Huckabee in GOP top tier

[nChrist]

Hello Brother Jerry,

All I know is that everything I've seen and heard so far about Huckabee impresses me. He's the only candidate who impresses me, and I don't think that any Christian would have conscience problems in voting for him.

Love In Christ,
Tom

KEEP LOOKING UP!!

[Littleboy]

WH Hopeful Huckabee Builds Evangelical Support

Arkansas Gov. and Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee is gaining traction in headlines, polling and in drumming up support among Evangelical Christians.  (AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)
As the 2008 presidential race heads toward the first nominating contests, Mike Huckabee is getting more news coverage, moving up in polls, and even drawing some attacks from other Republicans.

Now the former Arkansas governor needs enough money to capitalize.

Full Coverage
VOTE 2008: Who is Your Candidate?Despite strong showings in a recent Iowa poll and a straw poll of evangelical voters Oct. 20, Huckabee has struggled to raise money to keep up with Mitt Romney, the Republican fundraising leader, and Rudy Giuliani, who tops national surveys for the nomination.

Huckabee spent the weekend raising money in Texas, his second-largest source of donations from July through September. His appearances at churches in Plano and Irving on Sunday also highlighted a strategy of his long-shot White House bid: building support from evangelical Christians who make up a chunk of Iowa's GOP voters.


"We're really grateful for the prosperity of Texas," Huckabee, a former minister, joked after preaching Sunday at Plano's Prestonwood Baptist Church, north of Dallas.

"Historically, there are three tickets out of Iowa," Huckabee said. "First class, business and coach. If you don't get one of those, you go home freight."

Huckabee said his church appearances were not political, though some of his listeners were not so reticent.

"I think he's the most godly of all the candidates," said Susan Pinkerton, a homemaker from Rockwall, Texas.

The sermons stuck to Scripture, though some of Huckabee's lessons could apply to politics. Discussing how he once took bobsledding lessons, Huckabee quoted his young teacher's advice to "steer for the curve ahead — forget what's behind you."

An Oct. 29 Hawkeye Poll put Huckabee third in the nation's first caucus state, with 12.8%, up from 2% in August. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, led with 36.2%, and former New York City mayor Giuliani was at 13.1%. The poll had an error margin of +/-5.8%.

Huckabee's campaign said its online fundraising for October topped $1 million and exceeded by $1 his entire take for July through September. He picked up $100,000 on Saturday at an event in DeSoto, south of Dallas.


WH Hopeful Huckabee Builds Evangelical Support

[HisDaughter]

Bro Tom

That sounds like Huckabee.  He is very very good about keeping his religion out of his politics but letting everyone know that it is his faith that drives his decisions.  There was an interview where he was asked questions about evolution.  And he basically said that he does not believe in it.  He also said that even as President he could not remove it from school books or anything of that nature.  Not dancing around things, but being very truthful and quite insightful into the role he is seeking election too.

I personally believe that Huckabee is being asked questions unlike any other candidate in history.  Personal questions that truly have no bearing on the office he seeks.  And so far I have seen him take those questions and provide an answer as well as show that they have no relevance on the office at hand. 

Hi Brother Jerry.  I sure agree with you.  I didn't know about him at first but since hearing about him a few months ago, reading about him and listening to his interviews, I am very impressed.  I've also found him honest and easy to understand.  Not seeing the gegaw-hemha-ing as with others.
Amazing how you can hear and understand the questions the candidates are being asked, but by they time they've given their answer you have no clue what they just said! 

[Soldier4Christ]

Amazing how you can hear and understand the questions the candidates are being asked, but by they time they've given their answer you have no clue what they just said! 

And that's the way they want it. If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with nonsense and we know where the brilliance went.

[Littleboy]

Hello Brother Jerry,

All I know is that everything I've seen and heard so far about Huckabee impresses me. He's the only candidate who impresses me, and I don't think that any Christian would have conscience problems in voting for him.

Love In Christ,
Tom

KEEP LOOKING UP!!

AMEN!!
I just taped my voting card back together

[Littleboy]

Mike Huckabee: a conservative with a social gospel By Gail Russell Chaddock
Wed Nov 7, 3:00 AM ET
 


Washington - The first time Mike Huckabee walked into the Church at Rock Creek, then meeting in a storefront, he knew he'd found a church home.

