As the 2008 presidential election race begins to heat up many Conservatives find themselves lost in a sea of indecision. While the front runners for the GOP have proven competitive with the likes of Clinton and Obama, Giuliani and Romney's appeal to the Conservative voter is less than 360 degrees strong. Although all candidates have relatively strong fiscally conservative credentials, value voters are left in the dark. With both Romney and Giuliani's weak conviction on topics concerning gay marriage, abortion rights, and the war on terror, many Conservatives find themselves still searching for the candidate who truly represents their beliefs.
Recently while reading through the news on NPR i came across an article concerning Mike Huckabee. Believing that he was a relative no name I read the article out of curiosity. At first i assumed this was just another canidate trying to shave off a few votes from the front runners but quite to the contrary. The article was well written and convinced me that looking further into the Huckabee campaign would be a good idea. I went on you tube to watch him in action only to experience a political satori unlike any conservative awakening i have ever had. "He's gold, pure gold, this guy is the future of the party" i said to myself. Mike Huckabee, two term ex governor of Arkansas, once made famous for losing 110 pounds after being diagnosed with type II diabetes, is the man for the job. First look at his record; you cant find another candidate who's track record correlates more strongly to Classical Conservative values than Huckabee. Hes strong on gay marriage, hes strong on the War on Terror, and hes strong on abortion. What really got me, however, was his position on taxation.
Taxation stands at the very heart of not only our countries formation but of its continuance as a beacon of democracy and free market advocacy. The IRS and federal income tax are both highly unfair and highly ineffectual. The Internal Revenue Service, yet another government program proven to be as useless as it is pointless, has now been challenged by Mike Huckabee. Huckabee, a firm supporter of the Fair Tax, has vowed to end all federal income and payroll taxes, personal federal, corporate federal, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment tax thus shutting the IRS down while replacing the income tax with a consumption tax. Those below the poverty line will not be taxed at all, giving them a hand up out of poverty, while those above the poverty line will be encouraged to buy used, thus producing less waste. There are so many benefits to this form of taxation it would be difficult to voice all of them here.
How do these proposed changes to taxation in the United States correlate to Classical Conservative values? Any reduction in Government interference and intrusiveness into American lives is certainly Classically Conservative, but thats not all, it must also be considered, that the proposed consumption tax will increase fiscal freedom and encourage more actively participatory consumer behavior thus enhancing the market. The most important connection between Huckabees consumer tax and Classical Conservative values though, is by far, the reduction of power incurred by the Government as a result of the tax cut. With less money to spend the government has less spending power thus shrinking the bureaucracy and focusing governments efforts to a smaller sphere of involvement.
Mike Huckabee is undoubtedly the Candidate with the most potential to influence
Government in a way most compatible with Classically Conservative values. If share these values your vote could make a difference. I encourage you all to research this option as well as Huckabees Presidential bid. Huckabee is the real conservative option.
