Short Blogging Break

Dear Fellow Huckabeelievers,

I regret to say that I need to take a break from Huckabee blogging through November 6. I am very busy at work and must devote all my "extracurricular" time over the next 2 weeks to helping Republicans keep control of the Virginia Senate and avert a redistricting nightmare in 2010.

After election night, I plan to be back in the Huckosphere in full force. In the meantime, if you, dear reader, live in the DC Metro area, particularly Fairfax County, and want to help me turn out the beleaguered Republican voters in Fairfax, please email me and I am sure I can point you to a volunteer opportunity that fits your time availability.

Today's Message for Huckabee Supporters

Today's scripture readings from the Catholic lectionary are so apt that we should all take them to heart as we go forward from now until primary season.

Exodus 17:8-13

In those days Amalek came and waged war against Israel. Moses, therefore, said to Joshua, "Pick out certain men, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle after Moses had climbed to the top of the hill with Aaron and Hur. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses' hands, however, grew tired, so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meawhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, on on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Psalm 121

I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
From where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
God will not allow your foot to slip;
your guardian does not sleep.
Truly, the guardian of Israel
never slumbers nor sleeps.
The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
By day the sun cannot harm you,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will guard you from all evil,
will always guard your life.
The Lord will guard your coming and going
both now and forever.

2 Timothy 3:14-4:2

Beloved: Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'" The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer
them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

Let us prop up the arms of Governor Huckabee with our prayers, thank the Lord his training in the Scripture has made him so competent to lead our great nation, and persist in demanding justice of the earthly judges too!

Washington Briefing a Resounding Success!

I just got home an hour ago from the Washington Briefing. This event was a resounding success! Thanks so much to everyone who came, everyone who voted online, and everyone who prayed for Mike Huckabee.

You may have already seen the results of the straw poll - Romney narrowly edged out Huckabee by 0.5% of overall vote - after sending emails to supporters nationwide yesterday telling them to vote online. But Huckabee beat Romney by a 5 to 1 margin among onsite voters, and won 51% of the vote with 9 Republicans on the ballot (and the Democrats too, but this isn't really "their crowd," shall we say).

You also may have read the summary of Huckabee's speech posted by Erick at Redstate and reposted on the Huckabee website. I think this is quite accurate, but want to add a couple points:

• The crowd who went nuts at the beginning and wouldn't stop cheering weren't Arkansas folks. They were Huckabee supporters from all over the country. In fact, I didn't meet a single Huckabee supporter from Arkansas there! (Not that there weren't any, but no one I talked with and asked where they were from said Arkansas.)
• Huckabee got more standing ovations than all of the other Presidential candidates combined! Most of the others got one or two, at best. Huckabee's speech was interrupted by standing ovations so many times that the supporter next to me quipped we were practicing for Huckabee's first State of the Union address.
• Mike's mention of Jesus raising Lazarus was near the end of a litany of Biblical examples of the underdog winning or the impossible happening by the power of God. He started saying that his upbringing taught him that he'd rather be David than Goliath, a good reference to his position right now in terms of fundraising versus real strength as a candidate.

The energy on the ground there was amazing. Yesterday the Huckabee supporters who had coordinated online were handing out pins to people who saw ours and asked for them, and quickly ran out of the 50 or so we had. We were the only ones with a real grassroots there. Thompson brought an entourage that handed out stuff for an hour or two before he spoke, and quickly disappeared afterwards. Romney brought a much bigger entourage yesterday evening, but again, there were only a handful of Romney supporters there the rest of the time. We were all over the floor and growing every hour. Janet Folger was pigeonholing all the big-wigs and handing out color graphs of Huckabee's 63% win at the Value Voters debate in Florida a month ago. Three Huckabee supporters sharing a hotel room stayed up into the wee hours Friday night to put together an excellent flier in support of Huckabee that they handed out to conference-goers as they entered early Saturday morning. Huckabee inspires so much energy from his supporters, I think that alone might be the answer to energy independence. :)

After the speech, Huckabee met for little while with bloggers and other supporters and did a Q&A session, before moving on to the official media meeting. One question was about the difficulty he has had in getting leaders of his own faith to support him. Mike said that the problem was that these leaders seemed to think their job is to handicap the horserace. He said "you should be backing the horse you have, and feeding it." Several people wrote checks on the spot.

This was a great, great day for the Huckabee campaign. Thanks again for everyone who contributed their time, prayers, and votes!

