McCain and Huckabee
I have been asked alot what I think of Huckabee and McCain, the remaining Republican candidates. So here is my synopsis:
John McCain: On spending we have much in common. He doesn't like earmarks, I think pork spending should be illegal. He thinks tax cuts should be accompanied by spending cuts. I agree. But the bus stops there. McCain first voted against Bush's tax cuts because he thought they favored the rich, since then he has changed his reason for voting against them. I am not fooled. McCain also thinks that Gitmo detainees should be brought to the US and given the right to a fair jury trial that any US citizen would enjoy, with the added benefit of being able to view classified information in their defense. This flies in the face of precedent. Even the treatment they recieve right now flies in the face of precedent. In world war II we hung non-uniformed enemy combatants who could not demonstrate their military rank.
McCain also is against harsh interrogation techniques. Perhaps the terrorists will surrender their knowledge of impending attacks out of the goodness of their hearts. Or perhaps McCain thinks that if we stop waterboarding terrorists, the terrorists will stop torturing and dismembering their captives. On national defense and the war on terror, McCain is extremely weak.
McCain is also for amnesty. Now don't be fooled by his renewed committment to set aside McCain/Kennedy amnesty and build the border fence. If you listen to the nuance of his speech, his plan is to build the fence and then institute McCain/Kennedy amnesty. So, if you are reading this and you are one of our illegal friends south of the border, the time to cross is now. You have nothing to lose, except if McCain is elected you won't be able to go back for your stuff because there will be a fence there. If Hillary or Obama is elected? Hey, mi casa es su casa.
I don't like McCain/Feingold, but I wouldn't not vote for someone because of it. I just think it shows McCain's mindset as a senator, that somehow Government is the answer. Hopefully he will get a good conservative free market vice president to set him straight.
McCain is nominally anti-abortion, but effectively pro-choice. He is one of those 'Abortion is terrible, tragic, I hate it, it should happen as little as possible, but it should be safe, legal, available to all for any reason and the cost should be shared by all Americans' type. By the way, the first part of that quote is directly from Hillary herself.
The worse part about McCain though is his temper, lies, and dirty tricks. What he did to Romney two days before the Florida election by lying about Romney's record on Iraq was terrible. It left a terrible taste in my mouth that won't soon be washed out. McCain is better than Hillary or Obama, but if a good third party candidate comes along..................
Mike Huckabee: Mike is a good guy. He is a nice guy. Somewhat naive, grandious ideas at times, but overall a nice guy. I understand his raising taxes as a governor to a certain extent, but I think his excuses are lame. He, like McCain, seems to have a government is the answer mentality.
He also is kind to prisoners, especially the ones who don't deserve it. But again, that is not something I wouldn't vote for him for. He has signed a pledge saying 'read my lips, no new taxes', but I don't know if we should believe him.
My biggest problem with Huckabee is that he supports the so-called Fair-tax. I have many many issues with this particular pipe dream of 'getting rid of the IRS' that I have discussed to death in many places. If you have any questions about why the fairtax is a terrible idea, let me know. But I don't think he will get it passed, perhaps just in the light enough to finally realize all the problems and kill it.
So Huckabee is ok. Too bad he doesn't have a snowball's chance in Florida of winning. So in the end, the winner is, Hillary. God save the queen. (by the way, this is not an endorsement, I would never vote for Hillary, and in fact, I would vote for the bum on the street corner before I voted for Hillary.)
John McCain: On spending we have much in common. He doesn't like earmarks, I think pork spending should be illegal. He thinks tax cuts should be accompanied by spending cuts. I agree. But the bus stops there. McCain first voted against Bush's tax cuts because he thought they favored the rich, since then he has changed his reason for voting against them. I am not fooled. McCain also thinks that Gitmo detainees should be brought to the US and given the right to a fair jury trial that any US citizen would enjoy, with the added benefit of being able to view classified information in their defense. This flies in the face of precedent. Even the treatment they recieve right now flies in the face of precedent. In world war II we hung non-uniformed enemy combatants who could not demonstrate their military rank.
McCain also is against harsh interrogation techniques. Perhaps the terrorists will surrender their knowledge of impending attacks out of the goodness of their hearts. Or perhaps McCain thinks that if we stop waterboarding terrorists, the terrorists will stop torturing and dismembering their captives. On national defense and the war on terror, McCain is extremely weak.
McCain is also for amnesty. Now don't be fooled by his renewed committment to set aside McCain/Kennedy amnesty and build the border fence. If you listen to the nuance of his speech, his plan is to build the fence and then institute McCain/Kennedy amnesty. So, if you are reading this and you are one of our illegal friends south of the border, the time to cross is now. You have nothing to lose, except if McCain is elected you won't be able to go back for your stuff because there will be a fence there. If Hillary or Obama is elected? Hey, mi casa es su casa.
I don't like McCain/Feingold, but I wouldn't not vote for someone because of it. I just think it shows McCain's mindset as a senator, that somehow Government is the answer. Hopefully he will get a good conservative free market vice president to set him straight.
McCain is nominally anti-abortion, but effectively pro-choice. He is one of those 'Abortion is terrible, tragic, I hate it, it should happen as little as possible, but it should be safe, legal, available to all for any reason and the cost should be shared by all Americans' type. By the way, the first part of that quote is directly from Hillary herself.
The worse part about McCain though is his temper, lies, and dirty tricks. What he did to Romney two days before the Florida election by lying about Romney's record on Iraq was terrible. It left a terrible taste in my mouth that won't soon be washed out. McCain is better than Hillary or Obama, but if a good third party candidate comes along..................
Mike Huckabee: Mike is a good guy. He is a nice guy. Somewhat naive, grandious ideas at times, but overall a nice guy. I understand his raising taxes as a governor to a certain extent, but I think his excuses are lame. He, like McCain, seems to have a government is the answer mentality.
He also is kind to prisoners, especially the ones who don't deserve it. But again, that is not something I wouldn't vote for him for. He has signed a pledge saying 'read my lips, no new taxes', but I don't know if we should believe him.
My biggest problem with Huckabee is that he supports the so-called Fair-tax. I have many many issues with this particular pipe dream of 'getting rid of the IRS' that I have discussed to death in many places. If you have any questions about why the fairtax is a terrible idea, let me know. But I don't think he will get it passed, perhaps just in the light enough to finally realize all the problems and kill it.
So Huckabee is ok. Too bad he doesn't have a snowball's chance in Florida of winning. So in the end, the winner is, Hillary. God save the queen. (by the way, this is not an endorsement, I would never vote for Hillary, and in fact, I would vote for the bum on the street corner before I voted for Hillary.)