Newt Gingrich on the issues

[rambone]

Newt lobbies for Big Pharma - wants Medical Marijuana banned

Newt is a Pharmaceutical lobbyist, and was a big pusher of the Medicare Part D entitlement expansion bill.

First of all, we know that Gingrich has been paid by drug companies and by the drug lobby, notably during the Medicare drug debate. A former employee of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, (the main industry lobby) told me Gingrich was being paid by someone in the industry at the time. A spokeswoman for Gingrich's health care consulting firm, Center for Health Transformation, told me that drug companies have been CHT clients. PhRMA confirmed in a statement that they had paid Gingrich. Bloomberg News cited sources from leading drug companies Astra-Zeneca and Pfizer saying that those companies had also hired Gingrich.

He flat out denies it. Or maybe he doesn't understand what lobbying is.

Gingrich stated last week on Fox News, "I do no lobbying of any kind. I never have. A very important point to make. I have never done lobbying of any kind."

And not surprisingly, the Pharma lobbyist thinks that non-Pharmaceutical drugs should all be banned. Including a federal ban on medical marijuana.

He had a sudden change of heart in 1991. After introducing a pro-medical-marijuana bill, he sold out and he's been vehemently against it ever since.

Yes, then-Congressman Gingrich in 1991 introduced pro-medical marijuana legislation, but now he’s thinking of the children, he tells Yahoo! News’ Chris Moody. “What has changed was the number of parents I met with who said they did not want their children to get the signal from the government that it was acceptable behavior,” said Gingrich, before saying that Americans who need medical marijuana will simply have to cope with the inconvenience of debilitating pain and nausea.
“[My supporters] were prepared to say as a matter of value that it was better to send a clear signal on no drug use at the risk of inconveniencing some people, than it was to be compassionate toward a small group at the risk of telling a much larger group that it was okay to use the drug,” Gingrich explained. “Within a year of my original support of that bill I withdrew it.”

 

[KG1]

Hey rambone, I think this guy could use your help. Washington Post Blogger Asks for Dirt About Newt Gingrich on Twitter | NewsBusters.org

 

[rambone]

Hey rambone, I think this guy could use your help. Washington Post Blogger Asks for Dirt About Newt Gingrich on Twitter | NewsBusters.org

Rambone don't tweet.

 

[rambone]

The perfect quote for Newt Gingrich:
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them." -- Jesus Christ

 

[88GT]

The perfect quote for Newt Gingrich:
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them." -- Jesus Christ

Does the same apply to you as well?

 

[rambone]

Does the same apply to you as well?

Sure! Its always gotta be about me! Judge me by my fruits!

 

[88GT]

Sure! Its always gotta be about me! Judge me by my fruits!

They look and smell rotten.

 

[UncleMike]

They look and smell rotten.

 

[rambone]

They look and smell rotten.

Do you have anything to say about Newt Gingrich? I'm not on the ballot this season. How are his fruits looking?

 

[rambone]

Joe Scarborough Destroys Newt Gingrich’s ‘Conservative Principles’

Scarborough went on to list Gingrich’s support for the unfunded $7 trillion Medicare D program, “amnesty for illegals,” and mandatory health insurance (with an assist from Mark Halperin). He ticked off Gingrich’s ties to Freddie Mac, his anti-global warming commercial with Nancy Pelosi, and finished with a two-fer, saying that Gingrich “flip-flops more than Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney should have a contest. I’m so dizzy.”

 

[mrjarrell]

Not sure if this ones been posted. Newt is looking to ramp up the war on drugs and press his old positions on it. As far as he's concerned it's a case of feds uber alles.

Newt Gingrich on drug laws, entitlements and campaigning: The Yahoo News interview | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

 

[24Carat]

Rambone don't tweet.

Lord knows there isn't enough bits !

 

[rambone]

Newt praises draconian Singapore drug laws... again.

Newt brought up Singapore for the second time in an interview yesterday. He really thinks that Americans are ready to spill the blood of addicts in the streets.


source

Q: In 1996, you introduced a bill that would have given the death penalty to drug smugglers. Do you still stand by that?

