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Subscribe to RSSThe consulting firm founded by Newt Gingrich on Monday night released a copy of its 2006 contract with Freddie Mac showing it was paid $300,000 to provide unspecified "consulting and related services" for one of the federally sponsored housing agency's top lobbyists.
The contract between the Center for Health Transformation, an arm of the Gingrich Group, and Freddie Mac shows that Gingrich reported directly to to Craig Thomas, who at the time served as the agency’s director of public policy and was one of its registered lobbyists on Capitol Hill.
But a spokeswoman for the firm said it was unable to find an earlier contract dating to 1999 and renewed until 2002. The spokeswoman, Susan Meyers, also could not say whether Gingrich or any of its employees produced any written reports for Freddie Mac as part of the nearly $1.8 million in consulting fees it was paid.
"I have no idea if there were any written reports," she said. "This is all we are authorized to release."
The 15-page contract, signed with a Gingrich Group executive, sheds little light on what Gingrich actually did for Freddie Mac -- a question that has become an issue in the presidential campaign. It states only that the Gingrich Group will that provide unspecified consulting services for Thomas.
One of the provisions states that consulting "will provide status reports" to Freddie Mac on its work and supply it with copies "of any disclosures or reports it may be required to file by law, such as reports filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act."
Gingrich, who originally said he provided advice "as a historian," has adamantly denied he did any lobbying for Freddie Mac, an assertion repeated by Nancy Desmond, the CEO of the Center for Health Transformation.
“As noted under the scope of work section on Page 14, the contract was solely for consulting purposes and not lobbying," she said in a statement posted along with the contract on the group's website.
According to Meyers, the firm originally signed a contract with Freddie Mac in late 1999 for the same $25,000 a month, which was renewed until 2002. The firm was unable to locate that document and the renewals, she said. After lapsing, the Freddie Mac consulting agreement was signed again in 2006 and was renewed in 2007.
All Freddie Mac reports are now controlled by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The agency did not respond to requests for comment Monday. It recently rejected a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, for any and all records that Freddie Mac may have had on the Gingrich Group, stating in a Dec. 6, 2011 letter: "A search of FHFA records located no documents responsive to your request."
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How much of taxpayer money did Freddie Mac get in the bailout?
So Newt got some of your taxpayer bailout!
Obama 2012
25K a month for years......Nice gig Newt, at the expense of the taxpayers!
red alert "schill poster"
Here we go & I have a front row seat thanks to my 'big screen' TV! lol
If you guys are so upset that government programs give money away to people like Newt, why are you always trying to stop the republicans from cutting spending on programs like this?
Don't waste your time. Gingrich tells lies with such confidence..that people actually believe him. It goes to show how people need to be loud, and the squeaky wheel gets the oil. I would be telling how much of an a*** he really is. Those morons that are running against him are not doing their homework. If they would google for 15 minutes about him, they would find about 20 articles where he puts himself in the position of a Washington "insider" big time.
He used technicalities to get his books published for free by non-taxable "charities" run by his friend in Las Vegas. Gingrich has the morals of a sewer rat.
I guess the Republicans really don't care about who is their representative. They are so obssesd with beating Obama, that they don't mind cutting their feet in the process.
Not that Mitt Romney or the other tight sanctinmoniius Santorum are either. Ron Paul is the only one honest, but he will never get elected by the Republicans.
Obama/Bidden 2012
Mitt just cleaned newts clock!
Go Mitt!
Back to your rightful lead!
No Rob he didn't I'm old enough to remember medicare before and after part D so are all those retired people of Fl.. Mitt just stuck his foot in it.
Here we go & I have a front row seat thanks to my 'big screen' TV! lol
Be careful Feisty, with a big screen TV chances are that some of the BS may actually land on your living room.
There is that much!
OK, I've got my popcorn out! Watching this one is going to be entertaining if nothing else.
Feisty Redhead: I am worried about your sanity watching these overstuffed goobers spinning their web of lies.... please put on your tinfoil hat immediately before it's too late... Ha! :D)
Mitts point was about influence peddling. He was not criticizing Medicare part d. Even demented retirees can figure that out.
I love the way the liberals are seeking fodder. I have a better idea for you. Somewhere in your neighborhood there's a restaurant. Grab a couple of plastic bags from your kitchen and go behind the restaurant and find the dumpster. Reach in real deep and grab a handful of kitchen waste. Put it in one of the bags. Repeat this procedure until all the bags are full. Take the bags home and dump them into your living room... make sure you scatter it all over the floor. Now you have all the fodder you will ever need. You might even find some edible garbage in all that fodder. For all you are seeking, the garbage on your floor has more meaning than your comments.
