Hoo Bee This Huckabee?

Seeing as he won the Iowa caucus for the Republican party, what are his policies?

Tax

Abolish Federal Income Tax
Introduce a 'Fair Tax', a consumption tax, with a rebate to all set at the poverty line
Pro globalisation and free trade, so long as it's fair (not sure what he means there!)

Healthcare

Move from employer-based to consumer based healthcare, putting people in control

Educations

Wants to see poorly performing teachers fired. Supports charter schools. Still likes state control and has strong views on what should be taught and how.

War on Terror

Believes in war on terror as an 'ideological war' of of the world. Is intent on 'winning'.

Other

Secure the borders, get tough in immigration
Supports 'right to life. Opposed to stem cell research.
Supports traditional marriage 'between one man and one woman'.
Big on energy independence, including through use of alternative energy.
Opposes gun control.

So in all it is not a bad policy list. Not as libertarian as I would like to see but certainly bold enough to move in the right direction. For us limey's over here in blighty it seems incredibly radical. Abolishing the income tax? That would ruffle a few feathers at cream teas down the women's institute!! The cries of 'but who is going to help the vulnerable' and 'burn the rich' can be heard reverberating around the towns and villages. The torch of liberty shines dim in this socialist hell hole we call Britain!

UPDATE:

Prize cunt de jour, Tim Watkins, spouts utter bollocks over at Comment is Free with regard to Huckabee's fair tax plans...

In any other western democracy, being a flat-taxer would put Huckabee at the outer limits of political sanity. The detail is complicated, but the concept is as simple as the name suggests: an end to a progressive income tax, an end to the consensus that those who can afford to contribute more to the good order and running of society should pay more than those struggling to get by. Outside of the former Soviet states, a flat tax system is a political non-starter for the simple reason that asking you, me and Bill Gates to pay the same tax rate on either our income or the goods and services we buy, would destabilise a country's economy, government spending and social cohesion.

Is this bloke fucking serious? 'destabilise the economy', what is this fucking moron drinking? No mention of the rebate that households will receive so that poor people will end up paying less tax. No, that would destroy his argument. But he does drop it in later on with an attempt to dismiss it as an impossibility by telling us it can never be implemented...

There are any number of practical reasons why a flat tax is a bad idea in practice. For one, switching to the Fair Tax - that is, an effective 30% tax rate on every purchase, with rebates paid in advance on purchases up to the poverty level - would mean repealing the 16th amendment of the US constitution, which empowers Congress to "collect taxes on incomes", but not consumption. Huckabee's as likely to get the constitution amended for tax reform as he is to walk on water. (Some commentators, such as Dean Baker in Comment is Free earlier this week, point out that in reality the rate could climb as high as 40%.) For another, government services would depend on people continually increasing their spending at a time in history when we need to learn to live sustainably and save more

Er...the constitution was amended to allow direct taxation, so why not indirect? And what kind of economically illiterate and intellectually retarded cunt thinks spending must increase to finance government spending? Firstly, the economy grows. Secondly, inflation only spending increases will not require more tax revenue. The fair tax is also not designed to replace all taxation, just direct, leaving ample room for manoeuvre.

Where does CiF find these amoeba-brain transplants patients? Why can't he just fuck off and live in a communist commune in a small part of the vast American country and leave the rest of us alone to get on with our lives?