NEWSFLASH---Mike Huckabee Supported Bill to Give Driver's Licenses to Illegal Aliens
During the 2001 regular session of the Arkansas Legislature, Mike Huckabee supported giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens.How did he do that? Here are a few excerpts from 2001 articles about the legislation and Huckabee's support of it, as expressed by a spokesman, his liaison to the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
"In other action Tuesday, the House rejected a bill that would allow the issuance of Arkansas driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. The vote on House Bill 2212 by Rep. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock, was 46-46, with 51 votes needed to pass the bill. HB2212, which remains available for House consideration, would amend Act 1099 of 1997, which enumerates various conditions under which a driver's license can't be issued by the state Office of Driver Services. HB2212 would delete the act's provision that bans the issuing of a license to someone 'who is making an initial application for an Arkansas driver's license and who is not lawfully within the United States" or to "any person who is not lawfully within the United States.' Steele and other proponents of HB2212 said Hispanics, both legally and illegally in the United States, have been discriminated against when attempting to obtain a driver's license on the basis of their skin color or accent. Because employees of the Office of Driver Services may lack the training or expertise to determine if an applicant is an illegal immigrant, Steele said that status shouldn't be a condition of obtaining a license." (Michael Wickline, "Senate OKs Plan To Raise Teacher Pay," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/14/01)
Mike Huckabee's Human Services Liaison expressed the governor's position, supporting the measure to repeal the law denying the issuance of drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. In 2001, there was discussion of HB 2212 in the state assembly to repeal a 1997 Arkansas law prohibiting issuance of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Proponents said the bill was necessary because legal immigrants were getting harassed when they went to get drivers licenses. Huckabee's Human Services liaison defended the bill, saying the following:
"People shouldn't be harassed based on who they are or what they look like," said [Robert] Trevino, who also is Gov. Mike Huckabee's human services liaison. "We just don't want to be treated as second class. We don't have a problem with prohibiting illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses. We have a problem with hassling those who are here legitimately." (Michael Rowett, "Bill Aims To Help Immigrants Get Driver's Licenses," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/18/01)
When reached for comment this afternoon, former Arkansas State Representative Jeremy Hutchinson said, "the proponents of this bill kept telling us that their intent wasn't to give illegals driver's licenses but when we asked them to amend the bill to state that, they always refused. Finally after killing the bill on the floor twice, they amended the bill. I asked Bob Trevino if the Governor was for this bill and he said 'of course, he was."
When asked about the bill, former Arkansas State Representative Jake Files added, "I remember Bob Trevino working all the legislators hard on the merits of this bill in committees and around the Capitol. As Trevino was a member of the Governor's staff, it was apparent that the Governor was supportive of the bill or his staff members would not have been. We(legislators who voted against it) were concerned about the ramifications of the bill and the message that it sent promoting Arkansas as a "safe haven" for illegals."
The result of that, however, would have been to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens since Huckabee supposedly didn't want to offend legal immigrants.
Robert Trevino, as Gov. Huckabee's liaison to the Department of Human Services, was Huckabee's spokesman on this issue. It was his job to express Huckabee's position to the media and within the government. He did just that. Speaking on behalf of his boss, Mike Huckabee, he advocated changing the law to allow illegal aliens to get Arkansas driver's licenses so that legal immigrants wouldn't be "hassled".
Trevino, who was also the director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) at the time, also travelled to Mexico on behalf of Gov. Huckabee to finalize terms of an agreement to open a Mexican Consulate in Little Rock.
The final version of this bill removed this crucial portion, but that doesn't erase the fact that Mike Huckabee supported a bill to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. I couldn't find any record of Huckabee or his administration repudiating Trevino or this policy position. They just accepted the reality that they couldn't pass it.
I will set up pages soon showing copies of HB 2212 and several of its amendments to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
In the meantime, I'm dying to see how Huckabee will explain this one. Expect a period of silence while they figure out their talking points to respond to it.
posted by Henry Rearden at
11:35 AM
35 Comments:
Too liberal for Hillary to support. Too liberal for Obama to support. Not too liberal for Huck.
Ha!!! Exactly!!!!!!!
I wonder what lie Huck will tell this time?
Good work getting this info out, Hank.
Mike Huckabee was in bed with big business and and the illegal alien lobby the entire time he was governor.the people of Iowa need to know how outside the mainstream Huckabee has been on this issue.
But I cut taxes 94 times....
But I went hunting and fishing in Arkansas, it was right there on TeeVee....