Although Gingrich may not have done anything wrong, this is how his activies can be made to look weak. I don't think it is a deal breaker, but then I'm just one of over 300 million people.
Each one of these candidates has a huge blemish. Gingrich past indiscretions, Romney-compromise, Dr Paul, hideously weak foreign policy, Santorum - simply unknown.
Gee, Obama's ties to Bill Ayers and the "Reverend" Wright leave "unanswered questions" also, and more recently Solyndra and some problems with US arms being given to Mexican drug lords leave what should be some really BIG questions for the media; but somehow, NBC doesn't seem to be concerned about those....how come? Oh, that's right, Obama's the guy they work for!
Take the bags home and dump them into your living room... make sure you scatter it all over the floor. Now you have all the fodder you will ever need. You might even find some edible garbage in all that fodder. For all you are seeking, the garbage on your floor has more meaning than your comments.
It is obvious that you have done this many times, you have it nailed to a science!
So, Newt did some business with Freddie Mac...hmmm. I wonder how many terrorists and crime bosses he did business with? You know..like Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dorn, Tony Rezko, those types..
Brianb-999431 ... it sure in the hell will be more meaningful than yours!!!!!
@Brian999,
If you think only the "liberals" are seeking fodder, you have missed all of the repunklicans debates, comments, etc. Perhaps you are the one in need of the crap on your floor. Or maybe your diaper changed.
Newt is the typical politician...if his mouth is moving, you know he is lying.
I see the liberals didn't like my fodder idea. In fact some of them seemed highly insulted. Then those like Irespond have no imagination. You call that a comeback? Lame. If you mean to insult, do it with zest and gusto! My gosh, it took me all of 20 seconds to come up with and type the fodder idea. Imagine what I can do with several minutes. Imagine the insults... but what the heck, they are nothing but trivialities compared to the way liberals think.
BTW, Obama is beatable.... you might just as well start understanding that fact. Scroll down.
You liberals are so blind, you crap in one hand and sniff the other hand and say " I don't smell anything".
All this talk about Newt lying? LOL tell me one truth or one campaign promise kept by the liar of all liars.....Obama himself? He is in the process of keeping only one.......to bring America to its knees and force socialism on us. The damage he has done in three years will take 30 years to clean up....if ever!
Brianb - Is that considered carry-out at your house? Or is it more like "Cornservative Cuisine"? Either way, no thanks! You just go ahead and pig out,bubba. LMAO!
You can call pretty much anything "consulting". It's one of those words that can mean whatever you want it to mean.
Newt is just parsing words but we know what "consulting" and "lobbying" mean when coupled with Washington insider status. It means someone is trying to get by with something or make a profit from their insider status. Newt looks silly, self-serving and pompous trying to call it "education".
Brianb...
Wow Brian... you really are a Republican! Your ability to quickly come up with insults is amazing. No wonder you are a Newt supporter! Nasty minds think alike!
Actually Karen - for two years I was a lobbyst for my company, I had to file monthly reports and report all the money I spend for lunches and dinners - how the hell did this guy get away with this - clearly he was a lobbyist - maybe I should have declared myself as an historian Hey corporations declare your people as HISTORIANS and youu can circumvent the laws - Physss - what a load of doo-doo
Appears "The Firm" couldn't locate much of anything... I guess Newt covered his tracks by not putting anything in writing that he did for them???? If he did put anything in writing, I would love to see the written reports that nobody can find... how convenient.
Let's see...did you even look at the timeline in conjunction with what was going on inside Fannie and Freddie at the time? At the the point of the beginning of the contract with Freddie it was still a Clinton administration...Jim Johnson had sorted his Fannie Mae scam and was working to draw Freddie into his scheme that would only work if the Federal Government still contributed $$$$ to Fannie and Freddie. Fannie could not survive if Freddie surrendered to privatization....which would have been in review from 99-02 from a historical perspective and certain lock out from review of the "real books". Based on how the entire enterprise of "Quasi Governmental Agency" failed so miserably my guess is that by 02 Jim Johnson had completely reeled in Freddie to the dark side and with the support of opportunists like Frank, Dodd, Reed and others there was enough obstruction in Congress to prevent any reasonable review of the true books and massive payouts for salaries and bonuses inside the companies. By 2006 the paper pillars that had propped up the company were failing and well it would make sense to reinstate a contract for historical perspective....particularly a contract from a prominent Republican who could later cause them damage....place him under a contract and you assure his "confidentiality" to your own benefit. Newt probably has tremendous insight to how Fannie and Freddie went under, he is more than likely held to a standard of confidentiality to the very despots who took out country down by 2008.
