gov. Huckabee's proposal on allowing children of illegal immigrants who have attended an Arkansas school for at least 3 years and met all academic requirements for graduates to receive an in-state tuition rate for attending any college in Arkansas.

Here is the text of the bill, that didn't pass:
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/ftproot/bills/2005/public/HB1525.pdf

WHEREAS, there are children of undocumented immigrants who have lived in Arkansas most of their lives; and
WHEREAS, most of these children have spent their formative years in Arkansas elementary and secondary schools; and
WHEREAS, many of these children have proven their academic ability by graduating from an Arkansas high school; and
WHEREAS, many of these children are precluded from accessing an affordable college education because they do not qualify for in-state tuition rates or state-supported scholarships; and

WHEREAS, educational opportunities should be offered to all children so they may contribute to the future economic viability of Arkansas,

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
As Engrossed: S3/31/05 S4/11/05 HB1525
04-11-2005 19:35 KAC234
SECTION 1 1. (a) This act shall be known as the “Access to Postsecondary Education Act of 2005”.
(b) Any tuition rate that is granted to residents of Arkansas shall be granted on the same terms to all persons, regardless of immigration status,who have attended a secondary educational institution in Arkansas for at least three (3) years and who have either graduated from an Arkansas high school or received a general education diploma in the state.
(c) In addition to the requirements under subdivision (b) of this section, a student without documented status shall file an affidavit with the state-supported institution of higher education stating that the student has an intent to legalize his or her immigration status.
(d) The Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall promulgate the rules necessary for implementation of this act.

Obviously, this might be a turn off to those who thinks this is amnesty. I beg to differ, because there is a lot of qualifiers for this bill. Gov. Huckabee has not flip-flopped on this issue, nor has rephrased his support in anyway and I admire him for it. Gov. Huckabee has explained the logic behind why he supported this proposal: It is better to encourage people to become tax payers than tax 'takers'.
On the other hand, Act 2210 of 2005 was signed into law by Governor Huckabee. The legislation made it illegal for a driver’s license to be issued to anyone who could not prove legal residency in Arkansas. http://roebuckreport...

Gov. Huckabee is strongly for building the border, also he's against blind amnesty. Here is a very detailed article about Gov. Huckabee's position on immigration on MikeHuckabee.com. I would encourage you look at the other top-tier candidates and you would see that a bunch of these candidates are clearly pandering to far right for votes. I can bet you none of these guys wouldn't do anything different than Huckabee.

UPDATE: Gov. Huckabee has come out with a 9-point Secure America plan. Very strong plan.

I wrote this on another post but I decided to place a copy of it on this post since we are on the topic of immigration:

SIDE NOTE:

How come these conservatives aren't attacking Romney nor Rudy on immigration? Why just Huckabee? I think it's very clear that Rudy was for sanctuary cities in NYC and Thompson has no real record to judge from (so he can pretty much claim anything he wants). Here is Romney's past statements and his record in Massachusetts when it comes to illegal immigration and how he has flip-flopped on this issue (like many others).

Romney Supports McCain-Bush Immigration Bill, Saying They Are "Quite Different" From Amnesty. According to the Boston Globe, in November 2005 Romney spoke "approvingly of efforts by McCain and Bush to solve the nation's immigration crisis, calling them 'reasonable proposals.[Boston Globe, 3/16/07]

Gov. Mitt Romney expressed support yesterday for an immigration program that places large numbers of illegal residents on the path toward citizenship… 'I don't believe in rounding up 11 million people and forcing them at gunpoint from our country,' Romney said. '[T]hose that are here paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process towards application for citizenship, as they would from their home country.[Lowell Sun, 3/30/06]

I really think the conservative media is not doing their job in revealing the past positions of the candidates they like. They know it will hurt their favorite candidate. Recently, Huckabee has become a real threat to the republican establishment and so all of them are all out on him. I hope the American people will see through the usual convoluted politics and get to know Gov. Huckabee for who he truly is.

On a personal note, It takes a lot of our time and energy as volunteer bloggers for Huckabee to respond to all of these unfair charges. I only wish most of these conservative columnists would spend the time in doing proper and fair research.