I had almost forgotten. Hillary and Spitzer had to dump this position, but Huckabee was so worried about hassling legal immigrants...
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
I looked up the title of that book on a translator website. It says, "stop digging your own grave with illegal aliens and drivers licenses."
That's classic.
The tragedy of Huckabee is that if he really was what he is now pretending to be, his worst critics on the right would be he strongest supporters.
Huckabee's DOA in Iowa because of this Immigration issue.
Iowans for Romney
That's good to hear. I can't wait to see that show up in the poll numbers.
Hello Jeff Fuller, you cannot sit on it, you have to hit him over the head with it.
I stopped sitting.
http://iowansforromney.blogspot.com/2007/11/to-avoid-appearance-of-evil.html
"People shouldn't be harassed based on who they are or what they look like," said [Robert] Trevino, who also is Gov. Mike Huckabee's human services liaison. "We just don't want to be treated as second class. We don't have a problem with prohibiting illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses. We have a problem with hassling those who are here legitimately." (Michael Rowett, "Bill Aims To Help Immigrants Get Driver's Licenses," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/18/01)
Sorry, I don't read anything in that quote that supports giving licenses to illegals.
Nice try!
Huckabee is trying to portray himself as a consistent conservative, but outside of abortion and guns, he is really weak. Besides that, he would have no chance in the general election.
Huckabee hasn't been able to lay one glove on Fred Thompson, because Fred's actually has a record that is based on conservative principles. I can only hope Iowans can see past the liberalism of Huckabee and the johnny-come-lately conversion to conservatism in the candidacy of Romney.
"Sorry, I don't read anything in that quote that supports giving licenses to illegals.
Nice try!"
It's not a nice try. It's an accurate description. If you'll read Rep. Hutchinson's description, the bill was for giving illegal aliens drivers licenses and Huckabee supported it until it was killed TWICE by the House.
Huckabee's position, as Trevino said, was that they needed to pass it so that legal immigrants wouldn't be offended. The whole bill in it's original form was about changing a 1997 law which specifically prohibited giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens.
How many times does it have to be explained? Huckabee supported this bill. It's purpose was to give drivers licenses to illegal aliens...
Nice Try!
Huckabee met with Vicente Fox and cut a deal to build with tax payer money a "Mexican Consulate" in AK so they could have "cheap labor".
ELECTION 2008
Huckabee offered 'no-cost' deal for Mexican Consulate
Developer confirms role, legislator raps ex-governor for using taxpayer funds for illegals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: November 13, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee
An Arkansas commercial developer confirmed his role in a no-cost "incentive deal" packaged by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to attract a Mexican Consulate to Little Rock.
Meanwhile, an Arkansas legislator expressed concern that Huckabee used taxpayer funds inappropriately in a plan ultimately designed to assist illegal immigrants in Arkansas. Bruce Burrow told WND his commercial real estate company acquired the land and developed the Mexican consulate building in Little Rock at the request of Huckabee, in a deal the then-governor engineered to make sure he snared the Mexican consulate away from other states.
"I agreed to do the project at no cost," Burrow told WND, confirming his involvement in the Huckabee plan.
Arkansas Republican state legislator Rick Green objected to Huckabee using taxpayer funds in the scheme.
"I'd like to sit down with Huckabee and visit with him on the issue and see if there is anything he can tell me on the Mexican consulate deal that I am not seeing," Green told WND in a telephone interview.
"But I have not seen any argument Huckabee has made that convinces me that the Mexican consulate deal was the right thing to do," he said.
"Any taxpayer money that is used to help facilitate breaking the law is wrong," Green emphasized.
WND previously reported Robert Trevino, commissioner of the Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, had signed a lease providing the Mexican Consulate space in an Arkansas Rehabilitations Services building at a cost of $1 per year. The lease provided the consulate temporary space until permanent space could be found.
Green told WND that two legislative study groups he helped organize this past summer concluded Arkansas has more illegal immigrants per capita than any other state and that its Hispanic illegal immigrant population is the fastest growing of any state in the nation.
Burrow detailed to WND how he became involved in financing the Mexican Consulate office in Little Rock.
"In a trip to Mexico, Governor Huckabee had agreed with (then-Mexican President) Vicente Fox to work with the Mexican government to establish that facility in Arkansas in the capital city of Little Rock," Burrow said.
"But since there was really no government mechanism for the state to go and acquire that property and then to go and turn around and lease to the Mexican government, it had to be done by private enterprise," he continued.
"That's where I got involved," Burrow admitted. "That's what we do. We own a number of properties and we're a developer.
