Mike Huckabee in the Happening Now Hot Seat with Jenna Lee

Mike Huckabee sits in the Happening Now Hotseat with Jenna Lee and discusses the following economic issues:

Congress and the Debt ceiling

* Congress needs to stop the spending before they raise the debt ceiling.
 

Where should the Republican suggest to make cuts and make cuts now?

*An across the board cut of 5 to 10% of everything, every agency has got to go find that.  

* Need to take a longterm look at Medicaid/Medicare.

*Adjustments, make changes at the state level. States have proven their ability to save money, but they can't as long as their hands are tied by the  federal government.
 

Obamacare

* Bureaucratic nightmare for small businesses.
* Repeal is better than tinkering with healthcare.
* Repeal will pass in the House but tougher battle in the Senate.

Budget Problems with the States:  Would you give the states a bailout? 

*A bailout for the states would be the biggest mistake of all because it perpetuates the problem. States are in trouble because there is a structural issue that needs to be addressed. States basically do 3 things: educate, medicate and incarcerate. In most states, that represents 90% of state budgets. 

Which poses 3 questions?

* How do you control the cost of education without losing the quality? 

* How do you reign in the cost of medicaid which is even a bigger cost that medicare?
* What can we do in our correction system so that we do not try to incarcerate ourselves out of the crime problem?

 
*The last thing the states need is a federal mandate telling them what they must do.

What is the first thing that you would do as President? What is the first topic that you would tackle? 

*Tackle the economic structure of how we tax and how we do our spending.
*Discusses the pluses of the FAIRTAX-productivity kind of environment.

What about a decision on a Presidential run? 

*It will come later than earlier.