Newt Gingrich on the issues

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Newt's ethical wrongdoing case

Newt received an unprecedented penalty for ethical wrongdoing in 1997.

Peter Hoekstra said that Newt has embarrassed House Republicans and poses a danger to the party's credibility.



House Reprimands, Penalizes Speaker

The House voted overwhelmingly yesterday to reprimand House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and order him to pay an unprecedented $300,000 penalty, the first time in the House's 208-year history it has disciplined a speaker for ethical wrongdoing.The ethics case and its resolution leave Gingrich with little leeway for future personal controversies, House Republicans said. Exactly one month before yesterday's vote, Gingrich admitted that he brought discredit to the House and broke its rules by failing to ensure that financing for two projects would not violate federal tax law and by giving the House ethics committee false information.

"Newt has done some things that have embarrassed House Republicans and embarrassed the House," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.). "If [the voters] see more of that, they will question our judgment."

 

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Damning flip-flop on his Freddie Mac lobbying

Newt claims he was just a "historian" for Freddie Mac, who was sounding the alarm to their policies and telling them that their business model was "insane."

But that's not what he said in his 2007, before the housing bubble collapsed, before the needed a bailout. He was out giving laudatory interviews about their business model.


Gingrich's Freddie Mac Contradictions Just Got Worse

When Newt Gingrich was asked in the November 9 CNBC presidential debate what he did to earn $300,000 from mortgage giant Freddie Mac, Gingrich claimed: "I said to them at the time, this is a bubble. This is insane. This is impossible." But the Wall Street Journal reported December 1 that Gingrich had not only praised the Freddie Mac model in a 2007 interview on the mortgage giant's website but said that "these are results I think conservatives should embrace and want to extend as widely as possible."

 

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Ron Paul: I'm Reluctantly Doing the Media's Job in Exposing Newt Gingrich

Its the truth. Conservative media is dead silent on vetting these candidates. They should be sounding the alarm but they bend over backwards to make excuses for guys like Newt.

The other night Sean Hannity was going on and on about how Newt Gingrich is so "Reaganesque" and all that. That's a slap in the face to Reagan, who had to veto things like the anti-1A "Fairness" Doctrine that Newt supported.

I've never once heard any of the FOX newscasters call out Gingrich for all his support of big government, bailouts, lobbying efforts, creation of new agencies, global warming agenda, globalism, anti-gun record, support of expanding Medicare drug coverage... etc, etc, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3tQZWb51qs

 

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Gingrich tried to prevent Ron Paul from returning to Congress in 1996

In 1996, Speaker Newt Gingrich rallied his neo-conservative troops in an attempt to prevent Ron Paul from returning to the House of Representatives, and opposing the Clinton-Gingrich globalist agenda. Obviously Ron Paul won his seat back, but it remains another "WTF" moment on Gingrich's record.

Newt Gingrich tried to prevent Ron Paul's 1996 return to Congress

Gingrich and Paul have a history of conflict. In 1996, Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House and aggresively urged fellow Republicans to tone down their conservative views. Gingrich was calling for the Republican party to modernize. It was at this time that Gingrich tried to keep Ron Paul from returning to congress.

Paul had decided to run for Congress in 1996 after a ten year absence. Gingrich went to great lengths to try to stop Paul in Republican primary. Ron Paul's primary opponent, incumbent Greg Laughlin, was a former Democrat. Newt Gingrich recruited Laughlin to the Republican camp in 1995 by promising him a position in the Republican controlled US House. Gingrich recruited fifty congressmen and then Texas Governor George W. Bush to endorse Laughlin over Paul.

 

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Global Warming Flip-Flops

This is why Gingrich resembles more of a chameleon than a newt. He can blend in with conservatives or liberals with ease. He says and does whatever he needs to in order to sound smart and pander to his current audience. Overall you've got to separate yourself from his forked-tongue rhetoric and look at his record.