 
There was no lack of Southern Baptist churches for Arkansas's new governor to attend in Little Rock. But Mr. Huckabee, an ordained minister-turned-politician, liked the people he met at the fledgling church – many coming off addictions or otherwise rebuilding their lives, none wearing a suit and tie.

"This is a church that was created for the people that no one else wants," says Huckabee, in a Monitor interview. Its motto is: Taking Jesus as he is to people as they are.

Now in a race for the GOP presidential nomination, Huckabee is shaping his come-from-behind campaign on the same principle that grew the Church at Rock Creek from a few dozen people in 1996 to more than 5,000 today: Every life has value – and don't count anyone out.

"We care about individuals because of the intrinsic worth and value in every single human life," he says often on the campaign trail.

It's the central theme in his campaign on issues ranging from abortion rights, which he opposes, to healthcare for poor children, which he promoted as governor. But it's opened him to charges that he is not a "consistent conservative," because he's willing to tax and spend on issues like education and healthcare to meet those needs.

Until recently, Huckabee has been consigned to a second tier by most political handicappers – and is typically given less airtime in debates than the front-runners. But he's winning converts, especially among so-called values voters, by his ease and agility on the stump.

If elected, Huckabee would be only the second preacher president, after James Garfield. He senses that could be an obstacle. "Anytime you have been a person who was identified as a pastor and you've got a seminary education and theology degree, people tend to worry about you," Huckabee told the Values Voter Summit in Washington last month.

He heads off the issue with a story: "When I first started running for office, a lady asked me, 'Are you one of those narrow-minded Baptist ministers who think only Baptists will go to heaven?'" He replies, "Actually I'm more narrow than that. I don't think all the Baptists are going to make it."

His appeal prompts comparisons with another politician from Hope, Ark. Bill Clinton went off to Georgetown University, Yale Law School, and Oxford University. But Huckabee sank deep roots in the evangelical culture of the New South – and the vast Christian communications networks that shot up around it.

As a Southern Baptist, Huckabee grew up in a culture of moral absolutes, where issues such as the "inerrancy of the Bible" and the changing role of women stirred strong passions and hard sermons. Moreover, he came of age just as evangelical Christians began an alliance with the Republican Party.

Huckabee, who saw it all close up, would later take the connections and communications skills he honed in church life straight into politics.

The roots of faith

Huckabee was born in Hope, Ark., in 1955. His father, Dorsey, was a local fireman and a mechanic on his days off. His mother Mae's family was "one generation away from dirt floors and outdoor toilets," Huckabee says.

Like many families in town, his parents struggled to pay the rent, but encouraged him to do well in school. From Grade 2 on, he read every biography he could find. He learned to make lists – now one of many daily disciplines. In spare moments, he got a chuckle from classmates with impersonations of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. (Friends say he still does a spot-on Clinton.)

On his 11th Christmas, his parents gave him an electric guitar, which he practiced until his fingers bled. That guitar is now Exhibit A in his case for funding for the arts in public schools. Schools shouldn't just fund kids who run fast, jump high, or throw a ball, he said, as he became chairman of the Education Commission of the States in 2004. "It is critical to touch the talent of every kid, no matter what that talent is."

It wasn't until his first trip out of Arkansas as a 16-year-old that Huckabee realized that not everyone acknowledged Jesus as their personal savior.

"I assumed that everyone had faith in the church, lived the same value system. It was shocking to me to find out that I was living in a very protected and different kind of a world," he said in the interview.

Huckabee graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia in just over two years, magna cum laude. At the same time, he worked on-air at local radio station KVRC and pastored a Baptist congregation on weekends. "He had a great sense of humor that came out on the radio, in his sermons, and in the dorm room with the guys," says college roommate Rick Caldwell, who is on leave from his business to work with the Huckabee campaign.

In college, Huckabee began a lifelong practice of reading a chapter in Proverbs every day. "There are 31 chapters, and you can read through the whole book every month. It's a great source of wisdom and principles of life that are very valuable," he says. That's not just a casual goal, notes his wife, Janet. "If it's the 22nd of the month, he's on Chapter 22."

After attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth for a year, Huckabee moved to Dallas to be director of communications for James Robison, an evangelical leader who helped broker Evangelicals' support for Ronald Reagan's presidential bid in 1980.

By the time Huckabee returned to Arkansas in 1980 to preach at the Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff, he was a skilled communicator. At age 21, Huckabee was directing a faith-based advertising agency, including producing television programs. He set up a 24-hour broadcast ministry and, by 1984, was hosting a TV show. When he moved to the Beech Street First Baptist Church in Texarkana, he did the same.

