Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., said the tax system can be reformed to where “a 7-year-old at a lemonade stand knows how to operate it.”

While speaking at the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames on Aug. 11, Huckabee said the tax system must be improved and made easier to use. Huckabee supports the FairTax.

“This way everyone can reach the next rung on the ladder,” Huckabee said.

Huckabee said he was not the best-funded candidate, nor could he buy anyone’s vote, but he put his hope in the crowd to vote for him.

Huckabee said he was optimistic about the future and has hope for the Republican Party.

“Last year Republicans lost the elections because they had the leaves of Republicanism but not the fruit,” he said. “It’s time we get back to principles.”

He said we must make sacrifices for future generations rather than for ourselves.

Huckabee also said he wants to make it easier for people to come to the United States.

“We live in a country where people are breaking into, not breaking out of,” he said.

Huckabee said he will push to end the country’s dependence on foreign oil in 10 years.

“We have to remove ourselves from dependence, whether for food and oil,” he said. “We need to feed ourselves. If you think it’s bad to depend on foreign oil, wait until it happens and we depend on foreign food.”