Of course the way to find out if Newt is some how complicit in any wrong doing would be for the AG Eric Holder to demand and follow through with a complete and open review of the Criminal behavior inside Fannie and Freddie....of course he won't do that because too many of those who propelled him to power are well subject to public flogging for that effort.
So the Left will do what they do best....spin the effort without any real or substantive information...
Newt is just an insider lobbyist, plain and simple.
If you put a yellow ribbon on a turd, it's still a turd.
Hey jim turner-1732250 - why don't you do a little bit of research instead of listening to Faux news. If you check the politifact website, you will see that out of 508 promises Obama made, he has kept 162, compromised on 50, broken 56, 64 are stalled, 174 are in the works and 2 that they haven't rated. So for all of you "anti Obama" crowd, instead of believing that Obama has broken every promise he made, please, please check your facts instead of just listening to the news organization that either reports outright lies, or takes words completely out of context, because they are an entertainment show that spins stories to make them controversial.
Lobbyist one point six million times over... And counting...
Brianb deary, it's the Republicans digging this sheet up. (Not that they have to dig too far)
"There is no questions about Newt, he is a Crook". "Taking tax payers money is not cool."
With all of the dirt flying around, it will be hard for Obama to find some new mud to throw.
At least when Obama tries to dredge up some of this mud (he certainly can't run on his economic record), they will be able to say "That's old news, let's talk about YOUR dismal record".
Hey Terry - Copy Cat, That's OK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love watching the little baggers trying to blame the dispicable candidates of the Republican party on President Obama. I think it's time for the whiney little baggers to wipe the santorum out of their little panties and tell us which of the fatally flawed candidates they support and what that candidate is going to do for our country and why their dirty past dealing with the government and private corporations has no bearing on the man they are today.
Oh...I guess it's just easier to squirm in your panties and cry rather than think for yourselves. It's OK...Uncle Newt will be around to give you a sucker.
Lobbyist can't be all bad. Obama thought they were at first and said he wouldn't let them in the White House. Then when the influence (influence = campaign donations) peddlers started showing up, Obama said, "Sure come on in. Never mind what I said before. That was just to get elected."
Yep, Gingrich lies like Obama.
Newt said at the debate that the 1% should pay 0% in taxes, what a waste this guy is when the overwhelming majority of Americans want the 1% to pay more. This prompts me to wonder what makes this guy tick. ???????
Obama - unemployed in 2013 - America back to work soon after...
have you seen who's running against him even the gop doesn't like em......
We are tired of getting people who are politicians instead of conservatives. We know that our country has to return to fiscally conservative principles if we want to keep our quality of life from decreasing in the near future.
You are probably 12, and willing to clean toilets with his project to creat janitorial jobs for children. Go for it! Plenty of excrements to clean if he is elected.
314159 - Don't you mean - Obama Re-elected, Gingrich seeks new corporations for more lobbyist money.
Dream a little dream. I hope they keep this up the blood is flowing, Obama will not have to spend a lot all he has to do is replay some of these debates
Will Obama run on his record? Or will he continue to blame Bush for his failure as president?
Will Obama run on his record?
Why not???
FACTS:
--Number of job losses per month when Obama took office: 700,000
--Number of job gains last month: 216,000
--GDP decline when Obama took office: minus 6%
--GDP last year: 2.9% positive growth
--Dow Jones when Obama came into office: 8,000
--Dow Jones now: 12,400+
Record corporate profits.
Recode domestic oil production.
Osama – gone
No attacks on US soil.
Iraq war – over.
You liberals do realize that Obama is beatable. No matter how much you hang onto that Hope thing. A lot of us out here are seeking the Change.
Hey Charlie... I'll go one further... my list is a lot longer... these are Obama's accomplishments... enjoy:
People are always saying B Hussein Obama hasn't accomplished anything. But contrary to popular belief, B Hussein O has an impressive list of accomplishments!
• First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner
• First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in
• First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United States
• First President to violate the War Powers Act
• First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
• First President to defy a Federal Judge's court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law
• First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party
• First President to spend a trillion dollars on 'shovel-ready' jobs when there was no such thing as 'shovel-ready' jobs
• First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters
• First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act through executive fiat
• First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the US , including those with criminal convictions
• First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees
• First President to terminate America’s ability to put a man in space
• First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present
• First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it
• First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke-out on the reasons for their rate increases
• First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is allowed to locate a factory
• First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN…)
• First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago
• First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case
• First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his office
• First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office, 90 to date
• First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records
• First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it
• First President to go on multiple global 'apology tours'
• First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends; paid for by the taxpayer
• First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife
• First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at taxpayer expense
•First President to repeat the Holy Qur’an, tells us the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth
• First President to take a 17 day vacation....
