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GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Newt Gingrich pushed back this morning on recent criticisms of his record from Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann after finding himself in his opponents' crosshairs as of late.
Gingrich declined to respond to the former Massachusetts governor's criticism of Gingrich as a "life-long politician." The former House Speaker told a group of reporters that he prefers to think of himself as a "lifetime citizen" instead.
Gingrich also said Bachmann was “technically correct” when she told the Greenville News this morning that he was the “grandfather” of the individual health care mandate, which he advocated at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, though he said he later came to oppose it.
"I’ve said all along that when we were fighting Hillary Clinton and Hillarycare, the Heritage Foundation and virtually the entire conservative movement thought the mandate was better than Hillarycare," he said at Tommy’s Ham House, where the town hall was held. "Nobody’s disputed that. Nobody has said it wasn’t factually accurate. So I commend her for being actually technically correct."
Gingrich also addressed a key period during his tenure on Capitol Hill: the 1995 budget impasse that led to a government shutdown.
"We stopped it twice when we were fighting Clinton but we did it very carefully. We paid Social Security, we paid the military, we paid air traffic controllers, we paid the FBI," Gingrich said, answering an attendee’s question about whether he would be able to keep the government going.
He asserted that during the budget negotiations, "Clinton and I understood how to fight in a way that was mature and confused the Washington press corps."
But during the 1995 dispute, Gingrich reportedly said a "snub" aboard Air Force One, during which he sat at the back of the plane during a 25-hour flight to Israel, contributed to the standoff.
According to a CNN report from Nov. 16th, 1995, Gingrich said, "You've been on the plane for 25 hours and nobody has talked to you and they ask you to get off the plane by the back ramp ... You just wonder, where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?"
The report continued: "That 'snub,' the Georgia Republican said, was part of why you ended up with us sending down a tougher continuing resolution -- the stopgap spending bill that Clinton vetoed Monday. That veto led to the partial shutdown of the federal government, now in its third day."
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George Will on Newt Gingrich: He embodies almost everything disagreeable about
modern Washington. He’s the classic rental politician, he continued, suggesting
that Gingrich’s political positions are for sale to the highest bidder. George Will
said Gingrich should hope people focus on his philandering and infidelity,
instead of his pay-for-play influence peddling. Gingrich is reeling from
revelations that he was paid over a million dollars to peddle influence for
failed mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Even disgraced former Republican lobbyist Jack
Abramoff has called Gingrich “corrupt.”
He is the Boss Tweed of the twentieth and twenty-first century. If he wins the election, he will be the first "rent a president" of the century. Oops! Maybe the Texan had that distinction.
Hes "reeling", Dennis? Really?
Seems his poll number have gone up since that news hit the stands.
As to his- and Romney's- change in positions. . .
I have to wonder at what kind of people never, ever, change their minds about issues. Sometimes, new information is brought to bear on an issue, which causes one to rethink a subject.
Other times, an opponent makes a case for changing one's mind.
About twenty years ago, NPR had a segment on the death penalty. At the time, I was a supporter.
An ACLU lawyer who was fighting against the statute in New York pointed out the inconsistency of people who were FOR the death penalty- but opposed to abortion.
Now, I'd heard that argument from the other side- people against the death penalty, but "pro-choice"- and had dismissed it as empty rhetoric. This lawyer's statement, with it's subtle difference, cause me to stop, think, and evaluate my position.
That day, I turned against the death penalty.
So, to some, that makes me a flip flopper. I actually think it makes me a reasonable person who is willing to reevaluate my own positions, who is willing to listen to reasonable arguments, and is not bound and determined to defend something I no longer find defensible.
Of course, you have to be willing to admit you were wrong about something in order to achieve any of that. . .
Gingrich is a walking, talking measure of the insanity of the right wing. He is everything that is wrong with our government. He is corruption incarnate. Yet, the antipathy the rabid right wingers hold for Romney is so great, they embrace Gingrich.
Soon, Gingrich will plummet in the polls, just another flavor of the weak....minded. In the meantime he punches up the Gingrich brand, and the same idiots who made Sarah Palin wealthy will throw their money at Newt.
My condolences to the true Republicans who have seen the Grand Old Party - the Party of Lincoln - ripped to shreds by the insane right wing. There is room for you at the center. The differences between the true liberals and the true conservatives are small. The centrists will lead the way. Join us.
" Sometimes, new information is brought to bear on an issue, which causes one to rethink a subject."
You mean, like, say.....GItmo?
Hey Spank- y' wanna straighten out No Jo before she says something stupid??
Actually, just like Gitmo.
You never heard me complaining that rank terrorists were moved into prison populations where they were free to proselytize and recruit, now, did you?
George Will's words, not Dennis'.
Yup, because everyone knows how much financial institutions need a good historian!
