© 2024 Iowa Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Huckabee Calls IRS a Criminal Enterprise

Photo by John Pemble

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was the first in a long line of presidential candidates to take the microphone at the Des Moines Register’s State Fair soapbox Thursday morning.

The surprise winner of the Iowa Republican Caucus in 2008 is building this campaign around what he calls “truly major changes” to the nation’s income tax system.

“Like get the Fair Tax passed and quit punishing people for their work." he says. "And once and for all get rid of the criminal enterprise known as the Internal Revenue Service. Let’s be rid of them.”

After taking a break to be a political commentator on Fox News, Huckabee now makes the case for why he wants to be president.

“I want us to have the best military, the best economy, and the best standard of right-and-wrong morality that any country has ever had in the history of civilization,” he says.

Before a crowd of at least two hundred, Huckabee also pledged to protect Social Security and Medicare, and urged support of the arts in education.