Charlie
Presenting facts to them will make their 2 brain cells explode.
Brianb, excellent post, But all the facts about his vacations, golfing, partying, more vacations, more golfing, more partying are just what the liberals like, You see, They want to follow in odumasses footsteps and take vacations, go golfing, party non-stop, And have someone else pay for it, It's the Odummy way, till America goes to pot. We need to rid America of this disease called obama before it's to late...
Brianb
What you say must be true. It was circulated in a chain e-mail - a truly reliable source of information!
Try again einstein.
Whoa! This BrianB dude is truly whacked out on Limbaugh/Fox News. I've never seen a better list of right wing hysteria than the screed he just spewed out. Talk about dumpster diving for fodder! LOL! I guess he takes his own advice seriously.
This is just lizard brain, right wing Republican wishfull thinking.
Obama 2012!!
I wish the question right after the one about his "consulting" was this one...Why are so few of the Republicans who actually worked in government with Newt endorsing or supporting him? The silence is deafening.
BraindeadB99431,
You keep posting the same old phoney list and I just can't let it go again. This list has been checked and rechecked and the majority of the issues are just plain lies and many of the remaining are too vague to verify or deny. Move on, find something that can hold water.
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/o/obama-report-card.htm
Hey Brian - First President to spend $20 Million on his flights to his fake ranch and Daddy's compound - also a president who took more vacation then any other president - where was your ire on that or did you just wake up after a long sleep? Alquida about to strike? Yawn so what?
Hey Brian - LMAO... you sure you didn't post Bush's accomplishments? First president to violate the War Powers Act? LMAO. Brian, please go back to school and start with 1st Grade..... What a tool.
Here Brian, a little reading for your enlightenment. http://www.chron.com/news/article/Bush-on-track-to-become-the-vacation-president-1834018.php
the newt claims he is not or was not a lobbyist. That is, he was not a registered lobbyist. Through cracks in
the laws he performed the same job for huge amounts of money but calls himself a historian among other names.
A lot of people have a lot of 'other' names for the newt. How short peoples memories are, or how little they care, or even how stupid they are. He was sanctioned and kicked from his job in congress just about ten years ago and now he has the balls to run for president.
People, he is laughing at your stupidity.........and all the way to the bank.
Newt is not a lot of things, newt is not honest, newt is not handsome, newt is not smart, newt is not even what I would consider human but one thing newt IS is a lobbyist.
Newt said tonight in the nbc debate that he acted as a historian consultant for freddie mac. later on when romney questioned him further he said under his breath " the history of washington"
i almost spit my beer out i started laughing so hard. what a liar.. he totally was a lobbyist.
I'm not a paul supporter but Ron Paul is the only man with a set of balls on that stage tonight. The rest talk macho, but only because they know that is what their base wants to hear, Ron Paul speaks the truth rather its popular or not.
Hmmm, the truth, what a novel idea, to bad more Republicans didn't subscribe to that philosophy.
"The consulting firm founded by Newt Gingrich on Monday night"...............You think the author of this article knows something we don't .............
or is it bad writing and misplaced modifiers???? Or maybe the truth perhaps!
Actually Brennen - history of how things have been done would be valuable. I think Newt has had his hands in too many things at times, which when you draw back, can look pretty bad whether or not anything truely was wrong.
OBXRon, I was kinda wondering about too. I think there is more than a bit of "steering" going on, I was noticing that at the same time the media was slamming The Newt, they were pushing the disaffected lower and middle income conservatives towards him by all of this talk about how the "Republican Establishment" are in a panic over Newt's rising numbers, knowing that most people, even pod people conservatives, are pissed at the "Establishment" type politicians.
Deprogrammer - let me help you
The Moderate Republican establishment is panicked about Romney looking "Brittle". The Conservative Republican establishment is upset about the possibility of Newt might get the nomination. At the same time, the Republican conservative establishment won't come out Santorum.
I think both would like to see a brokered convention, but only if the party members don't come to a consensus.
What is really weird is the moderators refer to him as "Mr. speaker". This guy is not the speaker and he was thrown out because of ethics violations........and the announcers refer to him as "Mr. speaker"
what bias....more accurate is Mr liar.
