It's entirely laughable to consider this article meritous. How can the author consider this argument viable? The two statements noted here are, quite obviously, factual. The author even states it. This "factcheck.org" arrticle states that both overall crime was lower and that Huckabee lowered taxes 90 times. How can they publish an author who verifies the facts of the statements and then claim the statements are false? It's ridiculous. Never once has Huckabee stated that he permanently lowered violent crimes, or that the net amount of taxes was lower when he left office than when he entered it. He is completely truthful and has been thus far. Quit allowing editorial articles like this publication as if they were factual.
Huckabee Cut Crime and Taxes?
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The rate did go down during his tenure to a low of 4.25 per thousand people in 1999, and it dropped to that level again in 2002. But a steady increase quickly followed, erasing the improvement, as the following chart illustrates.
Huckabee's Economic Evasiveness
The ad shows a graphic asserting that Huckabee "cut taxes over 90 times" as governor. As we've noted previously, 90 tax cuts indeed were enacted under Huckabee. However, so were 21 tax increases, and they far outweighed the cuts.
The total net tax increase under Huckabee was an estimated $505.1 million, according to the state Department of Finance and Administration's Whitney McLaughlin, who says that the figure has been adjusted for inflation.
Not surprisingly, anti-tax groups give Huckabee poor marks. The conservative Club for Growth, for example, ran an ad in December attacking him, using old video of the then-governor appealing to the state Legislature to raise taxes. "Mike Huckabee is telling folks that he cut taxes 94 times, but the truth is, Huckabee's tax increases far surpassed his tax cuts, and taxpayers deserve to know the truth," said Pat Toomey, the group's president, in a statement when the ad was released.
Huckabee's ad also boasts that he "balanced the budget every year" he was governor, but that's not much to crow about. Like other governors, he must balance the state budget by law.
Sources
Nasaw, Daniel. "10-year record on taxes studied." Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 9 Oct. 2007.
"Amendment 20: State Bonds." Constitution Of The State Of Arkansas Of 1874, 20 Nov. 2007.
"Uniform Crime Reports Database." FBI, accessed 30 Dec. 2007.
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