Huckabee's Stolen Immigration Plan
By Money Posted in 2008 — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
It's almost always cheaper, faster, and easier to plagiarize someone else's answers to a complex question than generate your own. However, expediency is not among the most important virtues we seek in candidates for the President of the United States.
Sometimes plagiarism can go undetected for years or never get discovered at all. Unfortunately for the thief, when the plagiarized answers are published on a Presidential frontrunner's website, instead of a term paper, it is easier for others to detect.
It becomes easier still when the numerous plagiarized passages are ripped from a published editorial in one of the most prominent conservative magazine in America.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/11/AR200801...
I don't know which bothers me more: that Mike Huckabee flagrantly stole an immigration plan when it became apparent that he didn't really have one, or that more than a year into his presidential bid he didn't really have one.
______________________________________
Proud member of the Barry Goldwater wing of the party !
But this is basically a pundit's or blogger's dream come true. Could Kirkorian possibly ask for more?
It does, however, point to the fact that running a POTUS campaign is supposed to involve supervising a policymaking team, just as is true of running the Executive Branch. Huck can't afford to hire a team, so insteadhe has to turn to the pundit class.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
This is a silly debate. There's no "gotcha" moment here. Gov Huckabee publicly revealed the source of the plan when he first announced it.
Trying to imply that he had no position on illegal immigration until late in the campaign is also misleading. His position was clearly stated on his website from the beginning. When he came under attack as the primaries heated up and scrutiny increased, he responded promptly by posting the broader 9-point plan to answer critics who were asking for more details on what specifically he would do as president.
Are you suggesting the measure of a president is a person who has entirely original ideas for every problem and personally writes down detailed policy plans for each one? Do you honestly think that's what the other candidates are doing? Would you even want that of a candidate?
I have problems with candidates who seem to shift with the political wind, changing their principles each time they open their mouths. I also have issues with politicians who seem to lack their own convictions. You can criticize Huckabee on other points, but he is neither of these. To suggest he's a lightweight because he openly embraced policies for illegal immigration that he didn't invent himself is nuts.
1) Do you ahvea source for this alleged announcement?
2) This previous so-called "plan" was what exactly? All I remember is the Golden Rule and not punishing the children.
3) Shifting with the political winds is precisely what Huckabee has done on his immigration and foreign policy. He was somewhere between squishy (Golden Rule) and incompetent (Foreign Affairs) on both until he "got tough" with his stolen immigration plan and his "gates of hell" comment.
--
"If you're looking for a real conservative, why are you supporting Huckabee? He's completely discredited himself. What about Fred Thompson? If you're looking for a real conservative?" -- Rush Limbaugh (1/7/08)
Why bother to come up with your own plans when you have no intention of actually doing anything with them, should you get elected? The only reason he comes up with any plan is to deflect attention from his awful record. That's what he did with the FairTax, and that's what his immigration plan is all about.
---
Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. - Milton Friedman
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=26
Note: This plan is partially modeled on a proposal by Mark Krikorian, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies. ("Re: Immigration: Ten Points for a Successful Presidential Candidate," National Review, May 23, 2005.)
The website does in fact say "partially modeled". A more proper attribution would have been "mostly stolen". What's more important, however is that Mr. Huckabee gave no credit during his debate performance on national television.
"I have created a nine point immigration policy that says there is a 120 day period in which people go to their home country and start the process from the back of the line."
--Mike Huckabee, Republican Debate, Myrtle Beach, S.C., Jan. 10, 2008.
Furthermore, as noted in my comments above, it is revealing that he moved from a very soft immigration stance during the November debates to this plan as soon as he began receiving criticism.
Dishonest? Disingenuous? Opportunistic? You Decide.
--
"If you're looking for a real conservative, why are you supporting Huckabee? He's completely discredited himself. What about Fred Thompson? If you're looking for a real conservative?" -- Rush Limbaugh (1/7/08)
One can only wonder how the Huckabots will spin/deflect/deny this.