E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSIn today's Deep Dive we take a look back at Newt Gingrich's run during the 2012 primary, and cover some of his greatest and most interesting comments said on the campaign trail.
BALTIMORE, MD -- Newt Gingrich considers himself a man of “really big ideas” and has used his presidential run to share them with thousands of Americans.
The former House speaker faced criticism from opponents for being “grandiose,” which prompted Gingrich to respond in January: “I accept the charge that I am grandiose and that Americans are instinctively grandiose."
While Gingrich continues fighting the increasingly uphill battle of trying to become the Republican nominee, here is a recap of some of the more fantastical ideas he has thrown out over the past 10 months of the campaign.
CREATING A MOON COLONY
"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon. And it will be American." – Cocoa, FL 1.25.12
AP / Evan Vucci
Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, center, and his wife Callista, tour the Wilheit Packaging factory in Gainesville, Ga.
DESTINY IN SPACE
“I want to restate, far from backing off, I want to restate, America has a destiny in space. It is a part of who we are. We are not going to back off from John Kennedy’s challenge and we are not going to go timidly into the night allowing the Chinese to dominate the future of space.” – Huntsville, AL 3.6.12
SEND PACKAGE TO ILLEGALS
“UPS and FedEx move twenty four million packages a day and track them in virtually real time. Over here is the federal government, the world that fails. And let me give you an example of what I’m talking about: twenty four million packages tracked while they move; eleven million illegal visitors sitting still. Or 15 million. One of my proposals is very simple. We send a package to every person who’s here illegally. When it’s delivered, we pull it up, we know exactly where they are. It’s on the computer.” – Council Bluffs, IA 11.30.11
NATIONAL SECURITY
“You think about an Iranian nuclear weapon. You think about the dangers – to Cleveland, or to Columbus, or to Cincinnati, or to New York. Remember what it felt like on 9/11 when 3100 Americans were killed. Now imagine an attack where you add 2 zeros. And it’s 300,000 dead. Maybe a half million wounded. This is a real danger. This is not science fiction. That’s why I think it’s important that we have the strongest possible national security.” – Cleveland, OH 2.8.12
CHANGE ALL OF AMERICA
“You have a bipartisan establishment that has been running this country, that has created a gigantic mess. You have bureaucracies that are out of control, judges who think they can be dictators. You have systems around this country. You have laws that don’t work. So, we have got to change not just Obama, we have got to change the entire direction of the United States of America to get it back on track and that is our obligation to these young people." – Rock Hill, SC 1.11.12
HOW TO FIX GAS PRICES
“The long-term answer is American’s producing their own energy and telling other people, ‘you may have a problem, we don’t because we can be the largest oil producer in the world by the end of this decade. Bigger than Russia, bigger than Saudi Arabia. We have vastly more resources than any other country if we use them.” – San Francisco, CA 2.25.12
AFGHANISTAN
“We’re not going to fix Afghanistan. It’s not possible…There’s some problems where what you have to do is say, ‘You know, you’re going to have to figure out how to live your own miserable life because I’m not here – you clearly don’t want to hear from me how to be unmiserable.’ And that’s what you’re going to see happen.” – Nashville, TN 2.27.12
ISLAMIC WORLD
“I believe we need to reassess every element of our relationship with the Islamic world and we need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to become economically independent and to be able to tell the truth. And American president who cannot tell the truth cannot possibly defend this country.” – Rome, GA 2.28.12
MEET WITH DEMOCRATS AND PUT THEM IN GROUPS
”Between the election and the inauguration, I will try to meet with every Democrat individually and sit down with them face to face and say look I’m going to be here for four years and what is it that you’re trying to get done that’s compatible with what I’m trying to get down. Now, they’ll break down into three groups. There will be the crazies. We won’t invite them back. There will be hardheaded guys who you can get occasionally. And there will be folks who say I’m glad we’re trying to do this together, let’s see what we can get done.” – Mobile, AL 3.10.12
PAY-PER-VIEW DEBATE
”Let me just say to the president: I will be glad to debate him anywhere, any time, and I’ll go a step further just to make it non-political. We ought to debate on pay-per-view and we ought to charge ten bucks to watch the debate, and it ought to go to a charity of our mutual choice, and it would be the largest charity fundraiser in the country this year. And the topic ought to be price of gasoline.” – Shreveport, LA 3.20.12