"If the medium for moving public policy is television, then understand that TV is the field of play and learn to run on it," he writes in his 2007 book "Character Makes a Difference."

In 1989, he was elected president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention at a time of deep division over issues such as the role of women in family and church. Conservatives say Huckabee did not do enough to help them in this struggle. Supporters say he tried to bring sides together. "Mike's whole personality is one of conciliator," says Rick Scarborough, a pastor who heads Vision America and was Huckabee's classmate at seminary.

His stint as head of the Baptist State Convention also gave him wider recognition and contacts to launch a statewide political organization.

Huckabee credits his 12 years in the ministry with helping him understand the issues facing average people. "As a pastor, I've seen every step of a person's life from cradle to grave. None of it is abstract to me, and I've seen it all," he says.

But over time, he lost some of his early idealism in the ministry. Instead of "leading God's troops into battle to change the world," most people seemed to want me "to captain the Love Boat, making sure everyone was having a good time," he writes in his 2007 book. "I wasn't bitter or angry; I just wanted my life to count for something more than being an ordained cruise director."

Commenting on that passage, Huckabee said in an e-mail: "I didn't leave the ministry, as I am still ordained. The good news is that churches have been changing over the past 15 years – with not only a continuing and proper focus on eternal issues but also involved in confronting hunger, poverty, disease, lack of education, housing, stewardship of the earth, etc. That is a good trend that is taking hold in the most conservative and evangelical churches."

A new calling
Huckabee launched his career in politics with a race against three-term US Sen. Dale Bumpers (D) in 1992. To his surprise, he lost. "He felt that God wanted him to run for the Senate. I, too, felt that that was what he was supposed to do," says his wife, Janet, in an interview. "We didn't have a Plan B" when he lost, she adds. "But you can't second guess something when you think you've done the right thing. You have to make the decision and have peace about it. That's where your faith comes in."

But after then-Governor Clinton won the White House, Huckabee had another shot at politics. He won a special election to replace Lt. Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, and after then-Governor Tucker was convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud in 1996, Huckabee moved into the governor's mansion. He was elected to a four-year term in 1998, and reelected in 2002.

One of his first moves as governor was to review state laws, rules, and practices with an eye to their impact on families. He signed legislation to double the child-care tax credit, protect the rights of parents to home-school their children, eliminate the marriage penalty in the tax code, outlaw same-sex marriage, and require parental consent for abortion. He also launched a program to provide health insurance to more than 70,000 children, ARKids First.

He says the answer to America's healthcare crisis is preventing chronic disease, rather than finding a way to pay for it. He often cites his own example. In grade school, he was asked to bring a symbol of his faith to a show-and-tell on religion. One student brought a crucifix, another brought a menorah. "I brought a casserole in a covered dish," he says.

Since 2000, he's lost more than 100 pounds and has started running marathons. "Of my many motivations to move toward a concept of forever fit, the primary one is faith," he writes in his 2005 book "Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork."

[Brother Jerry]

MAN!!! I like this guy....and a great underdog campaign as well....I pray that he can pull it off and keep his faith intact as well.

[HisDaughter]

MAN!!! I like this guy....and a great underdog campaign as well....I pray that he can pull it off and keep his faith intact as well.

Heard that Brother!  I'm with ya!

[Littleboy]

MAN!!! I like this guy....and a great underdog campaign as well....I pray that he can pull it off and keep his faith intact as well.

AMEN!
I CAN'T believe P. Robertson indorsed R. Gulliano, I think that DUDE ruined our chances...
It think that it will also take an act of God Now for him to even be nominated to run against Hillary or Obama?
I hope we hav'nt been brought to power(like Egypt was) Just to be Destroyed by the Hand of God, As they were?
I put U.S just below the Sodomites, OH Yey, WE know the word of God, My Bad, it will be worse for us then it was for them!(Prophecy fulfilled??)= Professing to be WISE they have became FOOLS?
Your Loving Brother Duane

[nChrist]

Hello Brother Duane,

I really can't understand why Pat Robertson did that. Rudy is for abortion and has some other problems that turn many Christians off. So far, I can't find anything immoral about Huckabee. That doesn't mean he's perfect, but he does appear to be a highly qualified and Godly man.

