Posted on 12/18/2011 5:17:58 AM PST by Alas Babylon!
Newt's said he never lobbied anyone, he was never a registered lobbyist. No one--including the despicably deceitful and demagogic Bachmann--has names of who he tried to influence in Congress and they should be pretty obvious looking at the committees.
He can't get into details of what he did for Freddie because of confidentiality agreements so he can only talk in generalities that he provided a historical viewpoint, that he discussed how to frame the concept of GSEs when talking to conservatives, that Freddie's pursuit of loans for people who can't pay won't work, that he offered strategic advice on communicating on housing and what he's seen work and fail as policy.
He goes back to his time as Speaker to show he did not block Fannie/Freddie reform attempts and the key former chairman, Rick Lazio, backs him up.
Bachmann is shoveling something and, as she once put it, "there's no pony in what (she's) trying to shovel." Over a ten year period, what the Gingrich Group--not Newt as a individual--got, about $160K per year, was modest by consulting standards.
Ron Paul trying to claim Newt lived off tax dollars is bogus. Fannie and Freddie were solvent, independent and did not draw on tax dollars for a bailout until the very end when put under receivership where they remain even now.
Both Paul and Bachmann refuse to accept those GSEs "failed" because of what they were required to do by the Congress in which they serve.
Bachmann in particular acted in the debate as if they never worked despite the decades they clearly functioned as intended.
She is a shameless, bomb-throwing demagogue whether it's "Gardasil causes brain damage" or hiding behind a staffer's empty claim Newt must be paying off Tea Party groups. She's a hypocrite who lies about her own income sources and her benefit from farm subsidies she decries even when her own disclosure documents shows she was lying. She lied about her opposition to raising the debt limit because she did sign the Cut, Cap & Balance pledge which set out conditions for raising the debt limit. She says she "will not rest until ObamaCare is repealed" yet when its funding was up for a vote she's no where to be found.
Campaigns should focus on their ideas. Can anyone articulate Bachmann's "everyone pays something" tax plan? Is her plan to deal with illegals already entrenched markedly different than Newt's? No, it isn't. I think she gets a pass from those mesmerized by her 23 foster children and husband's clinic that "treats" homosexuality. Her candidacy is another con game and hats off to those who saw the signal of hiring Ed Rollins as a bad omen.
When this circus started in the spring she was my choice for VP.
Wow is that cool! Does it come in any other color? Can I wear it when I BBQ!!
HeY that’s my hat now! AB gave it to me.!!
Yes, even Huntsman would get the line on my ballot, but I’m not going to settle if a better conservative remains an option at this point.
Could well be true. It might be a bit of a shock if the GOP nominates someone who hasn't run before. Given his pedigree, W only marginally counts. Otherwise, I think we go back before Nixon.
If Romney is nominee and fails in the fall, I believe Newt would not run again. The others, including Perry, are young enough to try again.
Is it fair for Newt to bring up how Jamie Gorelick made some 25 million at Fannie and Freddie and Franklin Raines took home nearly 100 mill? Is that OK to compare to what Newt made?
If so he’s home free in my book.
It may be insurance for her political future but several freepers said Romney supported her run for governor so it may simply be payback.
Totally understand but from the looks of it were are now in a two man race.
Excellent Post!
May I copy and past for future posts?
So are we to assume their is a confidentiality agreement? And why would there be? Shouldn't Newt at least provide us with the language in the confidentiality agreement?
I agree, and I'm surprised more people haven't anticipated this. They are so stuck in the traditional mindset of "this is the way things are done in a Presidential campaign" that they just don't realize that the elites/establishment is changing the game and rules, at whim and without accountability.
We are in uncharted territory, make that dangerous uncharted territory. This isn't an just election this time, it's a slow-motion coup.
The (Democrat)media with their polls wants a two-man race, the Conservatives and TEA Party vote is going to be the difference, and this thing could change on a dime. Perry or Santorum could make that change too, Herman Cain even should have stayed in. I don’t cede support to Romney or Newt at this point, unless the actual vote goes that way at some point I’m a hold-out.
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."
House Democrats are likely to continue to press other ethics charges against Gingrich and the Internal Revenue Service is looking into matters related to the case that came to an end yesterday.
The 395 to 28 vote closes a tumultuous chapter that began Sept. 7, 1994, when former representative Ben Jones (D-Ga.), then running against Gingrich, filed an ethics complaint against the then-GOP whip. The complaint took on greater significance when the Republicans took control of the House for the first time in four decades, propelling Gingrich into the speaker's chair.
With so much at stake for each side -- the survival of the GOP's speaker and the Democrats' hopes of regaining control of the House -- partisanship strained the ethics process nearly to the breaking point.
