Huckabee: The Anti-Libertarian
Former Arkansas Governor and GOP Presidential Candidate, Mike Huckabee recently raised the ire of libertarians by calling libertarianism “not an American message,” stating libertarianism was a “soulless type of economic conservatism” and a threat to Republicanism.
LP spokesman Andrew Davis responded with-
“Huckabee is right that Libertarianism is a threat to Republicanism. The Republican Party, with the help of people like Sen. John McCain, has done nothing but increase the scope and power of government while throwing fiscal responsibility to the wind. It’s the ‘compassionate conservatism’ touted by people like Huckabee, McCain and President Bush that has caused a soaring national debt and a society where prisons are overflowing because of Republican ‘compassion.’ Libertarianism is unquestionably the American message because libertarianism is the only political message that empowers the American people by giving them more control over their lives and their wallets. Huckabee proves once again that there is very little difference in the messages of Republicans and Democrats, and shows that McCain and Obama might as well be running in the same political party.”
Michael Freeman at TheLedger.com purports that Mike Huckabee is a “good reflection of a polar opposite to [the libertarian] message.
As Arkansas’ governor, Huckabee wasn’t shy about raising taxes to fund social programs, including programs for the state’s poorest residents in areas like education and health care. He’s been equally active on social issues, calling for constitutional amendments to ban abortion and gay marriage. Huckabee is a strong believer in the power of government to help people economically by the redistribution of wealth and the allocating of taxpayer money for spending programs, and to change the culture through nation bans.
Self-proclaimed libertarian Glenn Beck stated this during his recent interview with Bob Barr-
“Do you think the problem is- with Republicans is that they got tied up into the compassionate conservative thing? I don’t even know what that means. Is that an admission that conservatives are not compassionate? I think the most compassionate thing you can do is let a man fail… let a man find himself…let a man pull himself up by the bootstraps. That used to be something that was admired in this country. Now it is not.”
In my opinion, what’s truly “un-American” is a tax-burden over 50% and government-enforced redistribution of wealth. If Mr. Huckabee wishes to have a long term prominent position within the GOP he would be advised to fall in line and spew empty rhetoric about traditionally conservative libertarian ideas.