Brother, I know this is nothing to brag about, but I think you will still find this part of the world much closer to GOD than others. AND there are much greater numbers here trying to live like Christians should. I thought the same thing until I did some reading about other parts of the world. I don't think that we can find a better place to move to. The places to move to are worse, and many are much worse. I know that we don't want our families being surrounded by evil, but there is no better place to go.

Love In Christ,
Tom

   

[Littleboy]

AMEN Brother Tom, Theirs only one other place on Earth that i would rather be then here, Isreal!
I've been to other Countries about 5 of them, and could'nt wait to get back to the World(USA)!
In 1979 i almost got to go to Iran 3 different times if you know what i mean?
The Peanut Farmer could'nt figure it out!(sorry Jimmy)
Your Loving Brother Duane

[Littleboy]

Cheery conservative Huckabee shakes up Republican race by Stephen Collinson
Thu Nov 8, 9:53 AM ET
 


CEDAR FALLS, United States (AFP) - Mike Huckabee, a wise-cracking, guitar-strumming, Baptist pastor has leapt into a conservative void and shot into contention in the unpredictable 2008 Republican White House race.

ADVERTISEMENT
 
Huckabee, 52, was hitherto best known for being born in the same town, Hope, as Bill Clinton, and shedding more than 100 pounds from his once portly frame.

But, partly by exploiting discontent among Christian conservatives with the Republican field, Huckabee, a witty former Arkansas governor, has powered into second place in polls in Iowa, 65 days before the state's crucial caucuses.

"The religious right vote in the Iowa caucuses is a substantial bloc, and if you secure that support you are a serious player," said Cary Covington, a political science professor at the University of Iowa.

"Huckabee is, I think at a tipping point, he is going to need to do something splashy, a big financial haul, or a major endorsement," Covington said.

Huckabee's style is to leaven his staunch conservatism -- pro gun rights, doubts about the theory of evolution, opposition to gay marriage, and hawkish rhetoric on Iraq and the war on terror, with levity.

At an education forum at Northern Iowa University Wednesday, Huckabee, author of a book "Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork," slipped into stand-up comic mode when a mobile phone rang.

"That's probably Dick Cheney wanting to take me hunting, and I am not going with him, OK?" he quipped, mocking the vice president's infamous shooting incident.

Such patter, and the fact that several of his Republican rivals are trying to appear something they are not -- lifelong social conservatives -- helps Huckabee to come across as humble and at ease.

Though a conservative, Huckabee is an outspoken advocate of spending government money on education, and healthcare for poor children.

And he told students at NIU that US schools had focused too narrowly on mathematics and science -- demanding the launch of "weapons of mass instruction" -- music and art.

"Math and science without music and art, is like trying to fly an airplane with a wing on the left, but without one on the right," he warned.

A bit-player at the start of the Republican race, polls now show Huckabee apparently on a roll.

In Iowa, an average by RealClearPolitics.com of recent polls has him in second place, on 15 percent and rising, behind former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on 29 percent.

Nationally, a Rasmussen national daily tracking poll had Huckabee Wednesday third among Republicans, behind Rudolph Giuliani and Fred Thompson, but ahead of Senator John McCain and Romney.

Huckabee also came a strong second to Romney in a straw poll of evangelical voters recently in Washington.

He may also have another advantage, as ex-governors like Clinton, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan have dominated the presidency in recent decades.

But Huckabee will still be a longshot for the Republican nomination, even if he causes a stir in the Iowa caucuses on January 3.

Despite warm reviews from pundits, strong performances in Republican debates and backing of grass-roots conservatives, he is short of campaign cash.

Up until October, he had raised only 2.3 million dollars -- limiting his capacity to mount an Iowa advertising blitz.

By comparison, Romney, who has piled millions of dollars of his own cash into the race, had raised 62 million.

Huckabee also suffers from questions about his depth. He has no foreign policy experience -- a liability with Iran, Iraq and terrorism top issues.

So, Huckabee is increasingly being mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick.

As an evangelical Christian, with strong support from the "religious right" Huckabee would be a good match for Giuliani, who has alienated the bloc with his support for abortion rights and gay rights.

On a Romney ticket, Huckabee could head off suspicion among evangelical voters about the former Massachusetts governor's Mormon religion.

And as a southerner, Huckabee could help balance a ticket with either man, both of whom made their names in the liberal northeast.
-=-=-=-=-=--==-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-=
Sounds like it might be Huckabee & Romney running our Country, I can live with that!

