Political Hay
Contract Renewal
From the matchless Newt Gingrich, a Contract With America for 2010.
(Page 2 of 2)
9) Protect Americans, Not the Rights of Terrorists. Let’s put an end to the nonsense about treating invading terrorists as domestic criminals and see them for what they are — enemy combatants.
10) Defend America. “Rebuild our capital investment in the powerful defensive force in the world.” If done properly, this can be reconciled with balancing the budget.
Ever the tactician, Newt also offers a set of guidelines for shaping and unveiling the new Contract:
1) Concentrate on real issues that already have voter approval.
2) Present the document as a forward-looking alternative, not a backward-looking recrimination.
3) Stay positive and optimistic.
4) Keep the document a House of Representatives affair. Invite the Senate to join but don’t negotiate. “The House is inherently a team institution while individual Senators have enormous power.”
5) Give the deliberations plenty of publicity over the summer holidays but don’t unveil the final document until after Labor Day, when people really start to focus on the campaign.
I don’t know about you but all this sounds like a winning formula to me. The Republicans can’t just sit back on their recent election triumphs and expect November to follow the same script. A dozen things can happen and the whole political landscape may change. The economy could start improving, unemployment may drop, the Administration is already tacking tack away from some of the more volatile issues like civilian trials for 9/11 terrorists. Then Democrats will be dusting off their old slogans about a Republican victory being a return to the bad old days of George Bush.
The Tea Party Movement is giving the Republicans enormous electoral impetus. But somebody’s got to channel this energy down a useful path. I think Newt’s got the right idea.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (121) | Leave a comment
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JimP| 2.17.10 @ 6:28AM
I agree. This is an excellent new contract and approach and I believe it will work. I don't know if the Reps in Congress have the necessary skills or credibility to sell it though. The majority of the Congressional Reps need Geritol for their personalities, IMO. They couldn't sell ice water in Death Valley from what I have observed, especially since Obama came to office.
Also, re the contract itself, I think the Reps should swear a blood oath to REDUCE spending, not just balance the budget. We can overcome the entitlement meltdown only through private sector growth and reducing federal spending, which is possible despite what too many even "on our side" say.
Oh yes, Newt needs to walk back his global warming stance with a mea culpa, "I got fooled too, but will not get fooled again." pledge. That will help get him back into our good graces if he is thinking of openly leading this assault on statism or running for Prez.
Alan Brooks| 2.17.10 @ 4:45PM
"Only when history turned in their direction did both men emerge as the peerless leaders they eventually became."
Unlike Churchill's and Reagan's, Gingrich's view of what is to come is Toffleristic, ahistorical, anticonservative, counterproductive.
The Clintidote| 2.17.10 @ 6:35PM
JimP, let's suppose it does get traction and succeeds. Then what?
Then we get the GOPpers back in power. Remember what they did to the country the last time they held the reins? It wasn't that long ago.
Did government get smaller? Did we get freer? Budget go down, or even stop growing astronomically? Dept. of Education abolished? How about Commerce and Energy? Big Government goppers have been making all these promises, and more, for decades. We got MORE cabinet departments, not fewer.
Since Americans seem to have no stomach for doing what really needs to be done (elect those revolutionaries who will strangle the beast by cutting off the revenue) the only thing that will cause change is a monstrous crash.
With DingDing in the White House, that day is coming much faster than I expected it would.
Thanks a lot, Republican liars.
Alan Brooks| 2.17.10 @ 6:43PM
Let's hope you are not a libertarian-- we need genuine conservatives, not rightwing fools.
Appleby| 2.17.10 @ 6:51AM
The average age in North America is now 40, not 14. Stop all the programs that suck up to The Family Of Four and start understanding that the fastest growing family in North America is the Family Of One. We are the only group that gets bupkis -- all we get is invoices. You Birthed It - You Bought It.
And I doubt seriously if punishing your largest voting bloc with a sudden raise of retirement benefits to age 70 is a vote-getter, especially in a recession. Of course TheKids are praying that Mom and Dad will continue to work until we die, so they can continue their career as slackers -- and how about five year of paid maternity leave, for anybody who gives birth, while we are at it? -- and look forward to blowing our money on shoes. But the trend is actually earlier retirement, not later, and frankly we are tired of doing overtime so TheKids can exercise their WorkLifeBalance Thing.
How about a Contract in which people pay their own way, and that of their children? Why not restore pride in *The Self Made Man/Woman* even if we have to glorify immigrants until the Americans wake up and realize that before they can smell the coffee, they have to make that coffee.
JimH| 2.17.10 @ 7:56AM
Old people collect far more from Social Security and related benefits then they ever contributed. AARP is the biggest lobby out there. Geezers vote and children don't. And government policy reflects this. How about this seniors, save for your own retirement rather then forcing younger workers to contribute to the Ponzi scheme called social security.
Chris| 2.17.10 @ 8:53AM
Old people collect more than they put in? Of course they do, that's how any well run savings plan works. If I put in 100K into savings over 30 years of working, I'd expect to pull out a lot more than that due to the effect of compound interest. That's not even mentioning the effect of SS being a survivor's plan. Some folks don't live long enough to get it all back, and that can either raise the benefits for the surviors, or reduce the premium (if the actuaries get it right).
The facts are that the politicians didn't listen to the actuaries, and SS money was siphoned off to a lot of non-contributors.
Don't blame the seniors. A 13% tax on incomes makes it hard to save the necessary 15-20% if you are making the median wage or less. Well, you can blame any of them that supported the SS Ponzi scheme as a good idea.