A lot more than they need a community organizer, noid.
Then why concoct this story about being some kind of historian for Fannie and Freddie?
Look, far be it from me to offer advice to a Republican candidate but couldn't you at least spin it as, "I was paid to consult for them and they didn't listen to me?"
No Joe,
As usual you do not comprehend what you read.
None of those words were mine - they were all from the writing of George Will ... your fellow Republican.
Would it have been easier for you if after the colon I used quotations?
Concoct?
Actually, what you call "spin" is pretty much what Gingrich did say- his firm was hired to consult, he told them they were building a bubble, and they did not bother to heed the advice they were paying for.
This was not the first housing bubble, and, judging from people's propensity to learn from the disasters they create, will not be the last.
I'm interested, though, in how desperately liberals are trying to make something sinister out of this.
Gingrich has a consulting firm, and he was paid to consult. He has contracts stating that he will not do any lobbying- and, despite Domenico's apparent lack of knowledge, there actually is a pretty clear definition of lobbying- there is nothing to indicate that he broke that contract.
Also, unless I'm mistaken, during the period of time Gingrich was consulting, Freddie Mac was a private firm.
So, in a pretty straight forward manner, Gingrich's firm was under contract to provide consultation services to a company, for which they were paid.
This is nothing at all akin to the situation we have now in this country, where taxpayer dollars were misappropriated directly into the pockets of Obama donors.
I suspect you'd like that particular news to disappear.
It won't.
George Will is to far to the left for the biggest part of the tea bag party. You know they don't like a thinking conservative.
He was a "Lobbyist"...and made big bucks doing it. He's not ashamed, and he shouldn't be but it is going to keep nipping at his posterior for the duration of his viability and will be alluded to be a factor in his eventual downfall in the inevitable post-mortems ...
@ David,
Honest Abe would not recognize his "Grand Old Party" and if he were still with us he would vote Democratic. Heck, it isn't even the party of Eisenhower, let alone Lincoln. They have been pulling a fast one on the American public since "Tricky Dick." People need to open their eyes and start voting in their own best interest rather than that of millionaires and billionaires.
I have no time for George Will any longer, who does indeed seem to be a fan of the tea baggers. It stumps me how such a well spoken intelligent man can fall for their total lack of integrity. I guess old George has sold out to the billionaires.
Lifetime Citizen? How about;
Part time fool.
Full time cranky, old, panderer-to-the-religious-right-me-first-gimme-more-money-total hypocrit A** H***?
Yep Drive By - much better to have someone like Obama "I am a blank screen" Obama.
Cause you know a guy like that, who surrounds himself with Wall Street fat cats, certainly would never pander.
And gosh if it isn't paying off nicely for him. Historic low approval ratings, and now a strategy to abandon white middle class workers.
So Drive By - would you say John "Obama's man on Wall Street" Corzine is a:
me-first-gimme-more-money-total hypocrit A** H***?
They are big buddies, and lo and behold no charges have been filed against Corzine. Yeah I bet if you or I lost $1.6 billion dollars we held in a fiduciary trust, we'd be A-OK as well.
All politicians are idiots.
Good times Drive By.
Corzine?
What??
1) Where do you get that Obama's polls are at a record low? That is not true. Over the last couple of months Obama's poll numbers have been increasing.
2) Corzine can go to jail. Have you seen any of us defending him? And is there some reason you think Corzine is close to Obama other than party affiliation?
3) All politicians aren't idiots. There are quite a few smart politicians, at least a couple of whom are Republicans.
Do you just ignore anything that does not redound to Obama's credit?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/barack-obamas-top-wall-st-fundraiser-under-investigation_n_1072199.html
You must be one of the few people on this board who does not know that Obama took a personal interest in Corzine's failed reelection campaign- including personally replacing the top campaign staff when the numbers went south, and appearing in the state to campaign for him five times.
Funny thing about that- every time Obama showed up, Corzine's numbers fell a little further.
Corzine was widely touted as Geithner's replacement should he follow through on his threat to leave the administration.
Ol'Jonny's not out of the woods, however. The statute on his crimes will last longer than this administration.
He's finally going to go where he belongs.
To jail.
nisl - it's all over the news, but if you can't find it here at MSNBC you can always head on over to Gallup.
Historic - even worse than Carter, and you know how that turned out.
You really don't know about Obama's relationship with Corzine? Really? Again - the news stories are all over. Heck, just for giggles google Corzine/Biden. Joe love[d] him some Corzine. Fact Joe said Corzine was their go to guy on Wall Street.
Funny, right?
Idiots, the lot of them. Some more useful than others.
Just look at the miracles the European politicians are creating.
Spanky, I thought we had already discussed this.