"So we agreed to do it at no profit," Burrow said. "And that's what I did. I acquired the property, renovated it for the Mexican government."
The entire project cost about $1.2 million, Burrow recalled.
"I think that we paid south of $500,000 for the existing facility which was a former doctor's office," he said. "Then I went in and renovated it completely to meet their needs and their specifications. "We spent probably another $700,000 renovating, so probably about $1.2 million for the project all in."
WND asked Burrow why Huckabee felt the urgency to offer the Mexican government such a good deal.
"What had happened, as I understand it," Burrow explained, "is that Governor Huckabee had met with President Fox in a trip. Huckabee kind of wrestled the Mexican Consulate office away from our surrounding larger states. ...."
"From day one, the Mexican government paid us rent on the property," he added, "and the Mexican government has the right to purchase the property and the Mexican consulate office here in Little Rock. I can't remember the exact dates, but I'm assuming the Mexican government will go ahead and acquire the property."
Burrow acquired land near the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, at 3500 South University, an address adjacent to a Bank of America branch bank.
"We estimated that $410 million per year from Arkansas is sent back to Mexico alone, just in remittance payments," Green noted.
Since 2005, Bank of America has advertised "SafeSend," a nationwide "free remittance to Mexico" program designed to send money to Mexico without charging fees.
WND also reported receiving a copy of a check from the city of Little Rock, dated June 1, paying contractor Baldwin and Shell $60,000 for two invoices, dated April 30 and May 31, in conjunction with the contract for the Mexican Consulate.
Burrow confirmed that Baldwin & Shell was the contractor he hired to renovate the consulate building.
He also explained the Little Rock check.
"That Little Rock check was paid as 'economic development,'" Burrow told WND. "As I understand how that worked, Governor Huckabee talked with the city of Little Rock about how they could provide an incentive basis for the Mexican government to decide to put the Mexican Consulate for Little Rock.
"So, Little Rock put up $50,000 from the city under their economic development fund," Burrow continued, "and $10,000 came from the state economic development fund."
The check, then, reflects a total of $60,000 invested by the city, but $10,000 was paid by Huckabee out of the state fund, he said.
"I can't remember exactly how the development money was flowed into the project," he added, "but anyway it all went into the project. It may have been for the demolition portion, or whatever, but it was applied to the project."
The government contributions then reduced the total redevelopment cost by $60,000, Burrow said.
"From my perspective, it reduced the acquisition cost by $60,000," he explained, "and that was the economic incentive to the Mexican government.
"We had to do it that way, once Governor Huckabee realized the deal could not be completely done by the state government but had to be a private enterprise deal," he said.
Burrow confirmed a WND report that a July 21, 2006, memo from Trevino's as commissioner of the Arkansas Rehabilitations Service suggested that the deal, even after Huckabee decided to involve private commercial developers, would be financed by a consortium of Arkansas companies, such that Mexico would have no costs for three years to support the Little Rock consulate.
"But all that got changed, that Mexico wasn't going to pay any expenses for three years," Burrow explained. "Once the project got over into our ownership – and there's probably not any documents in the file in that regard – but we decided there had to be a lease agreement, and the Mexican government has been paying the rent from day one."
Nevertheless, he emphasized, "I agreed to do the project at no cost."
"I am out my time and expenses, but I am happy to do that," Burrow said. "We were able to get the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock instead of it going to Oklahoma City or Memphis or Nashville, so it was a great economic thing for us.
"We have and awful lot of Hispanic workers in the state," he continued, "and I grew up in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood in California. So, I felt if we could assist in any way that we would."
WND asked Burrow if Huckabee wanted to provide Mexico incentives because having the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock would help attract low-cost Hispanic workers to the state.
"The Mexican Consulate was never considered an inducement for any illegal aliens to come into the state," he protested. "The Mexican government placed the consulate here simply to handle the representation of their citizens in this part of the mid-South area. The Mexican government has done everything they said they would do, and I am very satisfied with the situation."
Green, however, expressed concern.
"We're an agricultural state, and a poultry producing state," he said. "That's where we get the argument that there would not be enough people to fill the jobs if every illegal was deported from the state of Arkansas."
Still, this was not enough to satisfy Green.
"Even if that were the case," he countered, "you still have to be willing to obey the law.
"We've got to look at reforming the welfare system too," Green added. "If enough able-body people were put to work from welfare, there would be plenty of people to fill all the jobs available in Arkansas."