A final important point: after this weekend, Fred Thompson is toast. He is in the race only to be an "electable other" for social conservatives instead of Romney. The social conservatives have spoken: Thompson is a dud. He received only 8% of the onsite vote; and only 10% overall--i.e. including people who didn't see him speak and compare with the other candidates. Many people who had walked into the event leaning or even supporting Thompson left supporting Huckabee. If Thompson bores the conservative base and his share of their votes sits in the cellar, he has no purpose in this campaign.

It's really clear now: there are only two possibilities for the social conservatives to coalesce around to make sure that Rudy Giuliani does not hijack the GOP with a minority faction. Romney or Huckabee. Will the opinion leaders of the conservatives focus on Romney's narrow win of a straw poll with virtually no checks against bias, his big warchest, and his saying all the right things to the value voters, even if the crowd is skeptical and feels pandered to? Or will they focus on Huckabee's gathering momentum, the fact he has won a clear majority in a straw poll of values voters where all the GOP candidates had 15-20 minutes to air their positions, and the fact he energizes the crowd and grassroots far more than any other candidate?

Pray, pray hard that it is the latter. We're with David!

Washington Briefing Only 2 Days Away

The FRC Action Washington Briefing begins this Friday morning! Here is some key information if you're planning to attend or still thinking about attending:

• If you have not already received an email from me about plans for meeting up with other Huckabee supporters, then you haven't previously emailed me to let me know you're coming. Please email me now and get on the distribution list for these important bulletins. (I will not post this information on the blog.)

• After Mike Huckabee speaks on Saturday morning (approximately 11:00 a.m.), there will be an exclusive opportunity for Huckabee supporters to meet Governor Huckabee in person at 11:45 a.m. Again, you need to get on my email distribution list to get the details.

• If you haven't already registered for the conference, the online registration is now CLOSED. It says you can register on site when you get there. If you can't afford the $95 registration fee (particularly if you can only come Saturday), nothing is to stop you from coming to the hotel and talking with people in the hallways and meeting up with other Huckabee supporters in the public areas of the hotel, but you won't be able to get into the plenary sessions where Huckabee and other Presidential contenders will be giving their speeches (not including the exclusive meeting for Huckabee supporters), and you can't vote in the straw poll in person. If this is you, please be sure to join FRC Action for as little as $1 and vote in the straw poll online before Saturday.

Persuading Politicos Part 3: Find Your Target Audience

So you're in a hotel with a bunch of "headliners" like Dr. Dobson, Dr. Land, and Sean Hannity, and you're trying to convince these people to support Mike Huckabee for President. If, at the end of the day, you have not spoken to any of these people, should you be disappointed? NO. Because...


Rule #3: The best way to a leader's heart is through his or her aides, members or friends.


If you really want to talk directly to a "headliner," I am not discouraging you from going for it. But you may find it hard to get to him physically, and when you do, you will only get 15-30 seconds to talk, unless you know him personally or you're introduced by someone who does. Don't expect a real conversation to happen, as the "headliner" is likely to nod politely and quickly move on to the next person.


So what's the point in going to the Washington Briefing? Mostly to talk with employees, aides, and friends of the leaders and active-but-not-famous members of influential groups. In other words, the best targets for an audience are the "ordinary" people who will actually give you a few minutes of time, but who in turn have greater clout with leaders.


Let's put it this way: when you're a lobbyist on Capitol Hill, you meet and talk with Congressional staff about 25-50 times for every one time you meet with a Member of Congress! We wouldn't do it this way if it convincing aides weren't highly effective.

Members of Congress and others in leadership positions simply don't have the time to process all the detailed information they need to make informed decisions. So they rely on trusted advisers to distill information and recommend a course of action. Convince the advisor, and you have about a 90% chance you've convinced the leader, even though you've never talked to him or her.

So how to figure out who the advisers are? Some ideas:

• Watch the people standing close to the leader before and after a speech, looking official, or chatting it up like an old friend. Remember what that person looks like and introduce yourself later.
• Go to a group's booth at the exhibit hall and talk with anyone there looking older than college age. (Powerful political aids can be as young as their mid-to-late 20s.) Ask about what that person does, and either try to convince him or her or fish for an invitation to meet someone higher up in the organization.
• Rely on Providence--pray you'll meet the right people and then just go out there, shake hands, and ask people where they work or what brings them to the convention.

