The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Gingrich Back to the Fray

Gingrich Back to the Fray

By Doug Bandow on 1.21.09 @ 7:05AM

Newt Gingrich is back in battle mode, calling on the GOP to fight the nomination of Timothy Geithner. Reports the Washington Times:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is challenging Senate Republicans to take on President Obama's nomination of Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary.

Mr. Gingrich said Mr. Geithner's failure to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 should automatically disqualify him, and that if Mr. Obama doesn't withdraw the nomination Republicans should make a stand.

"Senate Republicans should make it clear that they will not permit a tax evader to become the secretary of the Treasury," the Georgia Republican told The Washington Times. "Even after he was explicitly sent material telling him he had to pay them he did not do so."

Gingrich's stand raises two issues. One is whether Senate Republicans will pick up cudgels in what appears to be their best bet to block an Obama Cabinet nominee and win some popular points along the way. Second--and far more interesting--is whether this is the beginning of a Gingrich bid to take over leadership of an essentially leaderless party. With the Republican presidential contest in 2012 looking very open at this stage, might this be Gingrich's "Churchill coming in from the Wilderness" moment?

Whaddya' think?

About the Author

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).