ATTITUDE OF MODERN WORLD
“The psychological attitude of the modern world is such that if Thomas Edison invented the electric light in the modern era, it would be reported on the network news as the candle making industry was threatened today. And somebody on the left would jump up and say this was all an excuse for killing poor people by putting electricity in their homes, and who knows what the electricity will do to them. And is this really a gamble to electrocute people? Think about -- Everything we do nowadays is negative.” – Frederick, MD 4.2.12
OBAMA/BIRTHDAY CAKE RECIPE
“If you went to somebody who was a great cook and you said ‘do you think you can bake a birthday cake’ and they said ‘sure I can bake a birthday cake,’ the odds are pretty high they’ll be able to bake a birthday cake. Now it helps to have a recipe for birthday cakes and it helps to have baked one. President Obama’s biggest challenge is, that he has exactly the wrong ideas. He belongs to an ideology that believes the way you get hard eggs is you freeze them (laughs)…. This is his whole problem with job creation.” – Dyersville, IA 12.27.11
FOOD STAMPS
“And so I’m prepared, if the NAACP invites me, I’ll go to their convention to talk about why the African American community should demand pay checks and not be satisfied with food stamps. And I’ll go to them and I’ll explain a brand new social security opportunity for young people, which would be particularly good for African American males, because they’re the group that gets the smallest return on social security…” – Plymouth, NH 1.5.12
PAY KIDS TO WORK
“You have a very poor neighborhood. You have kids who are required under law to go to school. They have no money, they have habit of work. But what if you paid them part time in the afternoon to sit in the clerical office and greet people that came in. What if you paid them to work as the assistant librarian? And I’d pay them as early as was reasonable and practical. And then we get into the janitor thing. These letters were written saying janitorial work is really hard and really dangerous. Fine. So what if they became assistant janitors and their job was to mop the floor and clean the bathroom and you pay them?” – Des Moines, IA 12.1.11
BEAR ARMS IN OUR TRUCKS
“You can’t put a gun rack in a Volt. So, let’s be clear what this election is all about. We believe in the right to bear arms and we like to bare the arms in our truck, there.” – Peachtree City, GA 2.17.12
NOT BOW TO SAUDI KING
“If you would like to have a national American energy policy, never again bow to a Saudi king and pay $2.50 a gallon, Newt Gingrich will be your candidate.” – San Francisco, CA 2.25.12
IRAN
“We should indicate calmly and decisively that any act to close the Straits of Hormuz will be considered an act of war and we will eliminate the government of Iran.” – Knoxville, TN 3.5.12
IMMIGRATION
“I think the vast majority of them should go home. And we should be very clear about this. If you are here without any great ties to the United States and you came here illegally, you just need to leave and apply for the guest worker program from back home. Period…I do think that if you have somebody in your neighborhood who has been here for 25 years, and they belong to your church and they have three kids and two grandkids, and they have been paying taxes and working hard the entire time, it’s going to be very, very hard to get the American people to agree that we should tear up those families and expel them.” – Naples, FL 11.25.11
COURTS
“I do think it’s legitimate for the Congress and the president to address the 9th circuit’s aggressive anti-religious bias but I think that will be done with other methods. I’d ask the Congress to look seriously at either impeaching or replacing the 9th circuit.” – South El Monte, CA 1.15.12
GINGRICH TREATY
“I proposed yesterday what Chris Cox of the NRA called the Gingrich Treaty. As president, I would propose that the United States submit a treaty that says that the right to bear arms is a universal human right and that every human being on the planet should have the right to bear arms. That the Second Amendment should apply everywhere." – Raleigh, NC 4.14.12
BRAIN SCIENCE RESEARCH
"The number of things we'll learn by learning about the brain will absolutely pay for itself probably by a thousand to one or better. Literally in terms of cost to the government … This is a very big idea in an area that I don't know of any political leader who is willing to tackle that would lead to a dramatic explosion of new science that would lead directly to a better quality outcome for health which would lower the cost of healthcare which would help solve our long term budget problems and would create a huge new zone of creating American jobs. But it requires having a conversation in an area the people just aren't used to talking about politically.” – Iowa City, IA 12.14.12
Leave a Comment:
...and we Democrats were supposed to be afraid of this guy?