Especially when it comes to the last tactic, it helps to have as many Huckabee supporters attending the Washington Briefing as possible, so we can fan out. Again, if you are planning to come, please email me so I can coordinate meeting places, carpooling, etc. I'm still looking for someone driving from/through/near Norfolk Virginia, and also have received word that a couple of guys will have an extra space in their hotel room for a "Christian young man." So please let me know if you can help or need help in transportation or lodging.

Persuading Politicos Part 2: Dress for Success

Today's installment of tips for persuading GOP activists to support Huckabee at the Washington Briefing and similar events may be self-evident to a lot of people, but you know what they say about assuming, so here it is:

Rule #2: Dress Professionally and Wear a Tasteful Pin. [Updated 10/15]

The Washington Briefing is not the place to advertise your support for Huckabee with a t-shirt or baseball cap. This event is more a business convention than a pep rally. Dress as if you're going to work at a professional job, and advertise your Huckabee support with a button pin. You can buy them at the Huckabee Store, or you can get one from me (I bought 10-packs of 3 different designs) if you email me so we can arrange to meet up when you first arrive at the Washington Briefing.

Washington, DC is a very conservative town when it comes to dress. Politicos are more likely to listen to you if they think you're "one of them" and "professional" (again, fair or not, this is reality). Politicos usually go all out for suits, but the Washington Briefing registration materials suggest "business casual" dress for the daytime sessions, so you could go either way.

• Men: Khakis, button-down shirt and sport jackets are a great look. Black/navy/dark gray suits give you a professional-looking edge. At the very least wear a long sleeve solid color button-down shirt.
  
• Women: Anything professional-looking will work for ladies--suits, skirts, nice pants, colors, solids, patterns. Just keep it modest--don't commit a Jeri Thompson-esq faux pas by dressing for Hollywood or Miami.
  
• Both: Scent is not a part of dressing professionally. In this town, janitors and 20-somethings going to clubs wear cologne and perfume; professionals do not.

And finally, if you can't make it to Washington October 19-20, be sure to join FRC Action and cast your Presidential straw poll vote online, and encourage others to do the same with FRC Action Straw Poll Voter Drive.

Persuading Politicos Part 1: Don't Be a Single-Issue Voter

As I promised in an earlier post about the Washington Briefing, this is the first in a series of tips on "lobbying" -- how to maximize your effectiveness in persuading GOP activists to support Huckabee.

The goal here is to show that Huckabee's supporters are thoughtful, realistic, mainstream conservatives. As evidenced by the Ron Paul movement, having a lot of very active, true believer supporters doesn't translate into electability if the supporters are perceived as being "fringe."

And with that introduction...

Rule #1: Don't be a single-issue voter.

Single-issue candidates don't win elections or know how to govern the country. So if you want your candidate to have credibility, do not tell people you support him because of one key issue. Otherwise, the listener may conclude that your candidate is a single-issue candidate because you are a single-issue supporter. (Fair or not, that is reality.)

Take a tip from the preachers: always list three different issues that are important to you when explaining your support. Two is fine sometimes, but more than three is too much information for the listener to process, while one issue is too narrow.

Example: What NOT to Say

"I support Mike Huckabee for President because he supports the Fair Tax. Let me explain to you what the Fair Tax is and why it's good for America..."

Problem: Even though you may be prepared to list 3 reasons you support the Fair Tax, it still makes Huckabee look like a single-issue candidate. Even worse, the listener may not care much about this one issue, or may even actively oppose it, causing him or her to oppose Huckabee.

Example: What You Should Say

"I support Mike Huckabee because he is the most charismatic and likable candidate who consistently supports core conservative values such as low and fair taxation, the right to life, and securing our nation's borders. He had an amazing track record as Governor of Arkansas, lowering taxes, enacting covenant marriage, and even winning elections in a traditionally Democratic state with nearly half of the African-American vote."

Why this is effective: You made 3 big points, each supported by 3 subpoints, all within less than 30 seconds!
1) Huckabee is highly electable.
a) He is charismatic
b) He is likable
c) He won Arkansas elections in a Democratic-leaning environment
2) Huckabee takes solid conservative positions.
a) He supports low and fair taxation (note: you are supporting the Fair Tax without using a buzz word that may set off alarm bells for the listener)
b) He is pro-life
c) He wants to secure our borders against illegal immigration
3) Huckabee has a strong track-record as the executive of a State.
a) He lowered taxes
b) He enacted covenant marriage
c) He won the support of a broad spectrum of Arkansas voters
(Yes, 1.c and 3.c are double-dipping, but that's not a bad thing! Keeping it concise but positive-information-packed is good.)