LQQKY| 2.17.10 @ 10:28AM
How about the fact that I was forced to pay into the Social Security INSURANCE program since I started working in 1956? How about Medicare since its inception? How about the fact that my savings and investments were taxed? How about getting the government completely out of our lives? How about gettting rid of welfare, a major cash cow and making those who receive it pay taxes on it? How about making the 48% of wage earners who don't pay taxes pay them? How about doing away with WIC, the earned income tax credit (an oxymoron if ever there was one) and other aid to buy votes from the poor?
Get a life JimH one of these days you are going to wake up and find that you have become a geezer and the messiah has found a way to tax all of your retirement savings. BOLLOCKS!
Elizabeth| 2.17.10 @ 9:40PM
here, here. Well said. Thank you. The Govt. taxes things that have already been taxed. Double taxation in the mix.
Appleby| 2.17.10 @ 12:56PM
We didn't invent this system and many of us have been trying to reform it for the past 50 years or so, with no luck -- yes the AARP is a big lobby but it does not represent the vast majority of seniors, any more than the AMA represents the majority of doctors or the ABA represents the majority of lawyers. They are all three organizations like TheKids in the Sixties, who somehow convinced the Ignoranti that a small group of people screaming loudly equals everybody.
I saved for my retirement and my money went down the tubes in 1987. I saved again and that money went down in 1992. Now I don't save anything because I'm paying 46% of my income in taxes so other people can have Goodies.
You explain to me how I can fix this problem and I'll get on it.
JimP| 2.17.10 @ 9:39AM
Unfortunately Congress has seen this coming since the 1970's (at least). Back in the 80's they came up with 401K's as the 'solution' to the ponzi scheme going bust. Thanks to the Dems, in particular, (housing bubble, Tim Geithner not doing his job in NY etc) now everyone is screwed. They'll definitely raise the retirement age to 70. They'll just put if off until the last possible moment that they can in hopes of minimizing the blowback. After that it will be bumped up again. Work 'til you drop is the new order of the day, and actually has been for a while now. Still, with the right people doing the right things in DC, the worst of this scenario could be avoided.
Dixie Pixie| 2.17.10 @ 11:27AM
JimP you nailed it.
Even in the Obama-Care plan, a person is rated according to their economic usefulness. Under Obama-Care if ones profit potential drops below a Federal Mandated Level medical care will be reduced to zero. As a alternative to medical care, Obama has promised you will have the little white pill option . It is called the euthanasia option for the no longer economically productive.
Has anyone else noticed at the upper levels of both Multi-National Corporations and Federal Government consists of the same group of people who simply exchange jobs every election cycle.
Has anyone else noticed the Federal Courts have ruled the Federal Constitution ends once you step through the workplace door.
Welcome to the 21st Century American Corporate-Aristocracy.
I don't see anything in Newt Gingrich plans to change the cause of our problem, just more political tactical maneuvering.
JimP| 2.17.10 @ 1:58PM
Dixie: you've made some really good points. I wish I had some constructive ideas on how we could change things regarding the revolving door of the aristocrats right now, but I don't. This is food for thought. Thanks for posting it.
Nick| 2.17.10 @ 4:07PM
Dixie Pixie,
Great post!
It is the job of the Cultural-Marxist to promote the culture of death.
They are also the type of guys that the CFR likes have join their club.
Dixie Pixie| 2.17.10 @ 7:16PM
Thanks JimP and Nick.
Your posts were warmly received.
I do try to keep my posts coherent, logical, accurate and on target.
It warms my heart to see my posts appreciated.
Thanks again.
JimP, I remember a time when corporations were chartered by the State to preform economic activities such as building cars. For the use of such a charter the corporations had certain responsibilities to the community. The minimum responsibilities included the seeing to the welfare of the workforce. After all wage slaves must be feed, clothed and health-care provided.
Over the years corporations have abandoned their social responsibilities to the community in favor of increasing the “bottom line”. Now the corporations are trying to offload their social responsibilities on the Federal government. There is the fact of moving such costs off the books allows that money to be diverted to corporation executive paychecks. This is the driving force of the recent troubles with the corporate world.
There is a solution. If a major multi-national corporation can be stopped dead in its tracks by a snail darter fish then the Courts can shutdown a corporation for ignoring its social responsibilities. This will require the political class to honor their duty to the citizens. In the current political culture that is not a given.
Alan Brooks| 2.17.10 @ 7:19PM
Newt:
"Every Child Gets Ahead."
No, this is smarm. Many children WILL be left behind. There will be always be winners and losers-- until you get to Heaven.
Alan Brooks| 2.17.10 @ 7:24PM
Well, it is no more insipid than Bush's asinine
"No Child Left Behind."
Now we know-- social progress ended 9-12- '01.
Alfred| 2.17.10 @ 8:54PM
"You Birthed It - You Bought It. "
In other words: "Its all about me." The next generation just got saddled with $1.2 trillion in debt and didn't have a single vote on the issue.
Appleby, your short-sighted, what-about-me, screw-the-next-generation attitude is a big part of the problem.
Pingback| 2.17.10 @ 7:09AM
The News Factor, an informative online Conservative News Magazine » Just maybe it’s t links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Liberal Reader| 2.17.10 @ 7:20AM
Mr Gingrich's politics drive me up a wall. But I respect him and very much appreciate his love of ideas, his openness to good debate, his knowledge of American history, and belief in the importance of education.
Some of the ideas above sound fine to me; others I'm not so sure about.