The press is controlled by who? And Ron Paul says no money for any foreign country and he cannot get any time. A liar says he will send money to the right countries and gets lots of time. a PAC could be a rep from a foreign country. Did anybody give money to Mr ethics PAC, and did this person have allegiance to any religion? Wouldn't phase an old bribe taker like Mr. Ethics
What bias.
Ron Paul says it is stupid to pay for defense of Europe, and Japan etc. ......we are broke, but we pay others defense bill......Yeh, Ron Paul has a dumb foreign policy...... how quaint, thinking our money should be spent here, to make America better.
DB - A wingnut is a wingnut is a wingnut. I never use to be this cynical, at one time I even believed wingnuts were human, but then in 1967 when I was just 6 years old I began to see slight yet very distinct signs that pod people were taking over the Republican Party. I remember the first time I saw Roger Ailes, I said "Mommy, mommy look that man with Richard Nixon is an alien" She replied "No honey he's just fat"..........................
Bill s, I agree, they are showing that fat tub of BS way to much respect, more respect than he has ever shown the American people, and far more respect than he deserves. The Newt has done nothing but scam the system since he slithered into Washington, he has never done an honest days work in his life.
no question are unanswered about newt they are just continually reinforced....."what are they going to say about him when he's gone , he was a good man a fair man....brando........ no they'll say he was a bad man....bad father bad father bad father bad husband bad husband a corrupt house leader a fired house leader.....mean unrepentant man....making him the perfect canidate for gop president in 2012,, a gop that says they are morally superior with love of country and family values.....doesn't appear so...not if they'll vote newt....p.s. is mitt a real person i'm not sure..
Newt & Barney Frank pals in housing collapse.
my point is really someone needs more to disqualify newt from running for their party....
That would require leadership in the Republican Party.. and from what I can see.. there isn't one..
DOES OBAMA WANTS ROMNEY OUT ???
FAIRY TALE ! The absolute truth is that Obama has no skills as a true debater. he relies on his teleprompter ! and newt is a gifted and lion debater ! OBAMA is applying
reverse psychology ... he wants to face the plastic WILLARD (Ken) ROMNEY !!
and then play the RACE CARD : white Ken vs, black Ken.
WILLARD will be lost. If Obama jus t BRINGS whether WILLARD (MITT) is true to his faith, then Willard must have GIVEN to his church, EACH YEAR THE 10% of his REPORTED GROSS INCOME, OTHERWISE HE IS CHEATING HIS CHURCH.
WHY, OH , WHY do YOU THINK he is so uncomfortable when the words
INCOME TAX RETURNS ARE UTTER ?? TRICKY MITTY KNOWS ...
LET US NOT HAVE A SURPRISE LATER..... " MITT" MUST MADE PUBLIC
AT LEAST HIS LAST 6 YEARS TAX RETURNS. IT WOULD SMELL VERY
FOUL IF HE REFUSES, BEFORE THE FLORIDA PRIMARY !!
he didn't use a telepromoter in his debate duh and he debate smart people not ron broken record paul or rich lets' burn some books santorum....rich no child left behind perry...bachman.......cain right hillary clinton...he debated...sorry to blow your whole premise that obama can't debate and the republicans smart enought to be on the smarter than a 5th grader....
Teleprompters are used for speeches. Not debates. Eddy isn't even smart enough to know that and we are supposed to care what he thinks?
hey jon the methodist are you uncomfortable with newt and the fact that he parades his ex aide former mistress around with him....he seems kind of foolish if you want the family values crowd...just doesn't seem smart visually to constantely be reminded who she is....?
Dead Horse: "Please stop beating me."
These are pretty good debates, the ones in the fall will pale in comparison to these. Typically those stodgy and very limited in interaction. The candidates are prepped with canned answers to questions they expect and try to make the canned answer sound like it really answers the question asked.
Here, you can see a lot of more responsive thinking on their feet, which let's little dumb things slip like "I pay my taxes and not a dollar more" Obama will love that one. gotta admit Romney almost covered that slip - he failed to tie that into 'no one want someone in government who pays any more than required - that is why there is so much deficit spending, because they aren't frugal enough in their own affairs."
The only thing that was proven to night is that Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich have really started to believe their own lie's, and have a real problem by wanting to start more war's by using fear tactic's and using Bush Jr's lie's but not mentioning his name. These guy's can't come up with anything on their own except someone else's ideas which did not work in the least. This was Bush Jr all over again.
Why in the world is it seen as a negative, or more arsenal to Obama and the Demos, if Romney gives 10% or more to his church or any other charity / non-profit organization? I would hope every politician, and American for that matter, is giving a portion of their income (particularly the wealthy) to charity.