Well, Da Noid, I'm kind of afraid that any of them will find a way to suppress votes and fool the voters they don't suppress into voting against their own self-interest.
WTF????? Yeah this guy is an elitist's genius. We should be very afraid of him and his insane followers? Aah probably not.
Talk about unelectable.
Another slow news day for First Read it seems. I think a photo essay of Feisty's wig collection would generate more interest from liberals and conservatives alike!
JUSTICE FOR DANIEL ADKINS!
Gingrich Treaty...LoL what an ego. Does anyone else see the irony in a "right to bear arms" being called a "treaty"?
Grandiose?? No. How about “a lot of hot air” or “a display of massive ego” or ---- perhaps the best and most accurate description of Newt entire life --- this presidential campaign, his time as Speaker, his attempt at being a college professor, his efforts at being a husband --- FAILURE. Newt is nothing more than a gas-bag with a huge ego. Fortunately – this is probably the end of the line for Newt’s involvement in politics.
Oh Brother!
Reminds me more of America's Funniest Home Videos!
At least our children will not be scrubbing school toilets!
Go home Newt & take your wild eyed wife with you, you two can share a don't worry be "Happy Meal" on the way...
Although not well stated, the bit about giving kids part-time jobs in schools is something on which I can agree with Gingrich. Are you above scrubbing toilets? I'm not. I do it at home and if I was a kid with no work experience and little household income, I might be a little embarassed to do it at school at first but it'd be good for me in the end. Someone has to do it and there is nothing wrong with those jobs, and nothing wrong with teaching kids to work hard.
The problem with Mr. Gingrich's argument is that he framed it, in part, around what he considered excesses in spending on our schools. He claimed that entry-level janitors got paid more than teachers in NYC...which isn't true.
I actually think its a good idea that ALL kids are responsible for some maintenance in their school. You have kids doing voluntary work for Habitat and other charities so the work is not beyond them.
As long as it's applied equally to everyone I would support this.
The right is okay with taking away the adult janitorial jobs who are "breadwinners" for their families and giving them to the children. What Newt and the supporters of this idea fail to grasp or choose to ignore is those children will be paid minimum wage with no benefits. Exactly what would that do for the families of those children whose parents are now unemployed? Don't give us the tired "teaches them character and responsibility" nonsense because that's republican bull-pucky spin. The goal of Gingrich is to eliminate union jobs, pure and simple, and replace those better paying jobs with low-wage, child labor. Seems we eliminated child labor as irresponsible decades ago but conservatives are fine with regressive and oppressive policies that take us back to the early 20th century and sweat shops.
Silly me!
All this time I thought it was the PARENTS job...
Kids can clean toilets at home - we send them to school to EDUCATE them! Period!
You said it better than I did, Feisty!
JUSTICE FOR DANIEL ADKINS!
carrtot top and judy.... Oh ya.... the Unions are doing a marvelous job! Just ask Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Argentina and just recently the unions leading the riots in the Czech's homeland! Economic chaos, rampant inflation of food and energy.... yes union controlled countries are doing just fine!
Take off your blinders gals... get informed! lol
Thanks Jody!