But this country is in bad shape politically. If Republicans can use a contract to help them articulate their ideas for voters, fine. They should do it, so the ideas can be debated on their merits.
I'm sick to death of the debased, phony, superficial nature of political discourse -- sound bites, attack ads, howling on the radio -- in this country.
Like many conservatives, I loved it when Obama met with Republicans a few weeks ago. In my view the country saw the president talk without a script, and it saw that there are conservatives who can form complete sentences and actually know how to think rationally. Paul Ryan is much likelier to help this country than Glenn Beck, and we need to hear more from people like him and Gingrich.
uncle curmudgeon| 2.17.10 @ 7:50AM
Newt, Newt, Newt... what happened to numuro uno: De-fund the Left? That's the one we failed to get done last time around. I know, a million here a million there; chump change to big guys like you. But oh! The ripple effect those few dollars have out here in fly-over country where we the people live! The money we send to the ACORNs, (and their name is legion) buys nothing but trouble, as well as votes for more of the same. Cut 'em off without a penny, I say. Newt?
By the way, New Jersey's new governor appears to be going in this direction with his announced reforms plan. Maybe the guy in Virginia will see his reforms and raise him one. I hope so. It could be the new political derby for those elected with conservative support.
JimP| 2.17.10 @ 9:54AM
My overall impression from your comments is that you are just a troll who is here trying to do damage control for the left now that your team is imploding at political light speed. Perhaps you can slow the implosion by planting seeds like "many conservatives loved it when the Reps met with Obama" etc, but I doubt it. I'll check with Paul Ryan's office and see if he too is of the Beck=Dracula, and conservatives can't complete sentences mind set. As far as "debased, phony, superficial discourse -- sound bites, attack ads, howling on the radio" goes, it is your side that has practiced these things without competition or effective outlets for over 40 years. Now that conservatism is using effective tactics and venues and WINNING the 'discourse' you are tired of it all. No wonder. Things WERE much "nicer" back when the GOP was all a bunch of Rockefellers like Bob Dole, Gerry Ford, Bob Michel et al. Alas, the country got wise to how that GOP is not really any better than the Dems. BTW, that is why the GOP lost in '06 & '08, they acted like Dems/liberals.
Liberal Reader| 2.17.10 @ 1:04PM
Yes well, JimP, I'd like to take a few minutes to discuss the different ways in which you are a douche bag, but I have more high-toned political rhetoric to engage in elsewhere. Mega-dittoes, dude, and have a nice day!
JimP| 2.17.10 @ 1:46PM
LOL Hey Liberal Reader, I guess I hit a nerve. I didn't expect that. However, your response DOES reinforce my impression. Thanks for the confirmation.
Warm personal regards,
JimP
Alan Brooks| 2.17.10 @ 7:28PM
"Mr Gingrich's politics drive me up a wall. But I respect him."
translation: you DO NOT respect him at all.
FawnridgeFarm| 2.17.10 @ 7:37AM
Mr. Gingrich's 2010 Contract With America is pure rubbish - an absolute insult to the intelligence of the American voter. America is the largest debtor nation on the face of the earth, yet it makes no mention of reducing the national debt? The root cause of that debt is government spending, yet it makes no mention of reducing the size and scope of the federal government to something that is economically sustainable? Mr. Gingrich may be a Republican but, judging by this Contract, he is no fiscal conservative. Thus, to this conservative, at least, he personifies nothing more than yet another parasitical political hack that needs to be thrown out of Washington for good.
Interested Conservative| 2.17.10 @ 8:18AM
See #2 in the article.
FawnridgeFarm| 2.17.10 @ 11:52AM
Balancing the budget merely means assuring that receipts (income) equals expenditures (expenses). That, in and of itself, will not preclude unborn generations from inheriting an indebtedness incurred to pay benefits to those alive today, and this "generational theft" is nothing less than the worst form of taxation without representation that there is.
Ryan| 2.17.10 @ 11:17AM
Fine. How do we reduce the national debt?
txn4ever| 2.17.10 @ 11:59AM
The budget was balanced in the late '90s mostly on the back of the defense budget cuts and a technological revolution that doesn't come along very often. Are we giving Newt credit for that as well? Did he work with Gore on inventing the internet?
At what point in the '90s was the Federal Budget less than or equal to the previous years budget?
I'm sorry but as a conservative I'm not following Newt anywhere.
Some of the stuff in this article is laughable. Work on issues that have voter approval? I see, we are only going to do the easy stuff. That's real leadership.
FawnridgeFarm| 2.17.10 @ 12:08PM
The national debt can be reduced the very same way that a personal debt can - by drastically cutting discretionary spending and applying that money instead to wards principal repayment. For starters, how about initiating a twenty-five-year plan to gradually reduce federal government spending on entitlement back to it's constitutionally mandated level (no expenditures)? A much quicker down-sizing of the federal government's unconstitutional intrusion into education, interstate commerce, workplace regulation, home finance and myriad other wasteful programs should also free up capital that can be used to pay down the debt.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 2.17.10 @ 7:38AM
That's a very good set of promises, but the original Contract with America was not kept. Can you sell a pig in a poke a second time.
Don't get me wrong. Those suggestions are precisely what's needed. As someone else noted, if Gingrich gets off the climate change train, he could get my vote.
Ryan| 2.17.10 @ 11:19AM
Actually, if memory recalls, the original contract was VERY well kept, at least as far as it could with a Dem president. Clinton pretty much went along - to a point - because he wouldn't have gotten re-elected if he hadn't.
