Vindication is Sweet
It looks like Mike Huckabee hasn't seen the last of the Club for Growth. Last week, Huckabee's PAC, Huck PAC, endorsed one of Congress' most audacious porkers, Rep. Don Young of Alaska, in his primary race. Don Young is being challenged by fiscal conservative Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, who the Club for Growth PAC has endorsed.
Over the past year, the Club for Growth has been criticized by Huckabee and some conservatives for painting the Arkansas Governor as a fiscal liberal. If ever there was proof that that the Club was right from the start, it is this outrageous endorsement of Rep. Young who embodies the worst of the Republican Party's wasteful habits.
Of course, for those who saw Huckabee for the economic liberal he is, this endorsement should not be terribly surprising. Let us take a moment to compare the two politicians:
Government spending under Mike Huckabee increased nearly 50%. Calling Don Young a big spender might be an understatement. The King of Pork oversaw the bloated 2002 Transportation Bill and is responsible for the $223 million "Bridge to Nowhere."
Mike Huckabee was a huge tax-hiker, with the average tax burden in Arkansas increasing 47% over his tenure. Don Young has shown a penchant for tax increases as well. Young recently voted for a tax hike on high-income earners and came out in support of a $1 per gallon increase on gasoline.
Mike Huckabee signed a minimum wage increase as governor and was the only GOP candidate to seek the labor unions' endorsements. Don Young also supported a minimum wage increase, voted for the abominable Card Check bill, which would allow unions to organize without holding secret ballot elections, and was recently endorsed by the AFL-CIO.
Huckabee was the only Republican presidential candidate to refuse to endorse President Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill. Similarly, Don Young voted for the SCHIP bill, and then voted to override the President's veto of the bill.
On the campaign trail, Huckabee demonstrated an antipathy for free trade, expressing doubts about the U.S. trade agreement with South Korea and calling for "fair trade" instead of free trade. Don Young has demonstrated similar protectionist tendencies, voting against NAFTA and free trade agreements with Singapore and Chile.
During the primary, Huckabee spoke enthusiastically about the Farm Bill. Don Young voted for the Farm Bill and voted to override President Bush's veto of the bill.
Now, Mike Huckabee can claim he is a fiscal conservative until he is blue in the face, but that's a lot like claiming Don Young is a fiscal conservative.
PAID FOR BY CLUB FOR GROWTH PAC AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. 202-955-5500.