[Soldier4Christ]

AMEN!
I CAN'T believe P. Robertson indorsed R. Gulliano, I think that DUDE ruined our chances...
It think that it will also take an act of God Now for him to even be nominated to run against Hillary or Obama?
I hope we hav'nt been brought to power(like Egypt was) Just to be Destroyed by the Hand of God, As they were?
I put U.S just below the Sodomites, OH Yey, WE know the word of God, My Bad, it will be worse for us then it was for them!(Prophecy fulfilled??)= Professing to be WISE they have became FOOLS?
Your Loving Brother Duane

Hello Brother Duane,

I really can't understand why Pat Robertson did that. Rudy is for abortion and has some other problems that turn many Christians off. So far, I can't find anything immoral about Huckabee. That doesn't mean he's perfect, but he does appear to be a highly qualified and Godly man.

Brother, I know this is nothing to brag about, but I think you will still find this part of the world much closer to GOD than others. AND there are much greater numbers here trying to live like Christians should. I thought the same thing until I did some reading about other parts of the world. I don't think that we can find a better place to move to. The places to move to are worse, and many are much worse. I know that we don't want our families being surrounded by evil, but there is no better place to go.

Love In Christ,
Tom

   

Yes, I was taken back by that also. I found it very hard to believe.

[Littleboy]

I Believe our Brother just might do it!
Huckabee moving up in the Iowa "Polls"
Thank God ALMIGHTY, We might not be thrown too the Wolves...
I think I'm going to have a yard sell so I can donate to his/our cause....
YLBD

[Soldier4Christ]

Huckabee offered 'no-cost' deal for Mexican Consulate 
Developer confirms role, legislator raps ex-governor for using taxpayer funds for illegals

An Arkansas commercial developer confirmed his role in a no-cost "incentive deal" packaged by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to attract a Mexican Consulate to Little Rock.

Meanwhile, an Arkansas legislator expressed concern that Huckabee used taxpayer funds inappropriately in a plan ultimately designed to assist illegal immigrants in Arkansas.

Bruce Burrow told WND his commercial real estate company acquired the land and developed the Mexican consulate building in Little Rock at the request of Huckabee, in a deal the then-governor engineered to make sure he snared the Mexican consulate away from other states.

"I agreed to do the project at no cost," Burrow told WND, confirming his involvement in the Huckabee plan.

Arkansas Republican state legislator Rick Green objected to Huckabee using taxpayer funds in the scheme.

"I'd like to sit down with Huckabee and visit with him on the issue and see if there is anything he can tell me on the Mexican consulate deal that I am not seeing," Green told WND in a telephone interview.

"But I have not seen any argument Huckabee has made that convinces me that the Mexican consulate deal was the right thing to do," he said.

"Any taxpayer money that is used to help facilitate breaking the law is wrong," Green emphasized.

WND previously reported Robert Trevino, commissioner of the Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, had signed a lease providing the Mexican Consulate space in an Arkansas Rehabilitations Services building at a cost of $1 per year. The lease provided the consulate temporary space until permanent space could be found.

Green told WND that two legislative study groups he helped organize this past summer concluded Arkansas has more illegal immigrants per capita than any other state and that its Hispanic illegal immigrant population is the fastest growing of any state in the nation.

Burrow detailed to WND how he became involved in financing the Mexican Consulate office in Little Rock.

"In a trip to Mexico, Governor Huckabee had agreed with (then-Mexican President) Vicente Fox to work with the Mexican government to establish that facility in Arkansas in the capital city of Little Rock," Burrow said.

"But since there was really no government mechanism for the state to go and acquire that property and then to go and turn around and lease to the Mexican government, it had to be done by private enterprise," he continued.

"That's where I got involved," Burrow admitted. "That's what we do. We own a number of properties and we're a developer.

"So we agreed to do it at no profit," Burrow said. "And that's what I did. I acquired the property, renovated it for the Mexican government."

The entire project cost about $1.2 million, Burrow recalled.

"I think that we paid south of $500,000 for the existing facility which was a former doctor's office," he said. "Then I went in and renovated it completely to meet their needs and their specifications. "We spent probably another $700,000 renovating, so probably about $1.2 million for the project all in."

WND asked Burrow why Huckabee felt the urgency to offer the Mexican government such a good deal.

"What had happened, as I understand it," Burrow explained, "is that Governor Huckabee had met with President Fox in a trip. Huckabee kind of wrestled the Mexican Consulate office away from our surrounding larger states. ...."