Burrow boasted, "By all accounts, the Mexican Consulate has been successful. There's been a huge backlash and a huge discussion about the illegals in this country, and somebody has to serve these people, legal or illegal, and to provide advice and to represent them in a foreign land, and I think that's what these consulate offices do."
WND previously reported Trevino confirmed in a telephone interview the authenticity of the $1-per-year lease he arranged for the Mexican Consulate to occupy space in the Arkansas Rehabilitations Services government building.
WND also reported Trevino, then serving as economic development adviser to Huckabee, accompanied the governor to Mexico on the initial trip in which the financial incentives were offered.
On the Mexican consulate thing: PLEASE! GIVE ME A BREAK! The Mexican Consulate deal proves Huckabee is for illegal immigrants? What planet are you from? Nice try at a smear job, but no one will buy this.
Go Mike Go!
The smears are coming fast and furous now. Guess the only true compassionate conservative in the race (Huckabee) is climbing faster than his opponents would like. Thomson, Rudy & Romney can cry the tears because it doesn't matter what you say about him...we know its not true.
GO HUCK
Goodness gracious, are Huckabee supporters going to engage in a debate about the record of their candidate, or are they merely going to stick their fingers in their ears and claim every charge is a false smear?
Huckabee supporters- are you going to defend your candidate's record based on the facts? Are you interested in a substantive debate? When the National Review, CATO, Club for Growth, and the Wall Street Journal say their are major deficiencies with Huckabee- i.e. nanny-state tendencies, divisive class-rhetoric, weakness on immigration - you have to admit there are serious reservations about Huckabee if you are intellectually honest. Unless of course you are saying the pre-eminent conservative publications and institutions in the country are all misleading everyone intentionally with no other reason other than to smear a candidate, which IMO is an untenable position to hold- these reputable organizations are simply reporting the record of the respective candidates, and everyone has gone through the grinder.
Huckabee is simply not the conservative all-star his supporters make him to be- take away his views on Life and Guns, and he is virtually a mirror of Giuliani. If you want a tried and true conservative, Fred Thompson is the only upper-tier candidate who's actually held fast to conservative principles.
Your information is false and just another attempt to smear a good man's name. Don't know how this will post, but I copied and pasted it from this site:
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/ftproot/amend/2001/htm/HB2212-H1.pdf
If you'll notice what would be ADDED to Act 1099 once a deletion was made, it clearly states the person applying for a driver's license needs to have those documents necessary to show they are in the U.S. LEGALLY.
There was no need to spefically spell-out that illegals were exempt from driver's licenses since they would not have (unless it was forged) doumentation showing their legal status. Pretty obvious even to those of us who aren't Congressmen or Senators.
Hall of the House of Representatives
83rd General Assembly - Regular Session, 2001
Amendment Form
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Subtitle of House Bill No. 2212
"AN ACT TO REMOVE CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF ACT 1099 OF 1997 FOR THE
PURPOSE OF ENSURING THAT THOSE WHO OPERATE A MOTOR VEHICLE IN
ARKANSAS HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Amendment No. 1 to House Bill No. 2212.
Amend House Bill No. 2212 as originally introduced:
Add Representatives Hausam and Jones as cosponsors of the bill
AND
Page 1, line 25, delete "remove" and substitute "clarify"
AND
Page 2, line 29, delete "or"
AND
Page 2, delete line 34 and substitute the following:
"license for at least six (6) months;
(11) Who is making an initial application for an Arkansas driver
license and cannot provide one (1) of the following documents: U. S. birth
certificate; U. S. Visa; Social Security Card; photo document from INS;
military or military dependent photograph identification; U. S. Passport;
Naturalization Certificate; or any other document prescribed by the
Department of Finance and Administration; or
(12) Who is seeking an initial application or renewal of an
Arkansas driver license or photo identification and cannot show either an
Arkansas driver license or ID; two (2) primary documents or one (1) primary
and one (1) secondary document prescribed by the Department of Finance and
Administration and updated as needed."
AND
Page 2, delete line 36 and page 3, delete lines 1 through 20, and substitute
the following:
MHF977 House Amendment No. ______ to House Bill No. 2212 2 of 2
“SECTION 3. Arkansas Code 27-16-604 is amended by adding an additional
subsection to read as follows:
(c) The Department of Finance and Administration shall promulgate a
list of documents acceptable under § 27-16-604(a)(11) or (12) and post the
list in each revenue office in the state.”
The Amendment was read _______________________________________________________________________________
By: Representative T. Steele
LH/MHF - 040220011726 ________________________________________
MHF977 Chief Clerk
Also, Act 1812 gives some more quotes from the original 1997 Act 1099 that were to be changed.