All but two of the votes against the punishment were cast by Republicans, including Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), many of whom said they believed the sanction -- especially the financial penalty -- was too severe.
Two Democrats, Reps. Earl F. Hilliard (Ala.) and Gene Taylor (Miss.), voted against the punishment. Taylor said the measure should have specified that the $300,000 come from personal funds, not campaign coffers or a legal expense fund. Hilliard did not return telephone calls.
In addition, five Democrats voted "present," many of them saying they believed the sanction was not severe enough. "If Newt Gingrich did what they said he did, he should have been censured," said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), one of the five who voted "present." A censure, second only in severity to expulsion, would have threatened Gingrich's speakership.
House ethics committee members took pride in yesterday's bipartisan resolution of the case. "We have proved to the American people that no matter how rough the process is, we can police ourselves, we do know right from wrong," said Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.), who headed the investigative subcommittee that charged Gingrich.
In a strongly worded report, special counsel James M. Cole concluded that Gingrich had violated tax law and lied to the investigating panel, but the subcommittee would not go that far. In exchange for the subcommittee agreeing to modify the charges against him, Gingrich agreed to the penalty Dec. 20 as part of a deal in which he admitted guilt.
I guess stranger things have happened...I really don’t see it however.
rodguy, Graham was a lawyer in Seneca, SC, (home of Clemson University), and a very conservative district, as is the whole Upstate SC area. Despite the contempt we all have for him, he is a smart fellow, and knew that to have a political career he'd have to play a conservative convincingly enough to fool the local rubes.
He made it to US Congressman and since he had to face re-election every two years, he pretty much minded his conservative P's & Q's and built his reputation as a "conservative". He then got his big chance to shine on the national stage as one of Henry Hyde's House Judiciary Committee impeachment managers in the Clinton impeachment debacle. (Even there he slipped up once and revealed a glimpse of his McCain-style triangulation/sabotage tendencies, but that can wait for another time... /g)
When Senator Strom Thurmond died the extremely powerful SC Republican Party establishment anointed him for the seat. As a US Senator only facing re-election every six years, and having a statewide voter base his electoral vulnerability disappeared and Graham was then free to "be himself".
He no longer has to worry about what the "bigoted" rubes he ostensibly represents think of him, and has told them so. He's not worried about his 2014 re-election because he's one of the insiders and fully expects to move on to bigger and better things in the new order by then... /g
Of course, I could have just given you the short version and said his entire political career has been a con... /g
I realize Newt is a huge baggage car.Realistically, what do you want to do at this point in time where we are now?
Since the Dems control the MSM who will moderate them, I don't have the slightest doubt that there will be debates, probably two. Newt is talking about 7 debates Lincoln-Douglas style. Never happen.
Our old fried Common Tator said that the most important thing was likability. For example, Bush beat Gore because people didn’t want to have that preening, arrogant buffoon on their TV screens.
So, who in the field is more likable than Obama (to the average person, not people who know conservatism)?
Perry
Santorum
Bachmann is more likable to me, but I am remembering that when push comes to shove, Americans do not think a woman can be commander-in-chief. (Yes, I know about Golda Meier and Margaret Thatcher. Doesn’t matter for the USA.)
Newt seems warm and fuzzy right now, but when you have his old speeches played non-stop at the DNC, and also remembering that Obama is 4 inches taller and 75 pounds lighter, he’s just not going to get the position.
Romney seems to have little personality and a very poor sense of humor (remembering that he told The Dog story as an amusing incident).
Huntsman is almost as obnoxious as Obama.
Paul is crazy.
Therefore, I think that despite the polls, Santorum and Perry will do much better since Iowa is one of those states which is big on retail politics. And they are both likable.
In the general, we win with Perry or Santorum. Everyone else will be a toss-up, particularly if there is no debate where people can contrast them next to each other.
Had a local radio guy scoff at me that I thought Obama would skip the debates. People act like this is written in law; it is not. It has only been a tradition since 1980.
And Obama doesn’t give 2 hoots about public opinion, or he and Michelle wouldn’t be taking two separate flights to Hawaii, along with 2 separate groups of support planes, security and vehicles.
The problem with their logic is they aren't factoring in the high probability that the Republican Party, at least the version to which they're selling their souls, is itself doomed. I do so love irony sometimes... /g
So,that gives us two years.
I say the internet has charged everything.
Today we know who the players are and more and more rinos are out of bounds and personna non grata. America has just been sabotaged like never before by the hard left.
They are now hated.Second in line to be hated are the rinos. They know it. All we have to do is follow through and seek out conservative candidates and my guess is that in a state like SC we will find one who can mount a campaign against Graham. Any more Senate seats are almost national seats for controversial figures like Linda Graham.
With any luck at all he will be gone in 2014.
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