The problem was that it was abandoned when W got into office and his big-spending pals.
Melvin| 2.17.10 @ 7:42AM
A contract is only as good as the people that honor it.
Someone please tell me in why a new Contract for America needs to be drafted when we have in our possession the greatest contract in the history of
nations called the United States Constitution?
If the career political bureaucrats feel that they don't have to adhere and follow the Constitution what makes a think they will adhere to round two of the Contract For America?
Melvin| 2.17.10 @ 7:45AM
I'm sorry, I had forgotten to add this last point. Over half of the politicians in the Senate and the House are attorneys who have made it their life's work to break contracts not honor them.
martin j smith| 2.17.10 @ 7:55AM
The ideas re good, the messenger I am not sure I trust. We need new blood, the the same old,same old crowd. That would be Newt among others. There needs to be real accountability to an so called contract. I think the development of the Tea Party Movement is an example of the voters holding elected officials accountable. That is what voters should do. Be prepared for the election of 2010 and then--2012.
logmank| 2.17.10 @ 8:05AM
Newt has made himself irrelevant by snuggling on the couch with Pelosi and swallowing the AGW kool aid. He should be ignored.
R Martin| 2.17.10 @ 8:49AM
I have always admired Newt as a strategic thinker with a sharp and fertile mind but have come to abhor his management and leadership skills. It doesn’t help that he is not very likeable and can be highly annoying. He should keep thinking, writing and talking with his hat on his head, not in the ring, even though it is the ring and the presidency that he covets.
Everyone could and should pick at the list. Here’s my two cents:
1. Focus more on broader tax reform. Top individual rates should certainly be lowered, but a fairer tax needs to address the fact that far too many people at the other end pay no income tax and therefore have no interest in reform and lots of interest in government benefits.
2. Tort reform—Adopt “loser pays”, a system which works well in most other western societies. This applies to all civil law, not just that related to health care.
3. Congress—Stop feeding the beast. Drastically reduce staff budgets so that small armies of Mary Mapes types cannot conjure 2000 page bills which no legislator ever reads. Unelected congressional staff members have far too much power. Ask the question, “Do we have enough laws yet?”
4. Health Care—Start at the beginning, not the middle. Most Americans have clearly signaled, in the early 1990’s and now, that they are basically happy with the health care industry and do not want drastic change or government takeover. If there are problems, state clearly what they are then address each individually with specific resolutions.
5. Education—Item 7 is much too passive. Make the public school system come around rather than wait for it to respond to competition. We pay for it, let’s make it work. Start with the silly system of state teacher certification. The worst schools are staffed only by certified teachers, while the best have no certification requirements and indeed use teachers almost exclusively with academic backgrounds other than education. These non certified private schools attract students whose parents are willing to pay $30,000 per year to send their children there. Stress that the purpose of public school should be education, not political indoctrination.
If we go with Newt’s timetable there is plenty of time to refine these issues before incorporating them into an election strategy. I agree with Mr. Tucker, it’s a winning formula.
Anthony| 2.17.10 @ 9:15AM
"Nobody does issues better than Newt". That may be so Mr. Tucker, but brother Newt has lost his way. To quote the great Maggie Thacher, Newt has gone "wobbly".
Newt has once again veered right, as has McCain and other RINOs in their attempt to remain viable or keep their positions in Washington. Newt's issues flap in the breeze these days, depending on which group appears to be on top. Brother Newt still needs to explain his positon on AGW, which like Algore, he has become strangely silent. Newt thinks, like Obama, that he can talk his way out of any jam on his issues fluxuation. Like Obama, his glibness has caught up to him.
Sorry, brother Newt, like McCain, you need to go, and a new generation of committed conservatives need to rise and take charge.
I notice that Newt's new contract with America is silent on TERM LIMITS. No suprise there, his first Contract paid lip service to TL. Not an easy sell to career pols.
Petronius| 2.17.10 @ 1:06PM
Yer gettin' warm. Newt's thing is wanting it both ways because down deep he's a statist. Before the second half of his Congress opened in '96 Gerry Seib quoted him on the back page of the WSJ op-ed: "These conservatives should understand going in, they are going to be sold out." Newt Gingrich set us back 40 years with his backsliding and double dealing. Can you say jack--f?
Neolibertarian| 2.17.10 @ 9:15AM
I was in on the inspirational “Contract with America” mania and was on the staff of a Republican who was elected by defeating an entrenched Democrat. It was a truly heady period and I am proud of the grassroots gang that accomplished this monumental task. I have from that era a picture of me, my candidate and myself shaking hands with Newt Gingrich. The “era” of the contract lasted about one month and all our effort was wasted as Washington returned to the “business as usual” format having squandered all our hard work. I will not be fooled again and will NEVER support the windbag hypocrite power monger Gingrich. He is a liar, a manipulator, and for me the poster boy of all that is the beltway. He is as much as responsible for the tea parties as Clinton, Obama or in my particular venue Ben Nelson.
Santino49| 2.17.10 @ 9:19AM
Newt remains a generally impressive thinker, but his trip ups with Scozzafava (sp?) and "Global Warming" mean he won't get my vote. No more votes for the lesser of two evils.
Tom| 2.17.10 @ 9:27AM
One more thing for a jump start.
Declare a 12 month tax moratorium on corporate offshore accounts. There has to be trillions out there.
Let corporations bring home some of that money to ret00l, hire Americans and invest in American infrastructure. Everybody wins and we didn't borrow it from the Chinese.