Check back tomorrow for the next installment of Persuading Politicos. And don't forget to email me if you're planning to attend the Washington Briefing or want to know if anyone else in your area is planning to go. (Make sure to register ASAP!) I am working to arrange a meet-up for Huckabee supporters and am also happy to give travel tips for out-of-towners.

(Speaking of which, I have a request for a ride from the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Anyone coming from there or passing through?)

Go Huckabee!!

Washington Briefing - Important Scheduling Update

Over the weekend, the posted schedule for FRC Action's Washington Briefing changed. Now Mike Huckabee is scheduled to speak on Saturday morning, with the straw poll voting continuing until 1:00 p.m. Saturday.

This is good news if you couldn't take off work on Friday but you can make it to DC for Saturday, October 20. Now you can see Huckabee speak and vote in person.

The bad news is that Huckabee won't be able to speak until a couple hours before the straw poll voting closes. This means it is extremely important that everyone who can attend on Friday urge as many other conference-goers as possible to consider Huckabee as a viable, electable candidate and to come listen to Huckabee on Saturday morning before committing to any other candidate.

This is also another reason why everyone who cannot attend at all should join FRC Action and vote in the Presidential straw poll online, and urge your friends and family to do so as well. The new schedule disadvantages Huckabee among conference-goers, so the online community needs to make up for the stacked deck. (See One Mom and I Heart Huckabee for more ideas on getting out the online vote.)

October 19 - Why Your Country Needs YOU in Washington

Reported today in the Washington Times:

Fifth-ranked in the polls, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has backing of the leaders of many small-to-medium sized evangelical congregations and interest groups but not the most widely influential leaders like [American Family Association (AFA) Chairman Donald Wildmon] and Dr. Dobson.

"It would seem that Christian leaders could well rally around Mike Huckabee if they are in search of a candidate they like," said Republican election-law attorney Cleta Mitchell. "It isn't as though there isn't any candidate they could support." Mrs. Mitchell supports no candidate but thinks Mr. Huckabee "is actually a pretty impressive candidate and is doing a credible job of making his presence felt in this race."

Mr. Wildmon agreed. "Could the social-conservative leaders support Huckabee? Yes. Have they done so yet? No," he said, adding that he is "part of a group who have pledged not to go public to endorse anybody until the end of October." If current alignments haven't changed by then, however, public declarations of fealty will reveal a badly splintered Christian right.

My friends, why do you think they're holding out until the end of October? I'd venture to say because the biggest national conclave of Christian conservatives is slated for October 19-20 in Washington, DC, and they want to test the waters there first.

If you read the rest of the Washington Times article, it discusses how Fred Thompson has failed to become the rallying point for Christian conservatives, and Evangelicals are afraid of Romney's Mormon faith, leaving them deeply divided or undecided between the two not-so-attractive candidates.

Our country needs us to do everything we can to get the Christian conservative bloc to rally around Mike Huckabee. If you're pro-life then anything else will be a disaster. Neither Thompson nor Romney can rally the base well enough to beat Hillary Clinton, and of course Giuliani is openly contemptuous of pro-lifers and family values. If Giuliani is nominated, then approximately half of Americans will have no party head to voice their deeply-held belief that all human beings possess the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And of course, a third party candidate would only guarantee the election of Hillary Clinton.

How can we do this? I hate to admit it, but blog discussions won't get us very far because very few undecided people read them. We need to get out there and talk with these very Christian conservative leaders who are waiting until the end of October and tell them why we think they need to get behind Huckabee. Moreover, we need to talk with and convert their employees and members, who the leaders will listen to more than some faceless person sending an email.

The place to do this is the FRC Action Washington Briefing on Friday, October 19! This is worth the financial sacrifice. (And conference registration is very reasonably priced, at $95/$50 for students.) People on the ground are worth far more than money when it comes to grassroots action. If there is any way you can come to DC and "work the rooms" for Huckabee, and you're weighing the cost of taking a day off of work and/or coming to DC versus donating the same amount to the campaign, come here! You can leverage your money and efforts for so much more by showing up, wearing a Huckabee pin, and telling numerous GOP activists (who will never read a Huckabee blog otherwise) why our nation needs them to give Mike their support.

