TPM: Huckabee: Eliminate Government Unions And Slash Entitlements For Poor Public Servants Like Me

Huckabee: Eliminate Government Unions And Slash Entitlements For Poor Public Servants Like Me

Brian Beutler | February 24, 2011, 8:00AM

At an elegantly catered tea-time roundtable fête with reporters Wednesday afternoon, likely Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said public sector unions ought to be entirely eliminated, or hamstrung to limit worker benefits and influence over elected officials. During the same session, though, he admitted that a life of public service, and running for public office, has left him without a sizable nest egg. In fact, he acknowledged that he wants to delay a final decision about the presidential campaign so he can put away more of the big-time private sector money he's currently making.

But just before offering a candid assessment of his own finances, Huckabee endorsed two policy measures -- Social Security benefit cuts, and the privatization of Medicare -- that would erode the safety net for public workers and others of modest means.

"It's time to consider raising the retirement age for Social Security and changing the rules of Medicare," Huckabee said. "I think there's gotta be a revamp, maybe looking at voucher programs to put more control in the hands of the individual patients."

When you sum it all up, Huckabee's broad policy goal seems to be to limit state-government spending by holding down public sector wage growth, making it harder for government workers to create a cushion for themselves before they fall into a weakened safety net. And this new paradigm has to be implemented before he'll engage in a discussion about raising taxes on anybody -- to strengthen entitlements or other anti-poverty programs. "You can't even talk about it," Huckabee said. "Don't even bring it up."

Mike Huckabee's $3 million home on the beach in Walton County

DECEMBER 08, 2010

Potential Republican candidate for president Mike Huckabee is building a huge $3 million home on the beach in Walton County.

The Arkansas Times reported that the building permit for the three-story house lists the projected cost of construction at $2.2 million. This is in addition to the cost of the land, which Walton County most recently appraised at $853,062. The home will have 8,224 square feet of living space, and 2,969 square feet of porch and deck space.

Why Florida? Well, it's nicer than Arkansas (so we think) and Florida also lacks an income tax. Not that Huckabee mentioned the tax break, telling the Walton Sun he simply liked the area and that it'll be easy to fly to New York for his tv show.

"I can order grits and people know what I’m talking about," Huckabee said.

Photo of home was posted on Twitter.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is the paradox presidential candidate.

On the one hand, he's in the midst of a national tour in support of a book that lays out "twelve things we really need from Washington (and a trillion that we don't)", according to the subtitle. Huckabee's book tour features six -- yes, six! -- stops in Iowa and another five in South Carolina, two of the states that will play an outsized role in picking the next presidential nominee.

On the other, Huckabee is slated to spend a week on a Christian cruise through Alaska from June 5-12 -- an odd thing to do if you would be an announced candidate for president by then -- and, in recent interviews, has sounded something short of enthusiastic about the prospect of running for national office again.

So, which is it? Is Huckabee gearing up to run or getting ready to take a pass?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/case-forcase-against/the-case-for-mike-huckabee.html