Category: take action

From the Mike Huckabee campaign:

Below is a sampling of the news coverage of last night’s presidential debate and Governor Huckabee’s performance.
Here is some of the media commentary about the debate:

“Huckabee is a shrewd dude, and once again did himself good by focusing his folksy answers on big problems in a plausible way…” – Howard Fineman, Newsweek

“Meanwhile, Huckabee doing well at a debate is about as common as the sun rising in the east…” – MSNBC’s First Read

“My gut instinct: Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani won.” – Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic

Thank you for your continued support.

Chip Saltsman
National Campaign Manager

Debate Coverage:

What People Are Saying: A sampling of the coverage of Governor Huckabee’s debate performance.

Live Blog of Debate: For those of you that missed the debate read our campaign blog’s coverage of the debate.

Governor Huckabee Discusses Health Care!: After the debate, Governor Huckabee discussed health care with reporters. Watch the video.

The Huckabee-Paul Exchange: Watch the Video.

Massachusetts for Huckabee: Massachusetts for Huckabee was at the debate last night. Read their blog post.

Found any other interesting stories about the debate? Let us know. Post links or quotes in the comment section.

iheartHuckabee has media reaction to the GOP debate.

Huckabee has been moving up in the polls. He’s appealing and amusing and articulates the pro-life position better than perhaps any presidential candidate ever has. – Slate
Time and again, Mr. Huckabee asserted himself as the strongest orator of the bunch, combining the superficial – but ever vital – charm of Mitt Romney with a remarkable ability, honed during his years in the pulpit, to address bloodless policy topics in a language that is accessible and appealing to the common man.
And he showed political savvy on Wednesday night as well. – New York Observer
Paul challenged Huckabee on the idea that America “broke” it, arguing that a handful of advisers to President Bush bore responsibility for the war.
Huckabee wouldn’t let it go. “If we make a mistake, we make it as one country,” said Huckabee to huge roars of applause. “Even if we lose elections we should not lose our honor and that is more important than the Republican party.” – Washington Post
Debates are about moments, and this debate belonged to an impassioned exchange between Ron Paul and Huckabee about the Iraq War. Fox News smartly let the two men have their say. – The Atlantic

Gov. Mike Huckabee will appear on NPR’s nationally syndicated radio program, “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” with host Peter Sagal this Saturday. Check local listings for show times or go to www.npr.org
I’m looking forward to that one for sure.

Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul actually had a good debate during the GOP debate last night.
It was probably the most heated moment of the debate. I hate the idea that we’re leaving more of our troops over there to risk their lives. In fact I’d call them all home today if I could – but I have to say Huckabee made a great point. We can’t just go into a country, break it, wreck their government, wreck their infrastructure and then leave. We have to fix it somehow. We have to own up to our responsibility. We can’t play world police if we’re not going to finish the job.
I would also have to add, it’s the most articulated reasons I’ve heard for staying the course in Iraq.

Watch the exchange:

Eyeon08 has a write up and review of the latest Gov. Mike Huckabee blogger conference call.
I haven’t seen any audio of the call posted yet, but once I do I’ll be sure to post a link.

The first thing that struck me is that no one that I had heard of was asking questions. Huckabee said that they have 150 “Bloggers for Huckabee,” and they are clearly different people. Every question, except mine, started with an expression of support or love. This is not how it works for Rudy Giuliani or John McCain. The people on those calls are high-traffic national blogs focused on politics. The people on the Huckabee call were, at least, local blogs, often focused on things other than politics. At the very least this is a different model than the McCain and Giuliani are taking. It is very possible that it is closer to what Mitt Romney’s campaign is doing online, namely developing a blogger community that talks primarily to supporters. Thompson’s seems some of a hybrid. This is interesting, although I am not sure what to make of it.

Second, I asked a question about Huckabee’s economic populism. The answer is pretty striking, and you aren’t likely to hear it from any other GOP candidate in the field. He attacked CEOs and hedge fund managers. Perhaps the most interesting passage was:
As a Christian, [this is] not just an economic issue, but a moral issue. When you have real success, you share it with the people who helped you. … That’s the difference between capitalism and greed. … A President has to show the moral leadership of the country, not just policy leadership. …
And:
The basic way that the rules have been written to favor a few. … You have a tax policy that encourages boards a huge tax incentive to give a huge salary to the CEO.”

This language could have come out of Barack Obama’s or John Edward’s mouths with little trouble. It probably couldn’t come out of Hillary Clinton’s mouth. I don’t think that she does populism like that. Unlike many of the national blogs out there, I think that there is a real openness in the GOP base for this.

Read more
Maybe someday I’ll have some time off and can get in on one of those calls or set up a separate interview with Huckabee – we’ll see. I’d be open to the same with Obama as well.

State Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie (Dist. 10) gave an update in today’s Waxahachie Daily Light on changes made during this year’s Texas legislative session.

From today’s WDL:

State funding for public education increased this past session; general revenue funding in support of our public schools increased more than $2 billion for the biennium beginning Sept. 1.

The majority of this increase covers enrollment growth in our schools. A large portion of the remaining increase goes towards teacher incentive pay ($342 million) and an across the board pay increase for teachers ($280 million).

The House of Representatives passed a budget with a substantially higher amount for the across the board teacher pay raise, but this amount was reduced in the final budget negotiations with the Senate.

The new state budget also includes $50 million for a new program targeted towards preventing students from dropping out of high school.

In addition to the new money for our schools, the legislature appropriated over $14 billion towards reducing local property taxes to $1 (from the statewide average of $1.50 just two years ago). Property owners should finally begin to see a real reduction in their property taxes this fall.

In terms of legislation, one of the most significant bills to pass this session (SB 1031) phases out the TAKS test and replaces it with new end-of-course exams.

The end-of-course exams will test high school students’ proficiency in English, algebra, geometry, world history, U.S. history, biology, chemistry and physics, beginning in the 2010-11 school year. These exams will count towards 15 percent of the students’ final course grade.

Two bills passed this session that address public safety issues for students.
The first (SB 9) requires all school districts to begin conducting criminal background checks on all school employees.

The second bill (HB 323) requires new buses purchased by a school district after Sept. 1, 2010. to be equipped with lap and shoulder seatbelts. Beginning Sept. 1, 2011, all buses contracted by a district must be equipped with these belts.
However, both of these provisions are contingent on the state reimbursing districts for the cost of making these changes.

…new legislation (SB 8 ) will require students participating in UIL or school-sponsored athletic activities to submit to random steroid testing.

Two additional pieces of legislation passed this session generated significant attention and controversy, and have already resulted in lawsuits being filed against some school districts.

The first bill (HB 1287), which allows school districts to offer an elective course about the Bible, generated significant controversy because in its original form, all school districts would have been required to offer the course.

The version that finally passed grants districts the option of offering the course and requires that the course offered be taught in a way that follows all state and federal laws concerning the separation between church and state.

The second bill (HB 3678) is aimed at clarifying a student’s right to express their religious views at school.

This bill requires all districts in the state to adopt a policy that outlines at what types of events, and how, a student may express their religious viewpoint.

I have to wonder how long it will be before the Koran has to be taught in our public schools as well thanks to HB 3678. I can’t help but wonder why people insist on the schools in our state teaching Christianity and Bible.
Why do they think the state will do any better than parents and churches do? Shouldn’t we be worried when parents depend on the state to teach their child about Scripture?