Gingrich's Great Global Warming Flip-Flop: From Cap-And-Trade To Drill-Baby-Drill

1997: As Speaker of the House, Gingrich co-sponsors H. Con. Res. 151, which notes carbon dioxide is a “major greenhouse gas” that comes from “products whose manufacture consumes fossil fuels” and calls on the United States to “manage its public domain national forests to maximize the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.” [H. Con. Res. 151, 9/10/1997]

2007: Gingrich calls for a cap-and-trade system with tax incentives for clean energy. “I think if you have mandatory carbon caps combined with a trading system, much like we did with sulfur, and if you have a tax-incentive program for investing in the solutions, that there’s a package there that’s very, very good. And frankly, it’s something I would strongly support.” [Frontline, 2/15/07]

 

[rambone]

More praise for the Freddie Mac corporatist business model

And again, earlier this month he said his role at Freddie Mac was to tell them that their business model was "insane" (his words). The record shows us otherwise. He was paid to lobby for them and then he praised the bailout they received.

Gingrich Said Freddie Mac Could Be Good Model for Mars Travel

“I’m convinced that, if NASA were a GSE, we probably would be on Mars today,” Gingrich said in the April 24, 2007, web post.

“While we need to improve the regulation of the GSEs, I would be very cautious about fundamentally changing their role or the model itself,” he said. It “marries private enterprise to a public purpose.”

 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUI9XEhF1ZA

 

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Newt relates himself to Nelson Rockefeller, Teddy Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton

Newt says that the brand of conservatism he follows come from the tradition of Alexander Hamilton, Teddy Roosevelt, and Nelson Rockefeller. All 3 have a legacy of supporting a big, centralized Federal government, against the tradition of the founders.


Freddie Mac interview (2007)

GINGRICH: So while we need to improve the regulation of the GSEs [Government-Sponsored Enterprises], I would be very cautious about fundamentally changing their role or the model itself.

FREDDIE MAC: This is not a point of view one normally associates with conservatives.

GINGRICH: Well, it's not a point of view libertarians would embrace. But I am more in the Alexander Hamilton-Teddy Roosevelt tradition of conservatism. I recognize that there are times when you need government to help spur private enterprise and economic development.

Newt Gingrich, Rockefeller Republican (1989)

GINGRICH: In Teddy White’s “The Making of The President” from 1960, you will find a description of Theodore Roosevelt and an active conservatism. That is the model I’ve had in my mind for 28 years. For example, we now have a great concept in tenant management and ownership of low-income housing. That empowers citizens, and says “You’re not just a client, you’re a citizen. You have real responsibility and real authority.” If you’re truly going to be a citizen, you have to have both opportunity and responsibility.
[...]
There is almost a new synthesis evolving with the classic moderate wing of the party, where, as a former Rockefeller state chairman, I’ve spent most of my life, and the conservative/activist right wing.

 

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Interesting 1991 article

Here is some more interesting insight into Newt Gingrich that I found in this article from 1991.

A Capitol Chameleon : What Will Newt Gingrich Do Next?
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Lots of his own staff members have turned their backs on him because of his "amoral" personality.

"He makes the rest of us seem kinder and gentler, and I suppose there's something to be said for that," says Rep. Fred Grandy. Fellow Iowa Republican Jim Leach isn't so sure. "I shudder," he mutters "at the thought that people judge the Republican Party by him."

Gingrich's tactics have also alienated legions of onetime supporters, many of whom become embroiled in near-eschatological discussions about the morality of their former friend. "If you were to assemble all the people who used to support Newt but have turned against him, you'd have an unbeatable coalition," says Lee Howell, a Carrollton, Ga., journalist who worked with him in his early campaigns for Congress. L. H. (Kip) Carter, a former campaign treasurer, calls Gingrich "the most amoral man I have ever met." Gingrich's former pastor in Morrow, Ga., the Rev. Brantley Harwell, will only refine that charge a smidgen: "He is a politically amoral man."

He was liberal from the early days. A "Rockefeller Republican."

He headed to Tulane for a history Ph.D. and assumed the role of liberal Republican campus activist. He helped coordinate Nelson Rockefeller's 1968 presidential campaign in the Southeast. Exempted from the draft by his student status, he did not participate in the great anti-war and civil-rights crusades of his day. He did, however, lead protests against the Tulane administration, which sought to prevent the student newspaper from publishing pictures of nudes.

Finally, the Gingriches arrived in Carrollton, Ga., with two daughters in tow. He took up a post at West Georgia State College and built a reputation as a liberal thinker in a land of redneck Democrats. He was popular, with a reputation as an easy grader; his annual pig roasts were big events. He founded an environmental-studies program and taught a futurism course. If his lectures rambled a bit, his intellectual effervescence and far-out ideas kept his students' interest.