GINGRICH: I think if you are, for example, the leader of a cartel, sure. Look at the level of violence they've done to society. You can either be in the Ron Paul tradition and say there's nothing wrong with heroin and cocaine or you can be in the tradition that says, 'These kind of addictive drugs are terrible, they deprive you of full citizenship and they lead you to a dependency which is antithetical to being an American.' If you're serious about the latter view, then we need to think through a strategy that makes it radically less likely that we're going to have drugs in this country.
Places like Singapore have been the most successful at doing that. They've been very draconian. And they have communicated with great intention that they intend to stop drugs from coming into their country.

Gingrich Praises Singapore's 'Very Draconian' Laws That Mandate Executions For Drug Possession

Gingrich’s endorsement of Singapore’s drug war is stunning. The country’s “drug laws are among the world’s harshest. Anyone aged 18 or over convicted of carrying more than 15 grams of heroin faces mandatory execution by hanging.” In 2005, Singapore infamously executed an Australian citizen for possession of .4 kilograms of heroin.
Gingrich’s praise of a Singapore-style drug policy is also yet another example of the GOP frontrunner’s contempt for the Constitution. In Kennedy v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court held that “[a]s it relates to crimes against individuals . . . the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim’s life was not taken.” Although Kennedy left open to possibility of execution for “treason, espionage, terrorism, and drug kingpin activity, which are offenses against the State,” Singapore-style drug policy is clearly unconstitutional.

 

[rambone]

Newt Gingrich: Serial Hypocrisy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWKTOCP45zY

 

[rambone]

If Gingrich is the answer, Tea Party has failed

And beyond lobbying, Gingrich has held many positions that are anathema to Tea Party conservatives. He once supported an individual mandate to buy health insurance - Mitt Romney’s inexpiable sin. He teamed up with Nancy Pelosi to urge action against global warming. Earlier this year, he criticized House Republicans’ budget plan as “right-wing social engineering,’’ only to change tack when criticized. In fact, Gingrich felt obliged to post to his campaign website rebuttals to 18 separate controversies and apostasies involving his positions and their evolution. None of this has stopped him from trying to claim the conservative mantle.

“We think there has to be a solid conservative alternative to Mitt Romney,’’ he told a South Carolina radio station this week. “I wouldn’t lie to the American people. I wouldn’t switch my positions for political reasons.’’

 

[rambone]

Newt was Climate Crusading before it was cool

He cosponsored H.R. 1078: The Global Warming Prevention Act of 1989.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds that--

(1) the Earth's atmosphere is being changed at an unprecedented rate by pollutants resulting from human activities, inefficient and wasteful fossil fuel use, and the effects of rapid population growth in many regions;

(2) global warming will accelerate the present sea level rise and thereby threaten to inundate low-lying coastal lands and islands, reduce coastal water supplies by increased salt water intrusion, and potentially increase the frequency of tropical cyclones, floods, and storm surges;

(3) global warming imperils human health and well-being and is likely to diminish food security and change the distribution and seasonal availability of fresh water resources;

(4) global warming will jeopardize prospects for sustainable development and reduction of poverty, accelerate extinction of animal and plant species upon which human survival depends, and alter yield, productivity, and biological diversity of natural and managed ecosystems, particularly forests;

(5) these changes represent a major threat to political stability, international security, and economic prosperity;

(6) the far-reaching impacts of these changes will lead to potentially severe economic and social dislocation for present and future generations which will worsen international tensions and increase risk of conflicts among and within nations;

(7) the Toronto World Conference on the Changing Atmosphere called upon governments to work urgently toward an action plan for protection of the atmosphere which should include an international framework convention, standard-setting agreements, and national legislation to provide for protection of the global atmosphere;

(8) to reduce the risks of future global warming, least-cost and low-risk energy policies must be designed to reduce world emissions of carbon dioxide by at least 20 percent from 1988 levels by 2000;

(9) improving the efficiency of energy-consuming devices is society's best and least costly means of achieving steady reductions in the release of energy-generated carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, methane and other greenhouse gas emissions altering the global climate;

(10) energy efficiency investments also enhance economic productivity by reducing the cost of producing goods and services, offering a key means for stimulating economic development, and alleviating global poverty in an ecologically sustainable manner;