Here is the site regarding
Act 1812:
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/ftproot/acts/2001/htm/act1812.pdf
SECTION 2. Arkansas Code 27-16-604(a), concerning persons not to be
issued a driver's license in Arkansas, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The Office of Driver Services shall not issue any license under
this act to any person:
The first quotes from HB2212 are under Setion 2, paragraph (a), #11 and #12.
Respectfully submitted, so it'd be appreciated if your future blogs are thoroughly researched before you insert your foot into your mouth!
Let's look at the sections that "Hank Rearden" (A character from Atlas Shrugged? Seriously?) left out. Here is the actual newspaper article that he cherry-picked the quote from:
Senate OKs plan to raise teacher pay
"Steele and other proponents of HB2212, chief among them the state chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, argue that opponents misunderstood and misrepresented the bill's goal. That goal was merely to remove barriers to obtaining an Arkansas driver's license faced by Hispanics living in the United States legally, they said.
A driver's license is more than a permit to operate a car. At many financial institutions, for example, showing a license is part of getting a bank to cash one's check. The same happens when asked to show proof of age in a bar to drink alcoholic beverages or to rent a movie in some stores.
According to U.S. census data released this month, Arkansas' Hispanic population grew 337 percent to 86,866 between 1990 and last year.
"Our attempt is going to be to clarify the bill, to make sure everyone understands that we're certainly not trying to make something that's illegal legal," Steele said. "We're just trying to make things fairer for everyone across the board. ... We'd consider listing in the legislation forms of identification they must have, one thing a green card, one being a Social Security card, one even a birth certificate."
Act 1099 of 1997 bans issuing a license to someone "who is making an initial application for an Arkansas driver's license and who is not lawfully within the United States" or to "any person who is not lawfully within the United States."
Steele and the league contend that Hispanics have been discriminated against when attempting to obtain a driver's license on the basis of their skin color or accent. They also argue that employees of the Office of Driver Services may lack the training or expertise to determine if an applicant is an illegal immigrant.
Rep. Sandra Rodgers, D-Hope, sponsor of the bill that became Act 1099 of 1997, said the intention behind the bill was to prevent the issuance of driver's licenses to terrorists illegally living in the United States. Having a driver's license enables them to board airplanes and buy guns, she said.
Rodgers said the law was never intended to stymie efforts by legal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, and she'd support HB2212 if it were amended to state clearly that it would apply only to legal immigrants.
Robert P. Trevino, state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said although the law specifically addresses illegal immigrants, Hispanics also face difficulties based on a language barrier or other reasons.
"People shouldn't be harassed based on who they are or what they look like," said Trevino, who also is Gov. Mike Huckabee's human services liaison. "We just don't want to be treated as second class. We don't have a problem with prohibiting illegal aliens from getting driver's licenses. We have a problem with hassling those who are here legitimately."
Huckabee the compassionate conservative? That's what Bush was, and we had to fight him tooth and nail to stop comprehensive immigration reform!
Most of the supporters Huckabee now has were once Fred Thompson supporters who let the media tell them who their candidate was and what he was like.
Joe Carter(see comment above) loves to say he thinks Huckabee's record is similar to that of Reagan when he ran in 1980. That's Joe's Litmus test. Yeah right, I think you need to get tested again.
Hey Joe, I recall that the media went out of their way to call Ronald Reagan a certain word. This certain word was thrown around about him in many a column. Take a guess what that word was?
LAZY.
Back in 1980 they tried to do the same thing to Reagan that they've now done to Fred.
The big difference today, is that we have 24 hour news as well as the internet to help spread crap like that.
People like Joe sat there and read all the articles from the MSM elites, telling them how lazy Fred was and how he had no fire in his belly.
Instead of realizing that the MSM elites are always going to do all they can to stop the most conservative candidate in the race, guys like Joe fell for the pack of lies, and jumped ship.
When the next potential thing came along, they jumped ship for a guy who's only conservative strengths are his support of life and his support of firearm rights.
After that, all you have is a moderate to liberal governor who is trying to say all the right things now in hopes of fooling you and I.
He figures if it works for Rudy and Romney, why can't he do it?
Huckabee supporters have to realize two things. One, he is not going to win the nomination. It's just not happening guys. There is way too much th throw at him and it's not smearing.
Two, all you're doing by supporting him is diluting the conservative vote even more. By doing this, you are making the pro choice Giuliani the favorite to win it all.
