Mike Huckabee in 2007 GOP debate in Dearborn, Michigan, Oct. 9

On Energy & Oil: Ethanol & biofuels are part of future energy

A: I think ethanol and all biofuels are going to be an important part of the future energy needs of the country, but the accelerated pace at which we get there is critical for national security as well as for our own economic interest. We’ve got to come to the place where everything is on the table--nuclear, biofuels, ethanol, wind, solar--any and everything this country can produce. We once had a president who said, “Let’s go to the moon in 10 years,” and we were there in eight. And we did that when we started with a technology of bottle rockets when we got the thing launched. And we all saw that we can do it.

On Free Trade: We need fair trade because we’re losing jobs

And that’s why we’re losing jobs here, and that’s what has to change. This party is going to have to start addressing it, or we’re going to get our britches beat next year.

On Health Care: Individually-controlled insurance, not government SCHIP

A: The president was caught in a tough political battle. Unfortunately, the issue wasn’t about children; the issue was about political posture. Many of the kids who would be covered under the expanded SCHIP are people who already have insurance. If I were president, I would never let that get to the point where that’s the only option you have.

Q: But if it got there, would you have vetoed the bill?

A: I’m not absolutely certain that that’s going to be the right way. There’s a real problem in the health care issue where Democrats say they want the government to control it. Some Republicans say, we want private insurance or businesses to control it. The real answer is: let individuals control their own, and let them own it. That’s the real need, because I don’t trust government and I don’t trust the insurance companies. I trust me with my health care.

On Jobs: Unions more prominent to fight high CEO salaries

A: 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-a-year job to a $15,000-a-year job and feed by family of four.” That’s when unions are going to come back in roaring form.

On Tax Reform: FairTax untaxes productivity & things which we export

HUCKABEE: Nothing’s going to discourage Americans from spending money! No, the FairTax does something that is absolutely phenomenal for the economy. It untaxes productivity. It untaxes those things which we export.

HUNTER: I’m a sponsor of the FairTax.

On Technology: Air tech is Jetsons but air traffic control is Flintstones

A: Well, as president, that would be one of the first things I’d like to do, since I’ve spent most of my year on an airline this entire time. First of all, we’ve got to have the kind of technology on the ground that we have in the cockpit. We’ve got Jetsons-level technology that’s running the cockpit; we have the Flintstones technology on the ground that’s controlling the airplanes. And it’s ridiculous. And the second thing, we’ve got an incredibly archaic method of the controls where you have incredible traffic coming in to key hubs. I don’t want to re-regulate the industry, but the industry’s going to have to start either getting in the program--and one thing they’ve got to stop doing is holding the passengers hostage on airplanes for hours and hours without any way of being able to get off those planes. And part of it, I think, is let’s make sure that the consumer gets a voice in what happens. And it’s got to be a priority.

On War & Peace: Attack Iran’s nukes even if Congress says no

: A president has to do whatever is necessary to protect the American people. If we think Iran is building nuclear capacity that could be used against us in any way, including selling some of the nuclear capacity to some other terrorist group, then yes, we have a right to do it. And I would do it in a heartbeat.

Q: Without going to Congress?

A: Well, if it’s necessary to get it done because it’s actionable right now, yes. If you have the time and the luxury of going to Congress, that’s always better.

Q: And if Congress says no, what do you do?

A: You do what’s best for the American people, and you suffer the consequences. What you never do is let the American people one day get hit with a nuclear device because you had politics going on in Washington instead of the protection of the American people first.