Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Huckabee Speaks At Lincoln Day Seminar

Lt. Gov. Mike Huckabee extolled the virtues of the Republican Party at a Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday, March 30 at the Garrison Center at Henderson State University.

Speaking to members of the Clark County GOP, Huckabee, who is also running for U.S. Senate, said Clark County is one of the more difficult places in the state to win for those running as Republicans.

However, he said the election process is more important now, to our children and grandchildren. People today, Huckabee continued, can't vote blindly for one party or the other as did our parents and grandparents. Instead, voters must be selective and look hard at the candidates, making their choice on who they think is best for the office in question.

According to Huckabee, the Democratic party has gone too far to the left for most people, and is not the party it was when our parents and grandparents knew it.

He said the GOP candidates, these days, cross all economic and ideological spectrums. Republicans, he continued, tend to be more conservative than today's Democratic party.

"I grew up being taught the difference between right and wrong," he said. "I was raised being told the government is not responsible for cleaning up the messes we made."

The United States, Huckabee continued, is great because the government doesn't have to do things for us. "We can go anywhere we want to go. The limitations are those we set on ourselves, and aren't imposed by the government."

He said about 31 years ago, the government "went radical" and thought it could do a better job of solving problems than the people.

Under Lyndon Johnson a program to abolish poverty was begun. At the time, Huckabee said, the poverty rate in America was 14.5 percent. Now, 31 years later, $5 trillion has been spent to fight poverty and the rate remains the same.

"Government handouts are not working," he said. "I'm not talking about the disabled, or veterans or senior citizens. Our promises to them shouldn't be broken."

Huckabee said it would be treasonous to break our promises to veterans. "We won't if we have any integrity as a nation."

In discussing the GOP, Huckabee said he's heard the rhetoric about the party wanting to hurt people and to cut programs to the needy. He said this is not true and he hasn't seen any of it. In fact, according to Huckabee, the Republican party wants to help people.

In bashing Hillary Rodham Clinton's book, "It Takes A Village," Huckabee said it takes a mother and father to raise a child.

"We've created a system where the family is smaller. It doesn't take a village to raise a family.

"Families need government off their backs."

He said the nation needs to get back to a time when there was one-income families; when the family breadwinner was able to earn money to improve the family situation, not to keep up with government obligations.

President Bill Clinton, Huckabee said, passed the largest tax increase in history, and taxed the dead while doing it. This, he said, was because the tax is retroactive.

"It's wrong to be penalized for being productive and rewarded for being irresponsible," he said, turning to the topic of unwed mothers.

Currently, he said, the welfare system doesn't recognize the father as being part of the family unit. The teenage pregnancy rate is alarming because there appear to be no consequences for those breaking the rules. Teens today, he said, believe there are no consequences for their actions.

According to Huckabee, the fathers of illegitimate children need to be found and made work to support these children. "Let him know his action has an 18-year obligation," he said. "Force him to pay child support.

"We need to go back to the old fashion values of right and wrong. This is not the year to be arrogant, but the time to go forth and prove compassion drives us and not the government; that our convictions are not for government programs."

Huckabee called for an America where it would be safe for children to play in the street after dark again, and not have to worry about being shot.

He called for the return of a time when parents had time for their children and didn't have to worry about paying the government 46 percent of their income in taxes.

"We need responsible schools," he said. "Schools that work, where discipline is in the teacher's hands and children learn reading, writing and arithmetic. The problem is not teachers who don't care.

"Schools have been removed from the hands of the people and placed in the hands of government. I'd like to help eliminate the Department of Education and turn schools over to the local boards," Huckabee continued."

Turning to his Senate race, Huckabee said polls show him from 9-16 percent ahead of his most likely Democratic competitor (who is expected to be Arkansas Attorney General Winston Bryant). In fact, he said he has never trailed in the polls from day one.

"We're gonna win this election in November," he said. "The GOP has never won a Senate seat in Arkansas, but we will on Nov. 5.

"I also believe the Republican party can win all four congressional seats. We need to make this the best year we've (the GOP) ever had."