Joe the Plumber was certainly on to something when he got then-candidate Barack Obama to admit he wanted to redistribute the wealth, according to former Republican presidential candidate and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
Huckabee, who now hosts a show aired on the weekends on the Fox News Channel, told "On The Record" host Greta Van Sustren on Nov. 16 that Obama's policies go beyond just the redistribution of wealth, especially on health care. He likened a provision in the House health care bill that would require people to have some sort of health care coverage to a "poll tax."
"[W]hile we really wish [the president's priorities] were recovery, getting jobs back - that's the number one thing we ought to be focused on - but it appears to be redistribution," Huckabee said. "That's what's going on in the health care world, where we're trying to make sure that we've redistributed health care, taking it from people who have it, taking from them, giving it to people who may not even desire to have it, and forcing people into an unconstitutional system where they're going to have to virtually pay into a private marketplace in order to get full rights of citizenship. It's the equivalent of a poll tax."
And it goes far beyond health care, Huckabee explained.
"But we're also seeing this whole idea of redistribution, even in terms of world power - the United States no longer really intent on being a superpower but spreading the power around," Huckabee said. "We have a president bowing to Japanese emperors, dismantling our missile forces in Eastern Europe. There are many signs of it. And a friend of mine in San Francisco said that the difference is redistribution versus recovery. I think she's right, think she's on to something, and it's probably not in the best interests of the people of the United States."
Huckabee told viewers he thought Obama was well-intentioned, but was simply wrong in his policy decisions.
"I think he really wants there to be peace on earth, good will toward men," he said. "But the fact is, you don't create jobs by putting the government in a position where it starts picking winners and losers in the marketplace, anymore than you have a good football game when the referees start deciding the outcome, rather than just simply making sure that game is being played fairly."
Van Sustren asserted Obama wanted "full employment," and Huckabee said he agreed. However, he explained that Obama is creating a sense of insecurity and that insecurity is making small business owners reluctant to hire people back and improve unemployment, and by extension the economic recovery.
"Small business owners across America, Greta - and believe me, I'm on a 64-city book tour in three weeks," Huckabee replied. "I'm talking to thousands of people firsthand, face to face. Every small business owner says, ‘I'm laying people off. I'm hunkering down because I have no idea what the government is about to do to me'."
The uncertainty stems from a fear of increased taxes and regulations, in addition to a lack of available credit.
"That is the kind of action on the part of the government, whether it's fear of more taxes, fear of greater regulation, fear of the lack of credit so they can't put a floor plan together and stock inventory - this is the kind of stuff that kills jobs, it doesn't bring them back," Huckabee said. "Now, do I think the Obama administration wants to do good things? I really do. But I just think they're going about it in the worst possible way if they're really serious about recovery."