AmericaNow!!
The evangelical base of the Republican Party abhors Mormonism. If 10% of Mitt's considerable wealth goes to a "cult' they won't like it. Dems don't give 2 hoots, but, they'll benefit from lack of voter turnout for Mitt.
Eddie - the teleprompter has been around since before Reagan so get off that old saw - what the devil did you think Michelle Bachman was looking at?
And as far as Newt, he is an invenerate liar pure and simple, lied while in congress, lied to his wives, and lies to the public, it's in his genes - Newt is adept at remaking history - HE IS A LIAR - and frankly doesn't need a teleprompter to lie!
brainstorm here !!!!!!! ; let's kick all of the bush and tea party followers out !!!!!! the jobs bill will pass, congress will belong to congress again, and we'll live happily ever after. VIOLA, ALLA COMMON SENSE !!!!!!!!!!!
the jobs bill wouldn't actually create jobs, its just another handout to the unions.
ignorant if you cannot see that.
Newt released this document so that he can engage a classic genre of lie, the "use a tiny grain of truth to obscure a grand deception."
He will claim emphatically that he released his Freddie-Mac contract like everyone wanted, and it showed that he was not a lobbyist, just a consultant. Completely lost from the discussion will be a few important facts: 1. The contract is for one year of the multi-year period in question. 2. The contract omits what he actually was to do for Freddie Mac. 3. The contract actually does state that he may, in the service of his consulting, need to disclose certain facts as required of lobbyists by the government, i.e. he worked, in part, as a lobbyist.
He is only a lobbyist if he is approaching representatives to push an opinion of people who hired him at their direction. I wish I could have set in the what is lobbying sessions. Clearly he understands there is a line to cross somewhere, the question is did he really cross it. I think we are short evidence that he did and he can't provide evidence that he didn't.
I would take Obama over Newt any day and I'm no Obama lover.
Obama may have faults................but at least he is not immediately identified as a slick and fast moving lizard. Gingrich, who originally said he provided advice "as a historian," OK Mr. Newt, show us the history of what you actually did for Fannie Mae. Show us the history.
Mitt's guys are already digging to find a paper trail of Newt's involvement with Fannie Mae. As a historian, you'd think he would have written down some of his supposed "historical perspective" as a consultant. Or maybe he's purely an oral historian like some of the ancient Greeks? Seems improbable that someone would be paid 1.8 million for oral. Must have some kinda technique! LOL
I'm having a hard time seeing the "fast moving" part but, I still get your drift.
Clearly, Freddie Mac failed because of business decisions like hiring a $25K per month historian...a graduate student will do it for a lot less!
Best comment here, I can't add anything else.
"“As noted under the scope of work section on Page 14, the contract was solely for consulting purposes and not lobbying," she said in a statement posted along with the contract on the group's website."
Like the Romney campaign, this accusation is going no where
Page 14 says, in fact, that he will do consulting and "related services." What do you suppose that means, "related services?" Mowing the grass? Lobbying. Obviously.
Newt's campaign counts on people like you. He likes it when people just believe him when he says, "Page 14 exonerates me," and don't considering actually looking at page 14.
Ahh yes, the art of writing a contract that really says nothing, so you cannot be held to nothing, and yet you get paid for something.
X-rays of the skulls of everyone on staff at MSNBC...
Now THAT "leaves questions unanswered"!
Those questions, when answered, can make Newt look like the scum bag he really is. If questions remain unaswered people will be suspicious of him and he will look like the scum bag he really is.
Newt- an ASSteroid about to hit Earth.
greed blinds the hearts and minds of good christian people ; it seems the bad sinners need to pray for the good saints of politics.
Huh? If anyone is blinded it is the democrats. They want all these great programs, but they are blinded to the fact that we don't have money to pay for them. (It would also be nice if they gave to charity once in a while. Those greedy republicans are able to give to charity, but democrats only seem to give away other people's money.)
He didn't do squat and we all know that... it was part of the continued GOP rip off.....
Huh? If anyone is blinded it is the democrats. They want all these great programs, but they are blinded to the fact that we don't have money to pay for them
We would, but the money has gone to wars.Wars that the REPUBLICANS started, and want to continue. You Republicans don't have a clue how much money goes into that. You keep thinking that food stamps is the problem.
Here...your great leaders want to go to war, regardless of all the human misery that it has bought us...totally unreal.
