Last night, I was really struck by Mike Huckabee’s language on economics. Let’s go to the transcript for a moment:

Mr. Huckabee: The real fact is, unions are going to take a more prominent role in the future for one simple reason: A lot of American workers are finding that their wages continue to get strapped lower and lower while CEO salaries are higher and higher.

And the reality is that when you have the average CEO salary 500 times the average worker, and you have the hedge fund manager making 2,200 times that of the average worker, you’re going to create a level of discontent that’s going to create a huge appetite for unions.

So unions are the natural result of workers finally saying, "Look, I can’t go from a $70,000 year job to a $15,000 a year job and feed my family of four." That’s when unions are going to come back in roaring form.

Does Mike Huckabee think that the financial services industry is today’s robber barrons? Is he right? Certainly in a post-industrial economy, there’s an analogy between railroads and financial services, even if it is somewhat strained.

I contrast this with John Edwards. He targets the rich. Huckabee may be targeting Wall Street. That’s a difference. Perhaps an important one. What would Huckabee have to say about the housing crisis?


Soren Dayton

Soren Dayton is an advocacy professional in Washington, DC who has worked in policy, politics, and in human rights, including in India. Soren grew up in Chicago.

2 Comments

Huckabee contra the inequities and inequalities of the financial services industry; is Huckabee sending signals to the Romneys? « who is willard milton romney? · October 10, 2007 at 1:03 PM

[…] Oct 10, 2007 in 2008, GOP, Huckabee, analysis, argument, campaign literature, debate, economy, election, election 2008, mitt romney, republicans, romneyTags: equity-sector, eyeon2008.com, finance, financial services, labour, NYT, team romney, unions “Does Mike Huckabee think that the financial services industry is today’s robber barrons? Is he right? Certainly in a post-industrial economy, there’s an analogy between railroads and financial services, even if it is somewhat strained,” asks the eye of the influential and precise eyeon2008.com in a post titled Huckabee against the robber barrons? I contrast this with John Edwards. He targets the rich. Huckabee may be targeting Wall Street. That’s a difference. Perhaps an important one. What would Huckabee have to say about the housing crisis? … more […]

eyeon08.com » The base, the groups, and the candidates · November 29, 2007 at 10:00 PM

[…] Not let’s step back for a second. Which candidates in the GOP primary are actually trying to address these issues? It is clear that Huckabee is trying to reach out to these voters. Earlier, when Huckabee was beginning to really emerge, I characterized this as "Huckabee vs. the robber barrons." That sounds to me like giving up affluents. […]

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