Works for me.
antipower| 2.17.10 @ 9:54AM
Another politician talking about issues, issues,issues.
This is the magicians trick of distraction. Newt's 1st contract swept the repubs into congress take over, whereupon having the power they spent money as if all they had to do was print it, which is what they did. Issues are symptoms; stop screwing around with the symptoms, fix THE PROBLEM.
THE PROBLEM is that the feds have control over
our entire lives. The only role of the feds should be a strong military, a sound and stable monetary system and a judiciary that provides equal justice to all. FIX THE PROBLEM NOT THE SYMPTOMS
molonlabe28| 2.17.10 @ 10:01AM
I gave up on Newt after his odious support of the liberal Dede Scozafava in the NY 23 House race.
He does have some fine ideas from time to time and a former employee of mine had him as a history professor at Ga. State University.
But, after his NY 23 fiasco and playing buddies with Nancy Pelosi and Al Sharpton on global warming, I have no use for Newt.
He needs to go away.
He represents the GOP's past - not its future.
owyheewine| 2.17.10 @ 10:10AM
Newt is, as always, a shrewd political thinker. Now that he has abandoned his green phase, he has come up with a great basic framework for a platform to create a new conservative majority. It's not the full load of reforms that most of us know are needed, but to achieve reforms, we need a majority in congress first.
Doorgunner| 2.17.10 @ 10:14AM
No to Newt.
Jim S| 2.17.10 @ 10:15AM
So why isn't Newt the chairman of the Republican party?
scythe| 2.17.10 @ 10:18AM
If Gingrich is attached to this his is any way IT IS DOOMED TO FAIL. I and many others were fearful that this man would try to steer the Tea Parties and everything else going on today to counter Obama to his advantage. For that reason alone I did not attend one of the early Tea Parties in NY when Gingrich spoke. I tried to warn others what he is up to. He is not one of us. He will take our desires, this unformed free wheeling movement and will put himelf on top of the heap. With his name he will destroy. He is NOT a conservative but another NEW WORLD ORDERLY attempting to continue our loss of sovereignty and the entire agenda by pretending to do otherwise. Wake up America. This man is not our friend.
Oldefarte| 2.17.10 @ 10:45AM
William---brilliant article! I propose, instead of immediately cutting taxes, governmental EXPENSES should be drastically cut to lower the deficit/debt [foreign aid has always been a waste of taxpayer money]. This would lower governmental borrowing, free up credit to private businesses and result in employees being hired. Tort reform would result in the cost of insurance [health and otherwise] being lowered, as well as that of medical care. Education reform should include typing its availability to governmental welfare----if the children do not attend/participate/perform in school, their parents/relatives should be thereafter denied welfare benefits. Our domestic production of oil/gas would lower Americans' costs of fuel and correspondingly defend foreign countries' backdoor payments of oil royalties to Muslim terrorists. Military defense of America should substantially avoid/eliminate our involvement in land/convential warfare in foreign countries [it never results in victorious solutions and only causes too many young Americans being killed]----if necessary, the bomb [Niagasaki-wise] should be used as our last resort to resolve conflicts [it brought Japan to the negotiation tables and ended WWII]!!!!!
JmsA| 2.17.10 @ 10:52AM
Matchless, Churchillian? The same individual who backed Dede what's her name in the NY-23 recent election; the same who was drummed out of congress by Bill Clinton. Give me a break!
OH GOD NO | 2.17.10 @ 11:07AM
I respect him, I agree with most of what he says but the awful truth is he's unlikable, and I'm frankly getting fatigued with the whole Clinton/Gore/Bush 43/Gingrich generation. (I'm 38).
Scott Brown is the future.
Gerald| 2.17.10 @ 11:11AM
I think Newt is a very smart guy, but frankly these points seem more like election sound bites than realistic plans to repair the damage being done to our economic well-being. The social security and medical entitlement programs are the 800 pound gorilla in the room, and no approach to resolving those issues is even mentioned. This may work for electioneering, but doesn't come close to addressing our real economic problems.
PCC| 2.17.10 @ 11:30AM
As Chris Christie said to the NJ legislature, government does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.
Uncle Sam should learn to live within the amount of hard-earned taxes it now receives. If that requires cuts in entitlements, or defense, or government payrolls, so be it.
Margie| 2.17.10 @ 12:46PM
Chris Christie for President! :^)
If he keeps going the way he is, I'd back him.
Tailgunner| 2.17.10 @ 11:31AM
All well and good, Newt - but you left out a couple of important things that are near and dear to ALL patriotic Americans- to wit:
Control illegal immigration and begin deporting illegal aliens - You will have 4 months to drag your tail back to wherever you came from and visit the U.S. Embassy in your homeland. If we catch you illegally in the United States or any of its territories after that, you are first going to jail, we are confiscating any and all of your property and possessions and auctioning them off to pay for shipping your butt back to wherever it is you came from and pay off any of your debts. If you don’t have enough to cover it we will deduct every last penny directly from any foreign aid to your home country - along with a hefty service fee, plus we will fingerprint you, photograph you, take DNA samples from you, and take a retinal eye scan of you so that, if you ever attempt to cross our border again or get caught inside the United States, you will spend a very long time here as a documented guest worker - making license plates in one of our “gray bar hotels”. No exceptions. And when you’re done with that (after we have deducted every dime of your keep from foreign aid to your homeland) guess where you’re headed! Back to your homeland. Permanently. You will never be given another chance.
A Constitutional amendment making English the ONLY language in which government business is conducted and government forms are printed. You need an interpreter? Bring your own - to a hospital, school, government agency. Do it on your own dime - the taxpayers are NOT going to pay for your interpreter.
