Huckabee Hearts the Tax Pledge

By and large, I very much like what I've seen from Mike Huckabee thus far.  As I noted back in January after attending a "book launching" reception for the former Governor, the only significant loose end was his commitment to pro-growth fiscal policies.

As I put it, rather eloquently:

From what I know of it, Huckabee's fiscal record is mixed.  In Cato's and Club for Growth's opinions, the record is worse than mixed.  It's downright bad.  And those are groups I'm loathe to quibble with.  But Arkansas is weird, just like any state is weird.  Given the rest of Huckabee's admirable CV, I'm willing to reserve judgment on just how pro-growth or anti-growth he is until he formally declares and goes on the record about things like the estate tax, the 2003 investment income tax cuts, personal income tax rates, corporate income tax rates, entitlement spending, earmarks, price controls, protectionism, and all the rest of it.  I'd like to believe (and until I hear otherwise, I'm choosing to believe) that his metaphor about the American people no longer eating the dog food coming from the Republican Party refers to the spendocracy that has festered under the GOP's watch and that his calling them out on it portends a newly federally focused Mike Huckabee, who will favor us all with savory pro-growth fiscal rhetoric at every turn.  Time will tell.

Time, it would appear, is beginning to tell.

Today, Huckabee delivered his signed copy of the Americans for Tax Reform "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" to ATF President Grover Norquist himself.

“Having already been a longtime supporter of ending the death tax and cutting 90 taxes while governor, it was not difficult to pledge not to raise the income tax rates at the federal level,” Huckabee said.

By signing the pledge, Huckabee agreed to “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses … and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.”

Some folks are carping about the fact that he didn't sign it until now, coming around later than Romney, Gilmore, Hunter, Tancredo, and Brownback.  Still, the document is now equally signed by Huckabee with identical language.  So far as I can tell, we're still waiting on both McCain and Giuliani, so Huckabee's having the gall to wait until just 20 months before Election Day before signing is perhaps a forgivable delay after all.

As far as I'm concerned, signing the ATR pledge put a big piece of the puzzle into place for Huckabee and I welcome him with redoubled hospitality into the Ring of Three, where he sits alongside Romney and Giuliani as one of only three viable and desirable declared candidates, all demonstrably effective political executives with economic and security policy portfolios which - while still coming into focus - appear to be falling nicely into place.  Each comes complete with a compelling political biography and is more telegenic and inspirational to listen to than anyone in the opposing field.

To Romney's comparative credit, he not only signed the pledge as quickly as he could get his mitts (pun!) on it, but he announced at CPAC (and possibly earlier, but it was at CPAC that I first heard it) a very specific pro-growth policy that ranks in my book as the single greatest policy proposal offered by any candidate to date - namely, a commitment to lower the federal capital gains and dividend income tax rate (which President Bush so shrewdly and wonderfully lowered to 15% in 2003, offering us the remarkably robust and resilient economy we've all enjoyed in the 3.5 years since its enactment, notwithstanding the headwinds of high energy prices, war, terrorism, etc.) to 0%.  As incredibly beneficial as the Bush tax cuts have been to each and every American economic stratum, there's still a lot of dry powder there.  Or still-bagged Miracle Gro.  Or unpoured jet fuel.  Take your pick.  The point is: eliminating this class of taxation (which is inherently a double taxation to begin with) would unlock untold additional sustainable growth and yield still more resiliency to the American economy, further improving standards of living across the economic spectrum.  Whether it's politically feasible is of course a very different story.  Congress seems to be having a hard enough time just making the 2003 cuts permanent, so convincing them to embrace this palpably and unmistakably good idea may be a tall order.  Still, the fact that Romney gets it and is willing and able to express it so explicitly earns him temporary status as the captain of the GOP triumverate.

I thought this post was about Mike Huckabee... I guess I got distracted.  Distracted by the splendor and majesty of investment income tax cuts.  Kudos on signing the pledge, Governor!