If they has their way, kids would be working in sweatshops again...
not sure how a story about Newt Gingrich morhphed into chat about Unions but alow me to pontificate (lol) about how much I think the Unions are destroying our country
1) Unions are severely damaging whole industries: How is it that GM and Chrysler got into such
lousy shape that they had to be bailed out? There's a simple answer: The unions. The massive pensions the car companies paid out raised their costs so much that they were limited to building more expensive cars to try to get their money back. They couldn't even do a great job of building those cars because utterly ridiculous union rules prevented them from using their labor efficiently. America created the
automobile industry, but American unions are strangling it to death. Unions also wrecked the steel and textile industries and have helped drive manufacturing jobs overseas. They're crippling the airline industry and, of course, we can't forget that...
2) Unions are ruining public education: Every few years, it's the same old story. The teachers’ unions claim that public education in this country is dramatically underfunded and if they just had more money, they could turn it around. Taxpayer money then pours into our schools like a waterfall
and....there's no improvement. A few years later, when people have forgotten the last spending spree on education, the process is repeated.
However, the real problem with our education system in this country is the teachers’ unions. They do everything possible to prevent schools not only from firing lousy teachers, but also from rewarding
talented teachers. Merit pay? The unions hate it. Private schools? Even though everyone knows they deliver a better education than our public schools, unions fight to keep as many kids as possible locked in failing public schools. In Wisconsin, we've had whole schools shutting down so that lazy teachers
can waste their time protesting on the taxpayers’ dime. Want to improve education in this country? Then you've got to take on the teachers’ unions.
3) Unions are costing you billions of tax dollars: Let's put it plain and simple: Government workers shouldn't be allowed to unionize. Period. Why? Because you elect representatives to look out
for your interests. It's obviously in your interest to pay as little as possible to government workers, to keep their benefits as low as possible, and to hire as few of them as possible to do the job. However, because the Democratic Party and the unions are in bed with each other, this entire process
has been turned on its ear. Instead of looking out for your interests, Democrats try to hire as many government workers as possible, pay them as much as possible, and give them benefits that are as generous as possible, all so that union workers will do more to get them re-elected. In other words, the Democratic Party and the unions are engaged in an open conspiracy to defraud the American taxpayer.
There's no way that the American people should allow that to continue.
4) Unions are fundamentally anti-democratic : How in the world did we get to the point where people can be forced to join a union just to get a job at certain places? Then, after they're dragooned into
the union, they have no choice other than to pay dues that are used for political activities which the unwilling dues-paying member may oppose.
Add to that the fact that the Democrats and the government unions collaborate to subvert democracy at the expense of the taxpayer and it's not a pretty picture. Worse yet, unions have gotten so
voracious that they even want to do away with the secret ballot, via card check, so they can openly bully people into joining unions. The way unions behave in this country is undemocratic, un-American, and it should trouble anyone who cares about freedom and individual rights.
5) Government unions are bankrupting cities and states: Government unions have bled billions from taxpayers nationally, but the damage they're doing on the local level is even worse. We have cities
and states all across the country that are so behind on their bills that there have been genuine discussions about bankruptcy. There are a lot of irresponsible financial policies that have helped contribute to that sorry state-of-affairs, but unquestionably, the biggest backbreakers can be directly
traced back to the unions. Unions are crushing budgets all across the country. This has already been shown to be the case in many states unable to fund the onerous collective bargaining agreements
with the unions…!
yet it comes as little surprise that the same profligacy that pervades the corridors of federal power infects this country’s 87,000 state, county and municipal governments and school districts. By 2013,
the amount of retirement money promised to employees of these public entities will exceed cash on hand by more than a trillion dollars. So, what happens when these pensions can't be paid? They will come to the taxpayers with their hands out. When they stroll forward with their beggar's bowl in hand, the American people should keep their wallets in their pockets. That may not seem fair, but the public sector union members have gotten a great deal at everyone else's expense for a long time and if somebody has to take a haircut, and they do, it should be the union members instead of the taxpayers they've been bilking for so long.
Yes Unions are great, great for Union bosses and funding liberal politician's campaign coffers!