A Constitutional amendment that in effect says that ANY "lifetime appointee" - from a county judge to a Supreme Court justice - can be recalled and made to resign by a 55% vote of the voters.
JimP| 2.17.10 @ 1:40PM
Oh yeah! I love this one. Way to go Tailgunner.
Tailgunner| 2.17.10 @ 1:06PM
Don't know why it didn't post from my copy and paste - but there is one more.
REPEAL the part of the 14th amendment that in effect says if you trot across the border and drop your baby here the baby is a citizen. Nope - baby can apply from their homeland when they are 18 years old. In the meantime, you are getting shipped back home with mom and dad.
Franklin| 2.17.10 @ 1:36PM
I confess that many of these items are quite appealing. I support his contract, just not sure I support him.
I, along with thousands of regular citizens, have been working on another contract. This one is FROM America:
http://www.contractfromamerica.com/
We are now on the verge of finalizing it to have it published on April 15th.
Please help choose 10 of the current 21 items we need to focus on.
Margie| 2.17.10 @ 3:06PM
Franklin,
The good news is that there are so many conservatives looking to do the right thing.
The bad news?
The bad news is for the Left~ they're on the losing side!
"There may yet be hope!"
Derek Leaberry| 2.17.10 @ 1:56PM
Newt Gingrich was a fraud as a conservative. Newt Gingrich was a fraud as a Southerner. I am confident that he will abandon his recently adopted Catholicism once he tires of it. He's more like Bill Clinton without the charisma- a narcissistic brat.
Notice how Gingrich never returned "home" to Georgia after he retired from Congress. He's sort of a man from nowhere, which is why he chooses to flim-flam his way around Washington DC instead of earning an honest living. Sadly, many of these sorts call themselves Republicans.
Nick| 2.17.10 @ 2:37PM
Mr. Leaberry,
Ouch!
I have my problems with Newt, but that was using both barrels.
Tell us how you really feel! Ha-ha!
Petronius| 2.22.10 @ 2:03AM
On the money
Newt wants what was conferred upon Colin Powell, admission to the beltway clique.
Pingback| 2.17.10 @ 2:20PM
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : The Mount Vernon Statement (mount vernon statem links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Tim| 2.17.10 @ 2:56PM
With a mini renaissance for conservatives underway here comes Newt! Yes he's off global warming and apologized for backing Dede Scozzafava. Who appreciates marriage and the family better than a man who's been married three times?
Newt should stay on the lecture circuit.
Margie| 2.17.10 @ 2:59PM
Good old Newt. The man is brilliant, as always!
I say, why attack the messenger? That is always a mistake. Use the messenger if his message is right. (Old Tex has mentioned this recently concerning Newt, and I agree).
My only question is on #3~ couldn't we just entirely banish the EPA? :^)
LiveFreeOrDie| 2.17.10 @ 4:07PM
Why attack the messenger? Because he's a scumbag that changes position according to the wind. Avid AGW supporter, draft dodger, adulterer. Committed numerous ethics violations and like to use tax payers money for personal expenses.
"If the country today were to move to the left, Newt would sense it before it started happening and lead the way." - Dot Crews, his campaign scheduler in the 1970s
Margie| 2.17.10 @ 4:18PM
If it makes you feel better, go ahead. Far be it from me to prevent you.
David| 2.17.10 @ 3:44PM
Newt for prez - no way. He was not "fooled" on the global warming issue. He is a political animal and he thought, despite all of the contrary evidence, that climbing on the global warming bandwagon was the politically advantageous thing to do.
Then he supported Scozzafava - a person who dropped out of the race and unashamedly endorsed the democrat. Gingrich was not "fooled" then, either. He knew her liberal record just as we did, but again chose what his political instincts said was the politically advantageous path so as not to rattle the republican machinery who chose Scozzafava.
None of those two decisions, or the fact that he is on his third marriage, indicate he has a commitment to principles. Granted, he can more effectively articulate conservative positions on many of the issues. He should be Chairman of the Republican Party, or be top advisor to the next repub prez, but he should not be prez.
How about including some new ideas about individuals' taxes. Personally, I think it is unfair that people get tax breaks on their mortgage interest if they choose to buy a home. I choose to rent. If I choose to own two or three really fine cars instead of buying a home, shouldn't I be able to deduct my interest? My choice will help the economy a much as the homowners' choice does. My choice helps employ car makers, repairman, tire makers, parts makers, car washers and detailers, etc.
And once and for all, end the legalized theft of our hard-earned money by the federal government in the name of the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit). It is a crime to give a check from what we pay in fed income taxes to millions of people every tax season who pay ZERO in fed income taxes. That's right - millions who pay miniscule amounts in income taxes all year get all of what the paid in returned to them, and then get a $1,000 to $4,000 check depending on their income and number of children, which is paid with people's money who actually had to pay income taxes. It is bad enough that 40% of workers get away without paying a dime in fed income taxes - it is criminal for congress to tax us more to give them substantial checks every year - free money. I'd sure like someone to hand me a few thousand every year that I haven't worked for and did nothing to deserve - not even pay 1% of my income in fed income taxes.
Louis Jenkins| 2.17.10 @ 4:13PM
It is not so much Mt. Vernon conservative accords or a Contract with America, but will those who promise these new contracts abide by them? If they're lulled into District of Crimminal inside the beltway shenanigans what has America gained? Will conservative citizens/watch dogs be willing to call these contractors out on transgressions, or will they go along with the party line? Don't want to be fooled again.