Per TPM: President Obama's approval rating is definitely in the danger zone in reelection terms. But it's actually been rising over the last month or two. His net disapproval has gone from over ten to roughly 5 percentage points. (You can see a graph here.) This new factoid stems from the fact that Carter's approval numbers actually spiked dramatically (about 20 points) in November of 1979 at the beginning of the Iranian hostage crisis.
Heck, just for giggles google Corzine/Biden. Joe love[d] him some Corzine. Fact Joe said Corzine was their go to guy on Wall Street.
Oh, so Barack Obama has renamed himself Joe Biden, aged quite a bit, and turned white? Really? Or are you saying that every friend of Biden's is automatically BFF with Obama? Was Dubya Bush's best friend Satan because of Dubya's VP pick? (that is snark)
[...would you say John "Obama's man on Wall Street" Corzine...]
Spanky, you are truly the Lionel Hutz of First Read...
First it's off topic talking points, now it seems you have moved on to "conspiracies"...Corzine? Really?
Grow up, "counselor"...just how long can you go on embarrassing yourself?
Truth is, Noot is a LIFELONG Washington insider, and you know it. That little tidbit must sadden you. No matter what he says or does, he cannot change that fact. He is a dinosaur from days gone by...days that we ALL wish had never happened.
Patriotic American my ass...all Noot did in his tenure was weaken a country.
NOOT 2012 - Party Before Country
Spanky, You and I must be the only people at FR who read that piece in the NYT about abandoning the white middle class workers.
I read it.
I'm having trouble believing it, but I read it.
So, they are going after college educated whites- but only in certain professions- artists, designers, HR managers, librarians.
And they are shoring up what they see as their base- those dependent on welfare and food stamps.
Kind of puts all the class warfare rhetoric into a new context, does it not?
The fact that this was written as a sign of political brilliance puts a real spotlight on the media romance with all things Obama. If any other politician- of either party- had suggested such an election strategy, that politician would have been shamed off the national stage.
Linus has the Great Pumpkin- the media has Obama.
No Joe, They didn't describe the base quite the way you did. I was surprised that the times printed this.
Leave poor Newt alone! It is not his fault he is the best the Republican Party can come up with. In my eyes Newt is a hero. Think about it; the Republican Party ran Newt out of Congress for being scum and now that the Republican Party has dwindled to the point that it houses only idiots and crazy people Newt is willing to ride in on his magic steed and lead the GOP to greatness!
The GOP rejected Newt years ago for being a two faced, hypocritical POS and STILL Newt is willing to lead them in their moment of need. Ladies and gentlemen, that is the very definition of heroism.
Let me be the first to start a new organization: Liberals for Newt!
"Clinton and I understood how to fight in a way that was mature and confused the Washington press corps."
So you think your petulant 8 year witch hunt to drive Clinton out of office by impeaching him on trumped up charges that had no chance of being upheld was "mature?" Maybe by the standards in toddler's sand box it is but not in the real world, salamander man.
How anybody can look at Gingrich's time in Congress and call it "mature" is beyond reason.
Spanky,
I know you follow Fast & Furious, do you have any thoughts on this?
The Obama Administration has suddenly and without warning sealed court records containing alarming details of how Mexican drug smugglers murdered a U.S. Border patrol agent with a gun connected to a federal government snafu that allowed firearms to be smuggled into Mexico, according to a top non-partisan organization that investigates government corruption and fraud.
Examiner.com
Gingrich is getting better at dealing with his negatives. He doesn't just tell people to shut up and lecture them about how they ought to focus on his issue of the moment anymore.
The individual mandate defense is interesting. He acknowledges Bachmann's claims are true, but only in the context than it was better than Hillarycare, thus bringing up the imagery of his fighting against health care reform in the 90s. He knows what's on the record, so might as well get the negatives addressed early and potentially off the radar, and even try to make a little lemonade out of them.
My guess is he'll slip back into Grinch mode somewhere along the line, but if he doesn't and keep this act up for the better part of a year...
New odd couple: Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich
For his part, Gingrich, who helped lead the impeachment fight against the former president, called the senator "very practical" and "very smart and very hard-working," adding, "I have been very struck working with her."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/13/world/americas/13iht-clinton.html
I am shocked that anyone would act shocked that big money political contributors don't get preferential treatment, or that the parties and candidates aren't fully aware of this. That particular political reality has been going on for a little more than the last 3 years...
"Nutty Newt" has not been a life long politician. He has been a life long LOBBYIST! His political interests have always supported the eoconomic polices of the Confederate States Of America. "Nutty Newt" has always had big contributions from big Oil. Big Corporations have also helped the Historian representing the Confederate States Of America. The "Party of NO" has never said NO to the top 1% of the richest Americans. This is fact!
The correct phrase is "Career politician" and that's exactly what Gingrich is! Populist Jim Hightower of Texas said: "Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason"!