As the minority whip, he showed his leadership skills by reading pulp novels during negotiations.

So, later, did some people in the White House. During last year's budget summit, Gingrich, as a leader, sat at the table while negotiators from both parties attempted to hammer together a five-year, deficit-busting deal. While the others bickered, Gingrich read pulp novels. "It was incredible, the arrogance of it," fumed one participant.

When democrats wanted to cut the SS payroll tax, he became very supportive of the current SS model and campaigned to "Save Social Security".

Likewise, Gingrich had for years been calling for a radical overhaul of the Social Security system. But when Democrats started agitating last year for a cut in the Social Security payroll tax--a move that Administration officials argued would undermine the integrity of the system--Gingrich smelled political gold. He became a champion of Social Security and gleefully distributed buttons that read "Save Social Security, Vote Republican."

 

[mrjarrell]

Even scarier than some of his positions on domestic issues, if his foreign policy stances. He's just likely to get us into WW3, (which he wants the current "war on terror" to be renamed to). He's wanted to attack Lebanon, Syria and Iran as well as N Korea. He's far to dangerous and insane to be allowed anywhere near the oval office.

Newt-Onian Foreign Policy by Thomas DiLorenzo

 

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Gingrich openly calls for World War III

Even scarier than some of his positions on domestic issues, if his foreign policy stances. He's just likely to get us into WW3, (which he wants the current "war on terror" to be renamed to). He's wanted to attack Lebanon, Syria and Iran as well as N Korea. He's far to dangerous and insane to be allowed anywhere near the oval office.

Newt-Onian Foreign Policy by Thomas DiLorenzo

Thank you for posting this. Its threadworthy by itself.

Gingrich openly calls for World War III


Here is Newt's WSJ article.

Lincoln and Bush

 

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One of my fellow Paulbots from another forum posted this info on its own independent link.



Newt Gingrich's Positions - Comprehensive list with sources - Spread this around

 

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[KG1]

GOP Sen. Tom Coburn doesn't have much confidence in Gingrich's leadership as POTUS after serving under him in the House.

"There are a lot of candidates out there," Coburn told Fox News Sunday. "I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich's having served under him for four years and experienced personally his leadership."

He's brilliant. He has lots of positives, but I still, I would have difficulty supporting him as president of the United States."

Coburn: Gingrich Is 'Brilliant,' But Lacking in Leadership

 

[Expat]

GOP Sen. Tom Coburn doesn't have much confidence in Gingrich's leadership as POTUS after serving under him in the House.

Coburn: Gingrich Is 'Brilliant,' But Lacking in Leadership

I heard him in an interview this morning (Coburn). That says a lot in my opinion.

 

[KG1]

I heard him in an interview this morning (Coburn). That says a lot in my opinion.

I thought so too. If he's got a problem with Newt's leadership skills after experiencing them first hand then that's definitely something to take notice of.

 

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Coburn wouldn't be the first one to be uninspired by his leadership.
As the minority whip, he showed his leadership skills by reading pulp novels during negotiations.

So, later, did some people in the White House. During last year's budget summit, Gingrich, as a leader, sat at the table while negotiators from both parties attempted to hammer together a five-year, deficit-busting deal. While the others bickered, Gingrich read pulp novels. "It was incredible, the arrogance of it," fumed one participant.

 

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Thumb prints to buy guns

06/27/1997 - Newt advocates a federal biometrics database, requiring thumb-prints to buy guns.

"I think we prefer to go to instant check on an immediate basis and try to accelerate implementing instant checks so that you could literally check by thumb print whether there was a convicted felon with dangerous behavior or dangerous mental behavior. Instant check is a much better system than the Brady process." -- Newt Gingrich, June 27, 1997 (source)

 

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Another person spreading my research:

WHAT IS NEWT GINGRICH'S VOTING RECORD ???

 

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Hipster Newt was Tea Partying before it was cool

12/04/2011 - He claims that he "represented the spirit of the Tea Party before there was a tea party."

I wonder what point of his career he believes that was. He began by creating the Department of Education... ended with promoting bailouts.