David| 2.17.10 @ 5:26PM
One more disgusting thing that Gingrich did. I recall during the last election when he was teasing the public about whether he was going to run for prez how he cuddled up to and wooed Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family.
Gingrich toyed with him until Dobson finally came out and said his choice would be Gingrich. Dobson had never done that for a candidate or potential candidate before. Immediately Gingrich came out and said that he wouldn't be running because he couldn't run because it would be illegal considering the organization he was running at the time. I felt at the time that Gingrich betrayed Dobson - basically slapped him in the face.
Gingrich is not a person to be trusted.
Kenneth E. MacAlister Jr.| 2.17.10 @ 5:43PM
Moot Spingrinch is to Republican politics what Michael Smerconish is to talk radio. An opportunistic sellout who will make deals with ol' Beelzebub himself if it will get him more press. It was just a matter of time before this slimy weasel attempted to hitch his little red wagon to the re-emergence of conservatism during Obama's "Decimate America & Americans" 4 year tour. This spineless charlatan has no morals, scruples, or shame & he knows what he can do with his ideas. Just more tired old RINO b.s. Go away Moot Spingrinch, conservatives & conservatism don't need you. Time to put on my RINO parasite collar to keep the blood sucking RINO leeches away. Hey Moot, why don't you join Smerconish on his talk show. The fraud needs someone to talk to. God knows there are no listeners left to talk to.
"Life is hard; it's harder when you're stupid!" - John Wayne
Jeff| 2.17.10 @ 6:32PM
Gingrich is in many ways a great thinker.However, I was done with him the moment I saw the commercial with him and Nancy Pelosi sitiing on a couch together saying the debate on global warming was over .
So are any political ambitions Newt Gingrich may have had.
Mike N.| 2.17.10 @ 6:44PM
I have to agree with Kenneth M. Newt is a neoconservative that I trusted once but won't do it again, some of the ideas may sound appealing but I've had it with the pussyfooting around approach. You want to get your face on Mount Rushmore repeal the 16th amendment let's go to a flat or consumption tax no more class warfare punishing one group for success and hard work and rewarding another for just voting for you abolish capital gains and estate (death) taxes. Repeal the 17th amendment and have Senators appointed by state legislatures to limit the graft and corruption and have them as the founders intended looking out for states rights. Impeach activist judges who clearly legislate from the bench. Pass a constitutional amendment requiring any bill written must include the section in the Constitution that grants it jurisdiction under original intent, and here's the big one the one that Newt blew big time in 94 TERM LIMITS for Congress and the Senate make it retroactive, anyone of the current crop with 20 years in and you automatically go home and get a real job after your term is up no more reelection! This is of course is if the 17th amendment is not repealed. No unionization for government employees as 50% of these jobs will be phased out over 10 years to shrink the size of the federal government back to constitutional nonbloated limits. Get rid of all non-constitutional government agencies like the Department of Education return education to the states and local control.
The Chinese are holding our pink slip and our national debt is of galactic proportions is unsustainable if we want to save our country were only going to get one crack at it before it's too late maybe, we can afford to take chances with business as usual RINOs that sprinkle a few God words to sucker the rubes like Bush did then turns around and when asked if the Bible was true replied "probably not." The movement going on now is not as Rush Limbaugh would have you believe Ross Perot II, the American people are waking up and I can only hope we have enough resolve to not fall for the banana in our tailpipe again!
One last thing, all so-called scientists who knowingly lied, falsified data or actively worked against honest scientists to blackball them for trying to bring the truth to this global warming scam should be prosecuted and require them to give back any public grant moneys, prosecute propagandist profiteers who position themselves to line their pockets by foisting this man-made global warming carbon credit CO2 scam on the world, you hear that Al Gore?
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." ~ George Washington
astonerii| 2.17.10 @ 7:02PM
Lest you forget that Newt was a AGW supporter sitting next to Pelosi. He is a sell out when he thinks he can get away with it. His core is not solid, and while he may come out with great contracts with America, they contracts are nothing more than simple constitutionalism written out in short form and with respect to the current events of the day. He does good with his contracts, other than that, this man does not deserve to be given any more credit than he has earned.
astonerii| 2.17.10 @ 7:10PM
A few big missed points here.
Ban all Public Employee Unions. This would go a long way to helping balance the budget.
His education scheme is just that, education is not and should not be on the federal budget.
Havoc| 2.17.10 @ 7:36PM
Sorry, Newt - I haven't forgotten your 'contract with Hillary Clinton', or your support for the leftist Scozzafava in NY District 23. Try again, in another lifetime.
JimE| 2.17.10 @ 9:51PM
Newt is not a conservative, he is a huckster selling recycled garbage, his original contract amounted to nothing. He had his chance, time for him to hit the road.
Jims'Wright'Imean Right| 2.17.10 @ 10:58PM
Newts THE most Palinesque (three wives & affairs not withstanding) conservative.
He & Sarah both manage to use their PAC money
to buy their own books, & yet, rail against "morally bankrupt liberals" Oy!
Pingback| 2.18.10 @ 12:09AM
“Churchillian” Gingrich « Team Gingrich links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
choppy waters| 2.18.10 @ 3:16AM
Yes, Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. Worked pretty well until medical science figured a way to make people live forever. Invented all those statins, blood thinners, insulin,by-passes, when all they needed was the Black Pill .Speaking of by-passes, does an ex-president pay the freight on his by-passes or does he have some kind of retirement medical insurance coverage - I mean did we just pay for Bill's latest Roto-rooter job? Social Security continued to work pretty well until the Federal Government started stealing from it and replacing real money with worthless I.O.U.s. Real money. How long has it been since the government had any real money?
