Mike Huckabee

Other, 2008

"People would love to see the IRS abolished. The harder you work, the more you earn, the more the IRS and the government wants from you. What the FairTax does is says, we want you to earn; we want you to save and we want you to buy things and sell things and make a profit. It goes to the common sense of the idea that we should encourage people to work and get something for it. A lot of people have never read the entire FairTax because when I first heard about the FairTax, the consumption tax, quite frankly it sounds like it would be oppressive and regressive to the poor. The poor come out best of all because of the provision in the FairTax called the prebate in which every American, each month, is given the amount of the FairTax back up to the level of poverty. Everybody gets it, not just those under the level of poverty. It actually untaxes the poor, untaxes the elderly. It makes sure that we don't end up paying taxes on groceries and medicine and the basic necessities of life." (GOP debate in Boca Raton Florida, Jan. 24, 2008)

Other, 2007

"It would be sheer folly to attempt to suddenly impose strict enforcement of existing laws, round up 12 million people, march them across the border, and expect them to stay.

"What does make sense is a revision of our laws, one giving those here illegally a process through which they pay a reasonable fine in admission of their guilt for the past infraction of violating our border laws and agree to adhere to a pathway toward legal status and citizenship. In exchange, our government gains the capacity to know who is here, why they are here, where they are, and whether they carry a communicable disease. But much of the debate has become mired more in definitions than in a real solution." ("From Hope to Higher Ground" by Mike Huckabee)

Candidate's Website, 2015

"I also oppose Common Core and believe we should abolish the federal department of education. We must kill Common Core and restore common sense."

Other, 2007

"There are 700,000 physicians in the US and the number of accidental deaths caused by them per year is 120,000, making the accidental death rate per physician 17%. Using the same logic, there are about 80 million gun owners, and the number of accidental gun deaths per year among all age groups is 1,500. The same calculation reveals the number of accidental deaths per gun owner to be 0.00188%. In other words, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 more times more dangerous than gun owners. Yet, I hear no one suggesting we ban doctors." ("From Hope to Higher Ground" by Mike Huckabee)

Candidate's Website, 2015

"I will support a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution."

Project Vote Smart Survey, 2002

Supports redirecting welfare funding to faith-based and community-based private organizations

Other, 2015

"I was in college when we were told, and Time and Newsweek magazine had on its covers, that if we didn't do something very, very bold and do it quickly we would all freeze to death, and we were entering the Ice Age. Now we're entering, it's going to be, an age in which we're all going to burn up and everybody near the coast will drown. There in fact may be climate change. There's always been climate change. Climate changes and it has through history. But the Earth is an amazing body. Now, let me be very blunt: I believe the Earth is the Lord's creation. And I believe that when he created it, he made it to be adaptable, and one of the reasons that it stood through all the eons of history is because if there is a change, then it is able to adapt. The more urgent thing that I believe exists is that we always treat this Earth like we would as if we were Boy Scouts at the camp. Leave your campsite in as good or better shape than you found it. But don't be so silly as not to enjoy the campsite. Take good care of the Earth, be a good steward, but for heaven's sakes enjoy that which has been given to us for our own pleasure, purposes, and prosperity. And that ought to be the driving force of our policies there."

Candidate's Website, 2015

Huckabee supports a universal sales tax instead of a flat income tax

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2013

"My fight to defund Planned Parenthood continues. With Democrats in the House vowing to block Republican attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. We must make clear to Republican Leaders that pushing to fully eliminate all funding for Planned Parenthood is a grassroots priority for millions of Conservatives across the nation."

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2014

Generally opposes marijuana legalization, and wrote, "Those who argued that legalizing marijuana would result in a boom in tax revenues have some preliminary proof. On January 1st, the first stores that legally sold recreational marijuana opened in Colorado. The numbers are now in. They reported $14 million in sales in January, and paid $2 million in taxes. Added to tax revenues from medical marijuana, that totaled monthly tax revenue to the state of $3.5 million. But at what cost? The money is earmarked for youth prevention services, substance abuse treatment and public health. But what is a young person supposed to think when the state says, 'Don't do drugs...even though everyone around you is...and the same authority figures who tell you it's bad not only condone it, but are also making a big profit off it'?"

Candidate's Facebook Page, 2014

Huckabee is open to additional U.S. troops on the ground to fight the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh).

For example, in a 2014 Facebook post he wrote, "Instead of fighting ISIS, a lot of nations are fighting over who will fight ISIS... Kurdish fighters in the town of Kobani, on the Syrian-Turkish border, were able to get the upper hand and drive back ISIS forces by about 150 feet. But the battle rages on, with a Kurdish genocide in the balance if ISIS prevails. In Iraq, the jihadists are now right on Baghdad's doorstep. In Anbar province, which Americans fought and died to secure, ISIS just killed a police chief. They're also attacking Iraq's key oil refinery town of Baiji. And photos of Kurdish fighters' bodies suggest they were killed by chemical weapons, possibly obtained by ISIS from an Iraqi compound. Deja vu! But Secretary of State John Kerry continues to insist that the Iraqis must fight ISIS on their own. And Turkey still refuses to commit troops. Although they did finally allow US planes to have access to Turkish air bases. That's big of them. Maybe if we do have to put boots on the ground, they'll allow us to change into them there before we do their fighting for them."