"From day one, the Mexican government paid us rent on the property," he added, "and the Mexican government has the right to purchase the property and the Mexican consulate office here in Little Rock. I can't remember the exact dates, but I'm assuming the Mexican government will go ahead and acquire the property."

Burrow acquired land near the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, at 3500 South University, an address adjacent to a Bank of America branch bank.

"We estimated that $410 million per year from Arkansas is sent back to Mexico alone, just in remittance payments," Green noted.

Since 2005, Bank of America has advertised "SafeSend," a nationwide "free remittance to Mexico" program designed to send money to Mexico without charging fees.

WND also reported receiving a copy of a check from the city of Little Rock, dated June 1, paying contractor Baldwin and Shell $60,000 for two invoices, dated April 30 and May 31, in conjunction with the contract for the Mexican Consulate.

Burrow confirmed that Baldwin & Shell was the contractor he hired to renovate the consulate building.

He also explained the Little Rock check.

"That Little Rock check was paid as 'economic development,'" Burrow told WND. "As I understand how that worked, Governor Huckabee talked with the city of Little Rock about how they could provide an incentive basis for the Mexican government to decide to put the Mexican Consulate for Little Rock.

"So, Little Rock put up $50,000 from the city under their economic development fund," Burrow continued, "and $10,000 came from the state economic development fund."

The check, then, reflects a total of $60,000 invested by the city, but $10,000 was paid by Huckabee out of the state fund, he said.

"I can't remember exactly how the development money was flowed into the project," he added, "but anyway it all went into the project. It may have been for the demolition portion, or whatever, but it was applied to the project."

The government contributions then reduced the total redevelopment cost by $60,000, Burrow said.

"From my perspective, it reduced the acquisition cost by $60,000," he explained, "and that was the economic incentive to the Mexican government.

"We had to do it that way, once Governor Huckabee realized the deal could not be completely done by the state government but had to be a private enterprise deal," he said.

Burrow confirmed a WND report that a July 21, 2006, memo from Trevino's as commissioner of the Arkansas Rehabilitations Service suggested that the deal, even after Huckabee decided to involve private commercial developers, would be financed by a consortium of Arkansas companies, such that Mexico would have no costs for three years to support the Little Rock consulate.

"But all that got changed, that Mexico wasn't going to pay any expenses for three years," Burrow explained. "Once the project got over into our ownership – and there's probably not any documents in the file in that regard – but we decided there had to be a lease agreement, and the Mexican government has been paying the rent from day one."

Nevertheless, he emphasized, "I agreed to do the project at no cost."

"I am out my time and expenses, but I am happy to do that," Burrow said. "We were able to get the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock instead of it going to Oklahoma City or Memphis or Nashville, so it was a great economic thing for us.

"We have and awful lot of Hispanic workers in the state," he continued, "and I grew up in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood in California. So, I felt if we could assist in any way that we would."

WND asked Burrow if Huckabee wanted to provide Mexico incentives because having the Mexican Consulate in Little Rock would help attract low-cost Hispanic workers to the state.

"The Mexican Consulate was never considered an inducement for any illegal aliens to come into the state," he protested. "The Mexican government placed the consulate here simply to handle the representation of their citizens in this part of the mid-South area. The Mexican government has done everything they said they would do, and I am very satisfied with the situation."

Green, however, expressed concern.

"We're an agricultural state, and a poultry producing state," he said. "That's where we get the argument that there would not be enough people to fill the jobs if every illegal was deported from the state of Arkansas."

Still, this was not enough to satisfy Green.

"Even if that were the case," he countered, "you still have to be willing to obey the law.

"We've got to look at reforming the welfare system too," Green added. "If enough able-body people were put to work from welfare, there would be plenty of people to fill all the jobs available in Arkansas."

Burrow boasted, "By all accounts, the Mexican Consulate has been successful. There's been a huge backlash and a huge discussion about the illegals in this country, and somebody has to serve these people, legal or illegal, and to provide advice and to represent them in a foreign land, and I think that's what these consulate offices do."

WND previously reported Trevino confirmed in a telephone interview the authenticity of the $1-per-year lease he arranged for the Mexican Consulate to occupy space in the Arkansas Rehabilitations Services government building.

WND also reported Trevino, then serving as economic development adviser to Huckabee, accompanied the governor to Mexico on the initial trip in which the financial incentives were offered.