Medicare worked better before it covered the Under 65 Disabled and before HIV/AIDS (a preventable disease) "sufferers" became disabled after a short career of waiting table at Olive Garden. Click on HIV/AIDSMedicare. Compare the money spent on that disease alone, to whatever you come up with that most of the AIDS afflicted have contributed to either Social Security or Medicare.
Yet, all we hear is the 75 year old who needs a hip replacement or a pacemaker. That geezer's hip wore out over his lifetime of work, paying into the system. A 25 year AIDS "victim" whose meals are brought to his home by Helping Hand and whose medical care is being paid for out of the dwindling Medicare system, cannot be said to have paid his dues. It has been known since about 1980 how you get AIDS and we continue to see new cases of it. Funny how things work. A child with a pre-existing condition - say, asthma - cannot get insurance and Medicare pays a huge chunk of money for treatment of AIDS. We are merely talking about where the money goes. Not lifestyle or morals. Go back and look at what Medicare originally covered. You can't expand the coverage without increasing the contributions. Oh, wait. That is what they intend to do again, isn't it?
The disabled deserve help. But their care doesn't need to be lumped into Medicare - or if it does, for crying out loud, quit saying it is all the geezers that are the problem.
I read an article once that stated that a portion of Medicare contributions went to educate foreign medical students - the theory being that they would return to their impoverished country and treat their poor. The program provided for the medical education to take place in the United States. "Send us your tired, your poor, your uneducated...." We will bleed our citizens dry to take care of you. For the sake of diversity, we will see that you get enrolled in a prestigious school ahead of the son or daughter of a tax-paying U.S. citizen. How many reurned to their impoverished country to set up medical practice that would earn them more than $500 a month? Considering the number of Dr. Ghandi's and - - oh, geez, not only do I sound anti-Gay, but isolationist and anti-immigrant. We are still taking about where the money goes.
Oh, and Ghandi was just a name - I don't want to hear from the one who paid for his own education. I didn't mean him.
You don't hear Obama saying he is going to cut out the HIV/AIDS Medicare funding, do you?
And Michelle is only concerned about childhood obesity - which used to be called baby fat, until TV was invented, making outdoor play obsolete. Someone should tell those little kids they are clogging their arteries and there are going to be no funds to pay for their Lipitor when they hit 70.
She could travel the country, visiting gay "communities" and win them over to safe sex.
Lotsa luck with that.
And speaking of obesity, is that caboose Michelle hauls behind her something we should worry about or is it just pure muscle and 6 axe handles wide?
Terry Hulsey| 2.18.10 @ 12:36PM
Your reference to Churchill must mean the Churchill of Gallipoli. I can't believe that this ranting moron, who wants Puerto Rico as the 51st state, is taken seriously by anybody.
Derek Leaberry| 2.19.10 @ 9:54AM
Or the Churchill who switched to the Liberal Party. Or the Churchill that supported Lloyd George's enactment of the British welfare state. Or the Churchill that pushed for war in 1914 which doomed his beloved Empire. Or the Churchill who was the last man standing behind Edward VIII's decision to marry Wallis Simpson. Or the Churchill that continued Labour's socialist policies when he reclaimed the premiership in 1951.
Mike| 2.18.10 @ 4:35PM
"So here's the possible scenario. Three years from now we're still in the same bind we're in now only worse. Social Security revenues have turned negative (they just missed by $2 billion last year), the budget deficit is still in the trillions, the avalanche of Medicare is starting to rumble overhead. Joblessness is stuck around 10 percent, men are still spectacularly underemployed, and the only work available is tending people in hospitals and pushing the elderly around in wheelchairs -- all on the government dollar."
Given GOP behavior and AmSpec propaganda, this sounds more like a right wing wish than a prediction about the future.
Ayn R. Key | 2.18.10 @ 5:49PM
Treating terrorists as enemy combatants instead of criminals means they get Geneva Convention rights. Does Newt really want to give them Geneva Convention rights instead of Criminal rights?
Don'tWorry-BeHappy| 2.18.10 @ 8:27PM
If we can only hold on till 2012 and Palin's numbers improve - George Will says 71% of Americans think she is unqualified (52% Republican) - his further doomsday statistic is that "full-throated populism has not won an election in 178 years.
Will also noted that when Goldwater lost in 44 states no one suggested his running mate, Miller, be the candidate for president in the next election.
The Little Engine that thinks she can, can't. Keep on chuggin'.
John Stanton| 2.18.10 @ 10:04PM
Chris Christie for President. He's the only person I've heard who is willing to talk about the kind of spending cuts that need to be made. Let's hear more from him.
Newt has a good idea in the Contract, but he needs to focus on the realities of arithmetic. If we don't quit spending the way we are, we are doomed to financial failure.
Pingback| 2.19.10 @ 1:24AM
A Major Block to Constructive Change links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Yosemeti Sam| 2.19.10 @ 3:13PM
" ... there's something Churchillian about Newt Gingrich ...."
As in sitting on a AGW Goresofa with Pelosi?
As in supporting upstate NY leftie-RINO versus
conservative candidate in recent special election?
He can talk up a storm - but so can Allen Keyes.
Never seen Keyes sit down with Pelosi nor
support a leftie-RINO.
Isn't Keyes, thereby, more Churchillian?
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