Important Note: The Presidential straw poll voting concludes on Saturday at 1 pm, according to the latest schedule posted online. Gov. Huckabee's scheduled speaking time has also been moved to the Saturday morning session. This means that conference-goers will not hear Huckabee speak on Friday, making it all the more important to prime them to wait to hear him speak and not cast an ill-informed vote on Friday.

Moreover, after Q3's disappointing fundraising numbers, we need to demonstrate the power of Huckabee's grassroots network. It's one thing to vote online in the straw poll (which you definitely should do if you absolutely can't come to DC, by joining FRC Action and then casting your vote), but it's entirely another to demonstrate that Huckabee's grassroots are committed to trecking long distances for him, and not just in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Please see my post from yesterday if you would like tips on where to stay if you're coming in from out of town. Regardless of whether you're local or coming in from out of town, if you do plan to attend please email me to let me know, so we have a sense of how many Huckabee supporters are coming and have an opportunity to meet up.

Please register for the conference ASAP, because the original print form had a deadline of September 15, and who knows when they will close the online registration.

Between now and October 19, I plan to provide more coordination information as the situation develops. Moreover, I plan to post my best "lobbying" tips -- expert advice on how to persuade political types. I do this for a living, and am happy to share the tricks of the trade to help you be more effective in persuading other conference-goers to put their votes, money, and efforts behind Mike Huckabee.

Let's win this one for the Gipper!!

Rock the FRC Action Washington Briefing for Huckabee!

Friday and Saturday, October 19-20, FRC Action (the political action committee connected to the Family Research Council) is hosting its 2nd Annual Washington Briefing conference in Washington, DC. All of the major GOP Presidential candidates -- except Giuliani -- will be speaking, along with a lot of favorite conservative pundits, politicians, and grassroots political leaders.

This is the time to talk person-to-person with GOP opinion leaders about why they should put their support, dollars, and influence behind Mike Huckabee. There is also a straw poll that we could help Mike Huckabee win. Though you can vote online if you join up as a member of FRC Action, you won't have the opportunity to talk with people to persuade them to support Huckabee. Plus, attending in person will be a lot of fun, and you can meet Mike Huckabee in person!

[Update - schedule has changed] Friday, October 19 is the key day for influencing conference attendees. Governor Huckabee will speak at the Saturday morning session, and the straw poll will conclude soon after.

As a Washington insider for Huckabee, I am taking it upon myself to do everything I can to help non-Washingtonians for Huckabee make it to this event and have a safe and exciting experience. I will get started by acting as your makeshift travel guide:

Tips for visiting Washington for the FRC Action Washington Briefing

• FRC Action has a reduced group rate at the Crystal City Courtyard Marriott for $129/night, if you reserve by October 8. I highly recommend this if you're flying in, because it is actually walking distance (2/3 of a mile, or take complimentary shuttle) from Reagan National Airport and the subway stop at the airport. This is not the location of the conference, but you can take the subway to the conference, and the conference hotel is more expensive ($185/night) and sold out for Saturday night. However, if you're coming in Thursday or Friday morning and leaving Saturday afternoon, you may find the on-site hotel more convenient.
• If you're driving in, I recommend looking for a motel along Route 50 (aka Arlington Blvd) on the Virginia side. There are dozens and dozens of small motels along a long stretch of this road that will be relatively cheap and safe. Route 50 also provides one of the most reliable ways for driving into DC. (If you look for another hotel in DC itself, make sure it says "NW" in the street address. This is the one quadrant of the city that is consistently safe. Some parts of Maryland might also be good places to stay, but I don't know that side very well.)
• Try to take the Metro (subway) as much as possible downtown, instead of driving. DC's Metro is perhaps the cleanest and safest subway in the country (if not the world), while DC roads are extremely difficult to navigate, it is easy to accidentally end up in a bad neighborhood, and parking is difficult to find and expensive when you find it.