(11) the Federal research and development effort in advancing the commercialization of highly efficient, energy-consuming devices has been an unparalleled success and remains the foundation for continuing improvements over the next several decades;

(12) increasing the Nation's and world's reliance on ecologically sustainable solar and renewable resources, in conjunction with energy efficiency improvements, is a significant long-term solution to reducing fossil-generated carbon dioxide and other pollutants;

(13) solar and renewable resources currently supply nearly 10 percent of the Nation's total energy needs, and several times that level in other countries, and appropriate policies could help greatly increase that percentage;

(14) utilization of state-of-the-art, aero-derivative gas turbines, developed as a result of research by the Department of Defense, could serve a vital role in generating electricity, while simultaneously reducing carbon dioxide emissions, utility bills and expanding a global market opportunity for domestic industry;

(15) policies are urgently needed for reducing deforestation, increasing reforestation, afforestation, and agroforestry, and promoting ecologically sustainable agriculture practices;

(16) curbing world population growth will be critical to achieving the goals of this Act; and

(17) adoption and implementation of these energy and natural resource policies will also reduce foreign oil imports and trade deficits and enhance energy security and environmental quality.

​

 

[rambone]

Newt Gingrich and John Kerry agree on Global Warming

In 2007, Gingrich and Kerry held a "Lincoln-Douglas" style-debate on global warming, and they had a lot to agree on.

Kerry and Gingrich Hugging Trees -- and (Almost) Each Other

But something funny happened on the way to 1858. Gingrich, a former Republican House speaker, refused to play Douglas to Kerry's Lincoln, instead positioning himself as a tree-hugging green.

Before Kerry got a word in, Gingrich conceded that global warming is real, that humans have contributed to it and that "we should address it very actively." Gingrich held up Kerry's new book, "This Moment on Earth," and called it "a very interesting read." He then added a personal note about saving vulnerable species from climate change. "My name, Newt, actually comes from the Danish Knut, and there's been a major crisis in Germany over a polar bear named Knut," he confided.

The warm and fuzzy Gingrich surprised Kerry, who jettisoned prepared remarks that accused the former speaker of "marching in lock step with the climate-change deniers." Instead, Kerry found himself saying: "I've always enjoyed every dialogue he and I have ever had." He added that "your statement is very, very important" and gushed: "I frankly appreciate the candor."

The debate ended. They shook hands. Kerry put an arm around Gingrich. Gingrich put an arm around Kerry. For a brief but terrifying moment, they appeared to be on the verge of a hug.

 

[rambone]

10/13/2005 - He called for "universal but confidential" DNA testing of citizens.

04/20/2007 - He praised NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg; said that he "takes his hat off to the mayor for proving government can be effective."

 

[rambone]

Newt: McCain's bailout vote rivaled Eisenhower on Korea

09/28/2008 - He says that McCain's vote for TARP bailouts rivaled President Eisenhower's pledge to send troops to Korea.

Gingrich put out a statement hailing McCain's eleventh-hour intervention. "This is the greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate and rivals President Eisenhower saying, 'I will go to Korea'." Eisenhower's pledge was enough to reassure voters that if elected he would find a way to resolve the Korean conflict. McCain's high-octane involvement in the bailout is meant to convey the same sense of stature and leadership, and to provide cover to reluctant Republicans to support a deal that runs counter to everything they thought they stood for.

 

[rambone]

Mr. Family Values


source

But did he have to be so mean about it? As reported by L.H. Carter, his campaign treasurer, Newt said of Jacqueline: "She's not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of the President. And besides, she has cancer." Hard to believe, although according to the New Yorker, his wife did tell the congregation of her Baptist church: "The devil has taken his heart." Maybe she was referring to his being so miserly in the matter of child support and alimony, but as Newt points out, we do have a safety net of private charity, and the congregants chipped in to help pay the utility bills.

Zing!

Let's Look at the Real Newt Gingrich

The media have basically accepted him on his own terms as a righteous champion of family values determined to do battle with the "counterculture" and big government in Washington. Yet here is a professional politician who walked out on his own family with two young children at a time when his wife had cancer. Those kids were the basis of this super-patriot's draft deferment during the Vietnam War.