As soon as the parents hear that their child is going to be cleaning the toilets, you don't think they will be screaming???
Ok, Mark, that's all well and good. But go do some research into what it was like before unions. Gross negligence when it came to worker safety. Robber barons paying peanuts that kept their employees in poverty while they lined their pockets. Company stores. No means to air grievences. No protection from employer abuses. These things still happen today in non-unionized factory work, right here in the good ol' US of A. I'm not saying unions in their current form are perfect and/or that there should not be some changes, I'm not saying some people don't need to get their priorities straight and fix the excesses of some unions. However, without the protection of employees by unions, there would be no middle class in this country -- just like there was no middle class before the rise of unions. Employers and others in power do not do the right thing for their employees because it is the right thing to do -- never have, never will, given human nature -- they need some outside pressure to make them do the right thing. Unions create that pressure. Otherwise, we'll devolve even farther back to the 19th century social structure of robber barons and everyone else at the bottom. If you can't realize that, then you wear rosier glasses than I.
But all of that is hardly here nor there with regards to the story at hand.
Unions were necessary at one time.... now they have been taken over by greed. Who would deny that the leadership of the Teamsters today no longer have their members interests at heart?
Actually today's Unions have for the most part forgotten their mission. Today they are merely political tools for the left and are making their bosses very rich! And their support of Obama is not necessarily for the membership, but to keep those bosses in power!
Mark in Tahoe: Why didn't Ford need a bailout when they use the same UAW members as GM does? Same for the Toyota plants in the south, same union members.
If it wasn't for unions we wouldn't have a middle class. Middle class is what sustains our economy. Sombody has to buy those goods and services to keep it humming along.
If it wasn't for unions we wouldn't have a 40 hour work week, child labor laws, pensions and health insurance. And with the union membership in decline those are the things we are losing.
Union workers represent around 10% of all workers. We are headed back to the late 20's where all the wealth is in the hands of a few. Just before the great depression.
Contrary to popular belief, unions don't want to destroy the companies that use their labor they just want to bargain for the best deal for the members.
Collective bargaining isn't anti-democratic, it's much more democratic because all sides get a say. Non-union, pay raise begging is more like a dictatorship. Take it or leave. non-union wouldn't pay a comparable wage if they didn't have to compete with union wages in the first place.
Power to the people!
"How is it that GM and Chrysler got into such
lousy shape that they had to be bailed out? There's a simple answer: The unions."
Simple minds come up with simple answers to difficult issues. If you think something as complex as an auto company the size of GM can be brought down by one entity, then frankly -- you don't understand much about business. Do you think just possibly a one or two bad decisions by management just may have contributed just a little to the problems?
Stick a fork in him already! He is done. Too bad he doesn't realize it yet. That is the problem with unhealthy overweight people. Not enough oxygen to the brain to let him know he has become a cartoon character for America.
Newt-bituary...that's a good one Chucky T!
The late night comics will surely miss Newt!
ole red your let your jealousy and envy out first thing on Monday, oh wait I forgot. Hey tell your cult leaders to stop writing stories about Gingrich and write about the GAO's findings on the bammy care bonus program for medicare. And don't forget the wild eyed women can use what shes got to marry rich whereas your to homely and nasty to give it away, lol *popcorn* : )
JUSTICE FOR DANIEL ADKINS!
Bob Jones,
That was an interesting article, but I need more information on it.
Scrap Medicare Bonus Program for Insurers: GAO
An $8 billion Medicare demonstration program that provides bonuses as a way to improve the quality of Medicare Advantage insurance plans should be cancelled, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report to be released Monday.
The government auditors said most of the bonus money is going to plans rated average, which means they receive three to three-and-a-half stars on Medicare's five-star rating scale, the Associated Press reported.
There's no evidence that the bonus program will improve the quality of Medicare Advantage plans, the GAO said.
