A simple government: Twelve Things We Really Need from Washington (and a Trillion That We Don't).

• Author: Fischer, Raymond L.
• Position: Book review

A SIMPLE GOVERNMENT: Twelve Things We Really Need from Washington (and a Trillion That We Don't) BY MIKE HUCKABEE PENGUIN GROUP, NEW YORK, 2011, 208 PAGES, $26.95

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Mike Huckabee's sixth book explores "big, important, urgent issues" he undoubtedly would have pursued if he had decided to make another run for president. Although aware of the complexity of problems facing the nation, Huckabee believes solutions for solving them are simple--"justice, integrity, freedom--the basic notions upon which our nation was founded," In Simple Government, the author makes his case for "reforming the government:

Although "not a personal attack" on Pres. Barack Obama--Huckabee does not like to make politics personal--the book encourages every disgruntled American to use "a right and a responsibility" to indicate disapproval with the way the current Administration runs the government. Although the author maintains he respects Obama as a human being, he believes "just about everything [the President] thinks is good for America is actually bad for our present and worse for our future"

The country is mired in a crisis that has grown progressively worse since Obama entered the White House. The author considers him a "partisan president" who has "far outdistanced any political gamesmanship ever practiced" by any other commander in chief. Obama's biggest problem, though, is not his insistent partisanship, but his reliance on advisors who do not "understand the real world." Few on Obama's team have had experience running anything and "probably couldn't even run a lemonade stand."

Approaching the 12 topics in the book with the simple underlying principles that have made the U.S. strong, Huckabee explores "solutions consistent with those bedrock ideals" He writes directly to people who consider America the greatest country in the world and believe it can be even greater if government could just get back to basics.

His first and most important topic concerns the value of family life, "the foundation of American power." Following chapters deal with a return to local government; control of spending and debt; a simple and fair tax; responsible health care; an Improved education system; the environment; immigration reform; a stronger approach to terrorism; an effective military policy and strategy; a stronger position on the world stage; and "a need to have faith in the future" In these chapters, Huckabee analyzes the problems and his proposed...