"Your information is false and just another attempt to smear a good man's name. Don't know how this will post, but I copied and pasted it from this site:
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/ftproot/amend/2001/htm/HB2212-H1.pdf
If you'll notice what would be ADDED to Act 1099 once a deletion was made, it clearly states the person applying for a driver's license needs to have those documents necessary to show they are in the U.S. LEGALLY. "
You are the one who is misinformed. If you'd read the quote from Rep. Hutchinson, you'd know this. Huckabee supported this bill in its original form, which was defeated TWICE in the House before the iteration you are quoting came into being.
How do I know? Because I was there. Because I know Jeremy Hutchinson and that what he is saying is absolutely true.
The final version only came to be because the original lost 2 times and Huckabee grudgingly relented. The original version(s) were written specifically to allow illegal aliens to get driver's licenses so as not to offend or "hassle" legal aliens, as stated by Huck's liaison Bob Trevino, whose job it was to represent and lobby for the governor.
""Steele and other proponents of HB2212, chief among them the state chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, argue that opponents misunderstood and misrepresented the bill's goal. That goal was merely to remove barriers to obtaining an Arkansas driver's license faced by Hispanics living in the United States legally, they said."
Unfortunately, Mr. Carter, as I just stated the actual result of the bill in its original form would have been exactly what Mr. Rearden (pretty clever name, actually) has stated. Legislators who propose bad bills describe them inaccurately all the time. Just because then-Rep. Steele described it thusly doesn't negate its actual results if enacted.
There's a reason why it failed TWICE and why it was amended so heavily from its original version.
"Act 1099 of 1997 bans issuing a license to someone "who is making an initial application for an Arkansas driver's license and who is not lawfully within the United States" or to "any person who is not lawfully within the United States."
Again, it is unfortunate that Mr. Steele doesn't understand that confusion at a DMV doesn't actually permanently prohibit a legal immigrant from receiving a license. Some people had been inconvenienced, but Mr. Steele's response, initially, would have changed the law in such a way as to give illegal aliens the ability to acquire licenses. Again, that's why he couldn't pass its original version. That's why he had to change it.
Joe Carter, you and Gary Glenn have been at found at the heart of a multitude of misinformed smears all year. Now, when Huckster's record hits the spotlight, you call it a smear. It is his record!
Sales Tax, 1996 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 11/07/96)
Gas and Diesel Fuel Taxes, 1999 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 04/02/99, 04/25/99)
Sales Tax, 2000 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 09/25/02)
Cigarette Tax, 2001 (Associated Press, 04/02/01)
Nursing Home Bed Tax, 2001 (Associated Press, 06/25/01)
Sales Tax, 2002 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 11/15/02)
Income Surcharge Tax, 2003 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 10/09/07)
Tobacco Tax, 2003 (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 10/09/07)
Internet Taxes, 2004 (Bond Buyer, 02/24/04)
As a supporter of the Fair Tax, I still refuse to support Huckabee. I don't trust that he wouldn't support setting the sales tax at some astronomical rate.
Not only that, but he taxed everything he could get his hands on in Arkansas, so we'd probably just end up with a federal sales tax and a federal income tax.
Huckabee caught with his pants down, again. Way to go, arkjournal. This is a daily read for me now.
you huckabee supporters are insane...the guy is a neo-con to the core and is no different from every other piece of trash running for the GOP nomination (except RP)
Can you provde links to source documents on this one as I do not see any and would like to do my own research before i just believe some blog...not that i do not trust you.
Unfortunately, you will probably have to go to the Capitol in Little Rock if you don't want to take my word and that of former State Representatives Jeremy Hutchinson and Jake Files. The reason for that is that early versions of bills often didn't make it onto the state's website archives, especially as far back as 2001. Under normal circumstances, I would simply direct you there, because more recent sessions have been much more thoroughly archived.
I can't give out anyone's phone number, but you can feel free to try to contact my sources. As for taking the word of some blog, I'm sorry that I can't be of more assistance.
It is true, however. I was there. But you would do well to take the word of 2 former legislators who are prominent Republicans. By the way, they are in the overwhelming majority of Republicans in Arkansas, as am I, who do not support Mike Huckabee.
Besides this specific bill, Huckabee supported college scholarships and in-state tuition for illegal aliens. He opposed implementing 287(g) by the Arkansas State Police and called those of us (the majority of Arkansans) who did not want to spend taxpayer money on benefits for illegal aliens racists and bigots and bad Christians.
Please, look around my blog. I have documented much of this quite thoroughly and will be covering more in the weeks to come.