Other, 2007

"[Huckabee] stood up for an Arkansas program that allowed the children of illegal immigrants to apply for college scholarships. When Romney attacked the program, Huckabee cut him down. "I'm standing here tonight because I got an education. If I hadn't had the education, I wouldn't be standing on this stage. I might be picking lettuce. In all due respect, we're a better country than to punish children for what their parents did.'" ("The Battle for America 2008" by Balz & Johnson)

Other, 2007

"It is time for us to stop our continued reliance on oil produced beyond our borders and by nations who are not our best friends. Even those who do act more cordially toward us are not producing oil with a benevolent spirit but are driven by their own interests. From Dec. 2003 through 2005, OPEC nations spent more than $13 million lobbying the federal government. We should all be somewhat discomforted by the amount of money that are policymakers are having tossed their way to keep the addiction alive.

"Even as we increase our consumption of energy, we dramatically limit our production, making us even more vulnerable to outside sources to fuel our cars and economy. We have not build a new refinery in 30 years. Politics has kept us from developing potential exploration in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, or along the Outer Continental Shelf, and the lack of leadership toward alternative forms of energy has left us with little more than higher prices and a growing anxiety." ("From Hope to Higher Ground," by Mike Huckabee)

Other, 2015

According to June 2015 coverage from the Des Moines Register, Huckabee supports abolishing the VA in favor of a health care card that allows veterans to visit any medical provider of their choosing.

Candidate's Website, 2015

Huckabee supports eliminating corporate and income taxes and replacing them with a universal sales tax

Other, 2008

"Now, you can be quietly and passively pro-life, or you can be passionately and actively PRO-LIFE. I am the latter. I first became politically active because of my view on the sanctity of life." ("Do the Right Thing" by Mike Huckabee)

Other, 2007

"I probably dislike the death penalty more than anybody on this stage, but for a very different reason. I've actually had to carry it out, more than any governor in my state's history. I had to carry out the death penalty because that was my job. I did it because I believed, after reading every page of every transcript and everything in that file, it was the only conclusion we could come to. But I didn't enjoy it. And God help the American who somehow has this cavalier attitude about the death penalty and says they support it and they can do it. Let me tell you something from the person whose name had to be put on the document that started the process: It's a necessary part of our criminal justice system for those crimes for which there is no other alternative. But God help the person who ever does it without a conscience and feels the pain of it." (GOP Presidential Forum at Morgan State University, Sep 27, 2007)

Other, 2015

Generally opposes NSA domestic surveillance and mass data collection and said, "Does the Constitution allow the government to read the mail and to listen to the phone calls, even to collect them without a warrant or probable cause? And I think the obvious answer is no, it does not."

Project Vote Smart Survey, 2002

Supports teaching the ten commandments in school, and using abstinence-only sexual education

Other, 2007

"The right word is personalization. Empower individuals to have a greater say over their money. And that's what it is. Keep the government from robbing the trust funds, which is something that, if it was done in the private sector, would get a guy in jail. One thing, when people reach retirement age, if they really have enough retirement benefits, they don't need Social Security for the long term, give them the option of one-time buyout, or the opportunity to purchase an annuity, with their funds, tax-free, that frees up the long-term obligation of the government." (GOP primary debate in Orlando, Florida, Oct. 21, 2007)

Candidate's Website, 2015

"As President, I will repeal ObamaCare and fight for real health care reform."

Other, 2015

"What I would do is get rid of Dodd-Frank, which (would put) the power back in community banks. Dodd-Frank has punished the banks that never created the problem."

Other, 2007

"Public debate today is filled with arguments that, not long ago, would have been dismissed as ridiculous and insupportable. Consider homosexuality, for instance. There have been homosexuals in every human culture. But until recently, who would have dared to suggest that the practice should be accepted on equal footing with heterosexuality, to be thought of as a personal decision and nothing more?

"Everything you do and believe is directed by your answer to the ultimate question: Is there a God? It all comes down to that single issue. If there is a God, then everything moves one way. If there isn't, it moves another." ("Character Makes a Difference" by Mike Huckabee)

Other, 2014

Opposes mandate for employer-provided insurance to cover contraception, and said, "If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it."

Other, 2007

"I have to show photo ID to get on an airplane in my home town. I think it's not asking too much to make sure that people who are voting are truly eligible voters. When you register to vote, let's take your picture, and put it on a card. That way it doesn't dilute the vote if a lot of people who aren't registered voters try to fraudulently vote." (GOP Presidential Forum at Morgan State University, Sep 27, 2007)

Other, 2008

"When we turn [to income tax] rebates, most people are going to go out and buy some consumables like a pair of shoes that they probably don't even need, but they're going to buy them, and they're most likely an import from China. My point is, whose economy are we stimulating when we do that? The Heritage Foundation did a pretty interesting study on past rebates & found it does not really stimulate the economy in the way that we hope it will. If you really want an economic stimulus package, look at what infrastructure investment does." (Republican debate at Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Jan 30, 2008)

Candidate's Website, 2015

On his website Huckabee writes, "The rising cost of college also threatens middle class families, students and the American dream. For too many, college is where students discover mountains of debt - but not a lifelong career. We must tackle the establishment and reform our colleges and universities so they make sense for the jobs of tomorrow." He has not offered further details on a plan, but has voiced support for allowing students to refinance their loans.

Other, 2015

Opposes Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran

(Source, Fox News: Republican presidential primary debate, 2015)