Newt and Fannie, Freddie
It isn’t and wasn’t Newt’s best answer, and it bothered me a bit, but it’s hard to see what he can add under the circumstances.
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 She says she “will not rest until ObamaCare is repealed” yet when its funding was up for a vote she’s no where to be found.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.
Posted by newzjunkey
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2821928/posts?page=341
1. What exactly did he do to get paid? Give advice? Did it come in the form of a written report? Oral presentations? Was it a single report which would be a pretty easy $1.5 million? How many people worked on them? Just Newt and/or Callista? Again, that's pretty sweet.
2. Where are the reports? Make them public. If Freddie has lost them, Newt should have copies. If everyone has lost them I'm going to have trouble buying Newt (although I'll still vote for him over 0.
3. How was he paid? Billable hours? Flat fee?
If Newt provided Freddie with a series of consultations that he can back up with written reports, agendas & copies of Power Point presentations, and showed that they were produced with a staff via invoice with billable hours and expenses, and is willing to make public these records and show what he advised all will be cleared up, and he will have a very good chance of getting my vote.
If not, he has no chance of getting my primary vote.