P.A.F.: I suppose you have sources that show registered Republicans give more to charity than registered Democrats? That seems to be a dubious claim, at best, and completely moot, at worst.
I don't believe greed has any party affiliation and I think deep down we all know it's true. To polarize the issue of greed along party lines is to diminish and dilute the severity of the problem. Many people take more than they need and truly we need very little to live comfortably. Think about it the next time you're throwing out leftover food or buying cheap Chinese knick-knacks by the dozen.
I'm just glad I don't have to throw any more 'vote for me' circulars in the trash. Let the other 47 states and our territories and commonwealths live in the silly season.
The only ones with "questions" and whining about Gingrich, are the Democrats in the media who are going to vote for Obama anyway. This is a coma-inducing, tiresome tirade by the not so subtle opposition. These clowns don't seek to report the news, but to manipulate and spin it. Times up folks, the American public is on to your maneuvering and distractions. The little boy has cried wolf once to many times. You've got nothing worth reading or listening to.
maybe it's the fact that he claims to be an outsider, not a lobbyist....he claims to have family values yes three sets....he claims to be honest which he isn't he claims to be loved his own party hated him and who think he's ruining the gop brand...and he already was the third most powerful man in the world house leader and got fired and fined 300,000 the largest fine ever levied.....he blames the media for bringin up the affairs not his personal irresponsbility...blame excuses .....crook, thief and immoral....chicken in the hen house..... don't confuse the dems laughing their assess off with whining ,,,maybe whining for more debates...i mentioned this earlier that obama rating started going up after the gop started debating...connect hmmmmm,,,,keep talking gop
Then why are you here?
Nice summary Marc...............you forgot to clarify that the newt is actually a chameleon and can change his story to blend in with any questions that show up in the surroundings.
Particularly liked the "family values" part and Callista may not be the last...........she had better stay healthy
WOW! Mitt Romney criticizing President Obama for playing golf, while millions of people were unemployed...Sure MItt! you were Busy making sure that they WERE unemployed! ...
What a statement coming from a guy scared to sh***t from showing his income tax because we are going to see how rich HE REALLY IS... He owns the golf course where Obama was just playing...He needs to come up with better lines than that. He is not fooling anybody playing the "poor old you...I feel your pain" card....moron
@ NCMike,
Then why are you reading and posting???
As has been in the news today, Newt tries very hard to channel the ever bright, confident and sunny Reagan but his real personality, temperament, and worldview appears to be much more in line with the dark, dank, insecure paranoia of Nixon. He is also mastering the divisive "anti-elitist" outsider man against the machine when in fact, he is the machine far more than Nixon was.
NCMike,
The national polls don't back up your assertions. Newt has an extremely unfavorable ranking among the American populace at large. Based on poll numbers, he would fare much worse against Obama than Romney. The Republican leadership knows this and that is why there is so little public backing of Newt from party elites. It's too easy to always blame the media and, frankly, it's become a cliche.
Actually, in most national polls, Newt consistently falls about 9 points behind Obama head to head,
Mitts falls around 2-6 points behind Obama, the only one that consistently polls equal with Obama head to head nationally is Dr Paul, statistically dead even, usually plus 1 to minus 2 points.
The only candidate that stands a realistic chance is Dr Paul, Mitts shows that he has an outside chance, the Grinch's grave is already dug, and Santorum was buried a year ago.
And we know why the party doesn't want Dr Paul, he will turn off the Military industrial war machine money faucet, and use that money to help Americans get the economy restarted by getting the Government off the peoples backs....
What's not to like?
Ron Paul 2012!
Actually, NCmike...It is Mittsy that is carrying on about Newt's past with Freddie Mac. Perhaps you have not been paying attention...but, the last time I checked, Mittsy is trying to run as a Republican...
Nice try at trying to blame the media for the garbage about your candidates that you don't like and can't defend. The term "low information voter" comes to mind...
I think that Dr. Paul will ,like a minority,but more influential part of the Medical profession ,try to gut the Medicare program. The Rep Tp.are determined to force this country back into the early twentieth century.Even the rich will eventually regret their actions.
One thing that people need to keep in mind is that this contract is with the firm he started. He may have used the money to pay for 5 employees, offices, gifts, and travel. Most likely only a small portion went to his "salary".
I notice how many people are doomed to live in the past. Gingrich left Congress in 1999. The housing collapse began 2006-07. So what if he lobbied, worked for or was in the wings at Freddie or Fannie. All Congress had to do was not listen and acted to avoid the collapse. One man cannot influence every vote cast in both houses from outside the chambers. Romney was too busy making money to be concerned about the housing collapse. Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Barack Obama WERE, however, in the chambers, yet you don't hear anything negative on their lack of prevention. If Gingrich did do something as Speaker of the House that can be attributed to the housing collapse, why hasn't it been changed by the past Congresses? How many times have you heard Bush did this or Bush did that? So why hasn't anything been done to fix the problem?