More Evidence the Fair Tax Will Require a Generational Sea Change

The Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) today reports:

House Republicans Could FaceTough Floor Vote on Mortgage BillWhen legislation (H.R. 3648) to exclude from income debt forgiven as a result of a mortgage foreclosure or renegotiation hits the House floor Oct. 4, Republicans could be forced to cast a difficult vote because of the tax increase used to pay for the roughly $2 billion bill.
The legislation would establish a permanent exclusion from gross income of discharged home mortgage indebtedness and pay for it by tightening the requirements taxpayers must meet to exclude gain from the sale of certain residences such as vacation homes and rental properties that eventually are converted into primary residences and then sold.
Currently, taxpayers may exclude up to $250,000--$500,000 if married filing a joint return--of gain realized on the sale or exchange of a principal residence but, under the bill, they would only be able to utilize the exclusion for the time the second home was actually their primary residence.
The legislation also would extend, for seven years, the deduction for private mortgage insurance (PMI), and would modify the qualification tests for cooperative housing corporations.
Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee have repeatedly said they support the concept of helping people during the subprime lending situation, but believe the offset is unrelated to the problem at hand and raises taxes on one group to pay for relief for another.
The issue came up at a Sept. 26 Ways and Means markup, but it did not come to a head that day because the committee approved the bill by voice vote, meaning members did not have to go on the record as supporting a tax increase (187 DTR G-5, 9/27/07 ).
"Republican members will have a difficult time because they don't feel like the pay-for is the right one, but they do feel like the policy of forgiving foreclosure debt is the right one," said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas).

My, my, we're worried about people with extra vacation and rental properties possibly having to pay some capital gains (15%) tax in order to pay for tax forgiveness for people going through foreclosure? If Republicans think this is a "hard vote" then they've really lost touch with making sure tax policy serves the common man, and are more concerned about being "on record" voting for a "tax increase," no matter what the circumstances, that could be attacked by Club for Growth.

From an economic standpoint, the people who bought second homes are a significant contributing factor to those who now face foreclosure, and so is the capital gains exclusion they were expecting to exploit. When falling interest rates in the early 2000's caused house price tags to rise (just as the stock market was falling), a lot of people decided the best place to invest, for both equity and tax reasons, was in real estate. They bought second houses as investments, raising demand and prices. By 2005, 40% of home purchases were second homes!! Because of the rising prices, people who didn't own anything yet found it increasingly difficult to afford their first home, causing them to turn to exotic mortgages and liar loans to try to grab hold of the rising barge instead of falling into the sea of lifelong renting. But of course rising demand can't continue forever when there isn't much real demand for additional places to live, so now prices are falling, and people who couldn't really afford those exotic mortgages are ending up in foreclosure with negative equity. Hence the need for the tax forgiveness.

Now you can say the people in foreclosure should have been more responsible, and I agree. And yet, many of them could have afforded a home on a responsible budget if it weren't for the run-up in price caused by the demand for 2nd homes, not as a place to live, but as a way to make money and shelter it from taxes. So taking away a manipulative tax advantage from some of the people who helped cause the foreclosure crisis makes a lot of sense, the rhetoric of Congressional Republicans notwithstanding.

Under the Fair Tax, there would be no tax incentive to buy multiple properties because you have to pay sales tax on each one, and they don't provide any kind of special tax shelter. One of a gazillion reasons the Fair Tax is a good idea. But how do you expect the Congressional Republicans who are afraid to say "no exclusion of capital gains for second properties actually means no exclusion of capital gains for second properties" to vote for the Fair Tax, which will discourage second-property owners even more?

We need a Club for Citizens' Growth to systematically push out the Country Club Republicans who are more interested in protecting tax shelters for the rich than reducing the size of government and making the tax system fair. But, as I've said before, this is a marathon; a fight that will take a long time to turn over enough people in Washington.

Money, Money, Money

Thanks to the 5 Huckabee supporters who emailed me to let me know they completed the Top-Tier Huckabee Challenge in September! I donated $250 more to the Huckabee campaign last night on your behalf.

Fantastic news up on the Huckabee website this morning: 3,525 donations in just 2 weeks, far surpassing their goal of 2,500!! Congratulations to Mike Huckabee and all of his supporters who chipped in. I'm looking forward to finding out how much money he raised soon, and hope and pray the Q3 fundraising will finally prove he is "top-tier" to the money-obsessed pundits.

And now look who is trying to raise money to "Stop Hillary": National Review Online, that same website that poses as a conservative news source but dismisses Huckabee most of the time and when they do cover him, it is usually sarcastic or distorted.

I encourage anyone who reads NRO to write to Kathryn Jean Lopez and let her know that your money is backing the person who can really stop Hillary--Mike Huckabee--and that NRO does not deserve any financial support so long as they undermine him with unfair coverage.