Jim Rob says: "Joe Carter, you and Gary Glenn have been at found at the heart of a multitude of misinformed smears all year."
Sounds pretty whiny to me, Jim Bob. And also false.
But please, just so we can once again make sure the truth is told, please identify a "misinformed smear" or two.
Be sure to provide documentation of anything you falsely allege to be a smear, since all statements I make will be documented (as they have been all year).
Huckabee’s Liabilities
Politico.com ( http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/7000.html ) and others have reported that Mike Huckabee has had 14 ethics complaints filed against him, yielding 5 admonitions and $1,000 in fines from the Arkansas Ethics Commission. Instead of cooperating with the Arkansas Ethics Commission, Huckabee twice filed lawsuits to shut it down.
On a number of occasions, Huckabee failed to report cash payments he made to himself. For example, according to The Associated Press ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15853756/ ), Huckabee received, but failed to report, “$43,150 from his 1994 lieutenant governor's campaign for use of his personal airplane, $14,000 Janet Huckabee received from his 1992 U.S. Senate campaign, and $23,500 from a tax-exempt organization he incorporated with others in 1994, but whose funding source isn't known…”
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Huckabee “depleted the governor's office emergency fund in the final weeks of his administration in part to pay for the destruction of computer hard drives in his office.”
According to a recent article in National Review ( http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZGMxOGI1ZjIwYzgwNDRiNzEzYzI1NmI5NjFiZGM4MjE= ), Huckabee had a penchant for accepting gifts while serving in public office. “A $200 stadium blanket, $250 in dental care, a $600 chainsaw, and a $3,700 pair of cowboy boots were among 300 gratuities Huckabee accepted totaling $130,000. Like the Clintons loading their moving van with White House antiques, Huckabee tried to claim for himself some $70,000 in furniture donated to the governor’s mansion.”
Federal Level:
2006: Supported President Bush's immigration plan and claimed that opposition to Bush's proposal was driven by "racism or nativism" and that it wasn't amnesty. (Ralph Hallow, "Huckabee 'Serious' About Presidency," Washington Times, 5/17/06)
Wrote in his 2007 book that implementing strict enforcement of immigration laws "would be sheer folly" and that it made sense to give "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." (Mike Huckabee, From Hope to Higher Ground, 2007, p. 117-118)
Huckabee has released a 9-point immigration plan as a cornerstone of his 2008 presidential campaign. It is disingenuous at best, deceitful at worst. His plan repeal the current law of multi-year baring of illegals to re-enter the U.S. for illegals who register during a 120-day period with Homeland Security and temporarily exit the country (for only a few days, at most). It is also highly likely that many would not even leave the country but would be allowed to go to their nearest consulate on American soil for paperwork.
They would face no penalty if they apply to immigrate back to U.S. (they'd be back in within just days). He would not utilize the current processing and vetting of immigrant applications (too slow for him and their illegal employers) but would set up special processing for these ‘special case formerly illegal’ immigrants. He also would reward these lawbreakers (and their law-breaking employers) by legalizing the former illegal and then returning them quickly which would allow the aliens to keep the very jobs they broke into the country and took. The employer of the illegal alien would be without his worker for only a few days at most and upon their return would have the extra bonus of a newly minted legal employee. This whole process is known as Huckabee’s “touchback” provision, though Huckabee dodges the question if asked directly, which almost no one in the media has done.
http://www.alipac.us/article-2786-thread-1-0.html
Huckabee has the backing of the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) which is a globalist, open borders, international world government organization headquarted in New York. The CFR's increased focus on Huckabee began with a speech on foreign policy posted September 28 on the Council on Foreign Relations website: http://www.cfr.org/publication/14335/mike_huckabees_speech_on_foreign_policy.html
The Sept. 28 speech, delivered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., focused entirely on foreign policy, portraying Huckabee as a supporter of Bush administration policy in Iraq and for the golbalist agenda. Curiously, the sudden rise in Huckabee’s surge in the polls coincided with the CFR’s backing.