I guess the big deal is when we're vetting presidential candidates it's important. If he lobbied and wasn't supposed to be, legally, then he can't be trusted to be president. If he's lying about it, he can't trusted to be president. Lobbyists can and do influence policy. Other than that, you're right, no big deal.
Well, Bob, it was the actions prior to 2006 that led to the collapse. It didn't just magically happen one night. Republicans had control of the Congress, therefore control over Freddie Mac, during that time and I find it quite dispicable the the records of Newt's involvement during that time have just "disappeared". What was Newt being paid $25,000.00 a month for and what advice was he giving the Repubicans in Congress prior to the collapse?
We all know that it was Bush and the Republicans in Congress that brought about the recession - even the teabaggers agree with that. What we do NOT know is to what extent a current candidate for the Presidency had in bringing about that downfall. What, obviously valuable, advice was Newt giving Freddie Mac and Congress that caused Freddie Mac to have to be bailed out by the taxpayers (that would be you AND me, Bob)?
THAT is the question you should be asking when you "vet" your candidate Newt. We already know that Mittsy wanted everyone to lose their homes...What part did Newt play in making that happen??
newt didn't leave he was fired in an ethics probe and in the house that's a low bar, by his own party,,,and fined 300,000 grant he's lucky he not in jail....left congress right who's revising history....newt a bad person...tom conburn....his colle joe scarborough and they voted his ass out republican voting republican out come on that's drastic...get real you guys picked this guys and your complainting about having questions ask aboutt it ,,,,if you cant do the time don't do the crime or are you soft on bad behavior..
Newt wasn't technically fired... He was actually relected and resigned the very next day. I can't stand him, but that's the truth
excuses for newt great slogan....excuse are kind like admissions of guilt....because they don't deny the behavior......
Has the ship already sunk and we don't know it yet? Obama has promised every demographic group in America his unwavering support and billions of dollars we don't have. Across the isle we have a bloated piece of scum named Gringrich. The only one that seemed like he had any answers was Paul. His biggest failing was stating that he believed in states rights.
Other politicians don't like him because he would cut their gravy train. Every state has a board of education, those states with crappy education are doing so with a National Board of Education, so why are we funding that bureaucracy? What was the job of the Federal Reserve? It was to help keep our economy stable. How did that work out? The Fed. lent trillions to other countries while our economy stunk up the place. Isn't every one about fed up with foreign aid? He was labaled anti-semetic because he wanted to end foreign aid to every one including Isreal. Paul wants to remove all American troops from foreign soil, how did the hope and change do on that promise? Paul wants to decriminalize pot.The pot laws have been a failed money pit for over fifty years, all it succeded in doing is funnel money to the cartels. Everybody that wants to smoke goes ahead and smokes, making it illegal has done squat for preventing smoking..
I want to know whether Newt Gingrich, as a supporter of Israel and the recipent of $10 million in backing from a pro-Israel SuperPac, agrees with comments by Andrew Adler, the publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, published on 13 January.
Adler wrote that Israeli leaders have three options if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon: (1) a preemptive military strike against Hamas and Hezbollah, (2) a direct strike on Iran, and (3) "give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place, and forcefully disctate that the United States policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies."
Don't know what "influence pedaling" is. Sounds sinister, but Newt simply used his persona, or personal influence, as a citizen to publicly advocate for certain things. Nothing wrong with that, even if his company was paid for consulting or work it was doing. Lobbying is going to lawmakers on behalf of the "clients" paying the bill, trying to obtain favorable legislation/rules/benefits for the client. THAT is lobbying. Newt did none of that.
Prove it.
Sally Ann - look it up ypu're a clever girl - there is- google
This is just another instance of republicans simply denying reality and expecting others to believe it.
Just like the republican insistance that water boarding is not torture, even though it has been considered torture for 700 years.
Or like Scalia going on record in an interview with Leslie Stahl
STAHL: If someone’s in custody, as in Abu Ghraib, and they are brutalized, by a law enforcement person — if you listen to the expression “cruel and unusual punishment,” doesn’t that apply?
SCALIA: No. To the contrary. You think — Has anybody ever referred to torture as punishment? I don’t think so.
Perfect examples of the republican version of "honesty".
Of course Newt was a lobbyist.