Just the Facts, Please
Huckabee Needs to Check his Facts
Washington – When asked about the Club for Growth by CBS News’ Brian Goldsmith, Mike Huckabee accused the Club for Growth of “dishonesty,” but—surprise, surprise—didn’t actually provide any facts to back up his allegations.
CBSNews.com: Do you think that the people who run the Club for Growth care more about themselves than the country?
Mike Huckabee: I am not going to judge their motives, because I do not know what they are. I just know that their tactics are, frankly, despicable...Why they do that is something they will have to explain. But I think the dishonesty about the issues, and how they distort and misuse them, is very troubling. And they have to answer for that.
Unfortunately, it is Mike Huckabee that has resorted to dishonesty on the campaign trail, and the Club for Growth PAC is merely setting the record straight.
FALSEHOOD #1: Huckabee consistently blames his 1999 gas and diesel fuel tax hikes on Arkansas voters. He told Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” when he announced his candidacy, “Did we raise taxes on fuel? Yes, but 80% of the people voted on it because it was on the ballot.” He repeated this same canard on MSNBC this week, saying, “there were issues like a road program that 80% of the people in my state voted for,” and again in his CBS News interview: “And when we have burning issues, like a crumbling infrastructure of roads and bridges that I've inherited and I take it to the people and get an 80% vote for a highway program, I think that shows good management” (CBS News, 11/02/07).
TRUTH: While Huckabee’s initial tax increase proposal was contingent on voter approval, the tax hike that Huckabee actually signed was not at all dependent on voter approval. A totally separate measure providing for a $575 million bond issue was contingent on voter approval. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette made this clear, writing, contrary to Huckabee’s claims, that “the tax increases will stay whether voters approve the bond issue or not” (04/25/99). Huckabee is intentionally and dishonestly conflating the bond issue, which did require voter approval, with the gas tax increase, which did not.
FALSEHOOD #2: “I have always staunchly opposed any tax on Internet access. I am adamantly opposed, always have been. For them to say anything otherwise is an outright lie” (National Review Online, 10/30/07).
TRUTH: In 2004, Huckabee teamed up with Democratic Governors Jim Doyle of Wisconsin and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania in opposing the ban and asking Congress “to reject a proposed permanent extension of the Internet access tax moratorium and instead embrace a temporary two-year extension of the ban” (Bond Buyer, 02/24/04).
“We believe we have a responsibility to educate the public about the economic records of the various presidential candidates,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “When a candidate like Huckabee persists in denying his tax increases or distorting the historical truth about his record, we feel strongly that we need to set the record straight on behalf of taxpayers across America.”
PAID FOR BY CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. 202-955-5500.