In Arkansas:
As Governor, Huckabee fought for in-state tuition and taxpayer funded scholarships for illegal immigrants. He championed an effort in Arkansas to give in-state tuition at state colleges and taxpayer-funded scholarships to illegal immigrants, similar to the DREAM Act proposal at the federal level. (Laura Kellams, "Senators research U.S. law on aliens," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/27/05)
During the 2001 regular session of the Arkansas Legislature, Mike Huckabee supported giving driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Huckabee's spokesman during the entire process was Robert Trevino, Arkansas liason to the Department of Human Services. At the same time that he held this state position, Trevino was also the director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). This group is a large, well funded advocacy group, of which part of their platform is advocacy for illegal aliens and reduced immigration enforcement and border controls. They explicitly campaign for amnesty and oppose any efforts of immigration control in order to maximize Latino voting power. In June 2005, Huckabee was the keynote speaker at the national LULAC convention in Little Rock and in his speech advocated for open borders and amnesty. He also called immigration enforcement efforts within the U.S. as “un-Christian, un-American, irresponsible and anti-life.”
http://dhgrassrevolt.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/mike-huckabee-advocating-open-borders-at-lulac-convention-in-2005/
http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:MXP_N1c68ewJ:arkjournal.com/2007/11/newsflash-mike-huckabee-supported-bill.html+Arkansas+Journal+blog&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us
He opposed legislation to require proof of citizenship in order to obtain public benefits and to vote. When Republican state senators in Arkansas proposed legislation modeled after Arizona's Proposition 200 [to require proof of citizenship for voting and public benefits], "Huckabee described it as 'inflammatory ... race-baiting ... demagoguery.' He said the bill, which seeks to forbid public assistance and voting rights to illegal immigrants, 'inflames those who are racist and bigots and makes them think there's a real problem. But there's not.'" (Governor says anti-illegals measure could scare off companies like Toyota," Associated Press, 2/3/05)
Huckabee opposed a raid on illegal immigrants in an Arkansas poultry plant even though calls to his office were "about 1,000 to one" against his stance. (Melissa Nelson, "Huckabee Risks Political Fortunes To Denounce Immigration Raid," Associated Press, 8/5/05)
Helped lead the effort to open a Mexican Consulate in Little Rock to issue Matricula Consular cards to Mexicans living in the U.S. (including those in the U.S. illegally). Many banks, including some in Arkansas, accept the card as a valid form of identification. (Jon Gambrell, "Ark. Candidates Criticize Mexican Matricula Cards," AP, 10/18/06)
http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/742931899.html
In order to draw a Mexican Consulate to Little Rock, Huckabee huddled with some of the state's most prominent and politically powerful businesses to draw illegal immigrants to Arkansas to provide employers (mainly agricultural, meat processing and packing plants and Wal-Mart) with a large force of cheap foreign labor. Huckabee even went so far as to travel to Mexico in October 2003 to cement relationships with Vicente Fox, then Mexico’s president, to establish the Mexico – Little Rock connection. Additionally disturbing is that Huckabee enticed Mexico to Arkansas with a practically free use of office space (actually a paltry $1 per year lease) as their consulate was being built. Huckabee facilitated a consortium of Arkansas corporations pledge to fund the building costs of the consulate AND to financially support Mexico’s presence there during the first three years.
"Huckabee's real goal was to create the Mexican consulate as a magnet to bring illegal alien workers into the state," McCutchen said, "to benefit companies like Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart, OK Foods, Simmons Foods, George’s Farms, Inc. and a host of smaller operations who wanted to employ the illegals for their cheap labor."
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58430
For 10 years, as governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee supported amnesty and taxpayer-financed welfare and health care for illegal aliens and increased taxes numerous times. Now, after sniffing the political winds, he poses as tough on illegal aliens and a tax-whacker. It is not that uncommon for candidates to state things that are politically expedient to get elected, then revert back to their DNA exhibited from their past records after reaching office. Huckabee’s past record is one of coddling illegal aliens, hiking taxes, shady ethics and liberal use of his power of pardon that enabled some rapists and murder’s to ply their trade once again after hitting the streets.
To deny illegal aliens tax-paid welfare and health care, plus low in state college tuition rates, would not be “Christian,” Huckabee said many times. The Arkansas Journal blog has uncovered a video showing Huckabee begging the state legislature to raise taxes. He says: “Some have suggested [increasing the tax on tobacco at the retail level]. If that ends up being your preference, I will accept that. Others have suggested a surcharge on the income tax; that’s acceptable; I’m fine with that. “Others have suggested, perhaps, a sales tax; that’s fine. Yet others have suggested a hybrid that will collect some monies from any one or a combination of these various ideas, and if that’s the plan that the House and Senate agree upon, then you will have nothing but my profound thanks.”
During his time as Arkansas governor, a net increase of taxes to the tune of $505 million dollars was leveled on the citizens of Arkansas. (Sean Hannity radio show during a live interview with Huckabee on January 4, 2008)
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Arkansas Treatment Centers
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