The Obama administration said it disagrees with the GAO findings and insists the bonus program will improve the quality of care, the AP reported.
healthday.com
I guess you have to have an ego to be a politician and we know Newt isn't lacking in that department. The problem is, all those Republicans throughout the primary process took the attention and votes they received and used their egos to translate that into: wow, I have a chance to be the nominee. The correct translation should have been: wow--they really do want anyone but Mitt Romney.
HA! You said it. From the beginning of the GOP primary campaign, it was obvious to even the most casual political observer that the choices of qualified and quality were few but their anti-Mitt fever was high.
JUSTICE FOR DANIEL ADKINS!
But how could we leave out the classic Newt?
"I realize the red light doesn't mean anything to you because you are the frontrunner," Gingrich quipped to Romney. "But could we drop a little bit of the pious baloney?" - GOP Debate January 8, 2012
JUSTICE FOR DANIEL ADKINS!
Newt is a joke. The GOP is a joke. For 2012, the GOP couldn't find anyone with an ounce of merit to run against President Obama. In this regard, maybe the GOP does have SOME kind of smarts!
JUSTICE FOR DANIEL ADKINS!
Earth to Newt, Earth to Newt, come...oh never mind.
When you watch these comments again, it is like enjoying a second glass of fine wine. The best and most outrageous of Newt Gingrich. Maybe First Read will give us the best and most outrageous of Rick Santorum and then Mitt Romney. We could all do with a reminder of just how far off the rails these candidates have been during this GOP campaign season.
JUSTICE FOR DANIEL ADKINS!
I wonder which one of Newts' big ideas resulted in his downfall in Congress?
The moon colony!
"... here is a recap of some of the more fantastical ideas he has thrown out over the past 10 months of the campaign."
Did progressive 'Lean Forward' First Read put these 'fantastical ideas' out, for the purpose of being mocked by fellow progressives? Some of these statements should be mocked, but many are serious and deserve better than being put out for ridicule.
Waiting for "Foot in Mouth: A Look Back at Biden's Greatest Campaign Gaffes"....still waiting....
After his bounced checks and bankruptcy, Willard will take over newt, seize his pension, sell what is left and dump Newt penniless on the street with nothing but a canceled Tiffany's credit card.
How did this clown ever get elected to any office in the first place???
Big ideas? Half-baked, heartless gibberish is more like it. He's the perfect example of hubris. He's so full of himself, even if he went full-bore on a diet for a whole year, he'd still be one of the biggest fat heads in our country's political history.
At least GingriCH doesn't need a teleprompter to speak, or hide one in the back of the room hoping nobody would notice! Any of the Republican candidates are a better choice than another 4 years of OWEBAMA! Kudos to Ted,the Motor City Madman OMG 2012!!!
At least Obama doesn't write notes on his hand like some cheating middle schooler.
Of course he doesn't need a teleprompter, with the delusional agenda that he has, everything is in his head, just like the deranged people who hear voices and repeat them one million times every day, without a teleprompter.
On an unrelated item, today Cheney said that after receiving his new heart he feels a lot of "emotions." He confuses emotion with the glee he feels when he sees people being tortured.
To jail with him and his new heart. Next to Bush.
This guy is just nuts...... He has no real plan, he has no morals whatsoever, he is just another old, ragged, worn out politician, who spent so many years skimming and scamming Americans, taking contributions for quid pro quo, and is now wealthy enough to do what he wants to until he passes from this earth. All from soaking good, hard-working American men and women.
L-O-S-E-R!!!!!!!
Flake
First, the US constitution is valid only in areas under US jurisprudence. It is otherwise unenforceable. Second, I come from a poor background, and I worked hard at home. I didn`t any of those lessons at school. Mr Gingrich is one who made his money by persuading others to pay it to him. I earned mine.
Newtie wants to go to the moon? Let's send him!
Drop out now newt, we are tired of paying $40,000 a day for your SS protection,cars etc, just so you can pontificate, sell a few more books and cd's.
Everyone knows Mittens is the chosen one, not you!