Newt Gingrich was a lobbyist, plain and simple

Washington Examiner ^ | 112011 | Tim Carney

[Fred]

When Newt Gingrich says he never lobbied, he's not telling the truth.

When he was a paid consultant for the drug-industry's lobby group, Gingrich worked hard to persuade Republican congressmen to vote for the Medicare drug subsidy that the industry favored. To deny Gingrich was a lobbyist requires an Obama-like word parsing over who is and who isn't a lobbyist.

Gingrich stated last week on Fox News, "I do no lobbying of any kind. I never have. A very important point to make. I have never done lobbying of any kind."

But the facts contradict that claim.

First of all, we know that Gingrich has been paid by drug companies and by the drug lobby, notably during the Medicare drug debate. A former employee of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, (the main industry lobby) told me Gingrich was being paid by someone in the industry at the time. A spokeswoman for Gingrich's health care consulting firm, Center for Health Transformation, told me that drug companies have been CHT clients.

[caww]

As for Cain I had hoped better than what seems to be playing out, but that is what vetting is about...he just hasn’t got the grip on things he needs to have. Therein lays the problem with no experience in politics. It’s not like any other field out there...it just isn’t...and you have to have some degree of understanding how it works.

[not2worry]

I believe Fred is a well-respected contributor here on FR.

Your intimidation won’t stop Conservatives from posting the facts on Newt Gingrich, so get use to it!

[caww]

I don’t agree Newt’s numbers will tank for long, if they do at all. Those who oppose him do not understand that all this stuff they’re making issue about hasn’t been hidden..it’s been there rigt out there for any to look at for along time. Which is why when I took a second look at Newt I was pleasantly surprise to see that the truth was also out there....enough time passed for the issues to have played out and determine the truth about it.

[caww]

Newt Gingrich led the Republican Revolution that defeated Hillary's Health Care Debacle and forced Billy Boy to utter the words, "The era of Big Government is over".

Thanks for posting the truth ......They keep posting media's spin and or confuse the issues.. alot!

[Prokopton]

Either way, the answer is “Why yes he was.”

So you are saying the head of every business organization is a "lobbyist". This is stretching the definition. Every CEO of every big organization or company tries to get the laws beneficial to them passed. They are doing it for themselves, they are not hired guns and the primary purpose they are in their position is not lobbying. In fact The NRA, and most likely Godfathers Pizza, hired outside lobbyists. Newt, on the other hand, was most definitely a lobbyist. He was not trying to get laws passed for his own organizations, he was a hired gun who got paid for influencing politicians to support someone organizations he did not belong to. His only reason for doing it was the money he got paid. If the CEO of Freddie or Fannie talked to politicians about the laws they wanted passed, they would still not be lobbyists, they would merely be performing one of the functions of a CEO. Newt had no relationship to Freddie and Fannie except to influence politicians for money he was paid. He was a quintessential lobbyist. Cain was not.

[Prokopton]

Those who oppose him do not understand that all this stuff they’re making issue about hasn’t been hidden..it’s been there rigt out there for any to look at for along time.

Most people have no idea what Newt has been doing since he quit Congress. For better or worse, now they are finding out.

[Kellis91789]

Don’t you think there is a difference between lobbying for an industry that wants the government to butt out and an industry that wants government handouts ?

[caww]

What he’s been doing since he left congress is make a living for himself doing what politicians do once they leave office...and they all do it.

[rwoodward]

Newt has a big problem on his hands. Peter Schiff was on Huckabee today and accused Newt of lying about his real lobbying efforts involveing Fannie and Freddie. He accused Newt of being paid to shut down conservative effort to reign in control of the two agencies. Newt said he was hired as a historian. Hmm what’s that strange smell?

[Fred]

yo got my back - back at ya

[Fred]

Hear me out.

I do not support a mandate.

I do not support obamacare. A mandate is DEATH to the republic. We should all know this by now after an entire year of being jerked off by Princess Nancy, Pinky Reid and Obama.

I will not support any candidate that supports a mandate. So that means no support for Obama or Romney or Newt.

It should be clear to those reading any of the posts on this subject shows that Newt has a long history of promoting an individual mandate since 1993. He just conveniently changed his mind around June of 2011 after he got pounced on by everyone. (and attacking Ryan medicare reform).

And now I find out he pushed and promoted Medicare D (can’t use the lobby word).
Too great a risk voting for Newt.

Now I wait for the SCOTUS to decide.

[Fred]

You mean the gold dude, that Peter Shiff? The one that ran for US Senate.

[true believer forever]

Then maybe you need to vote for cain and support him, and keep your mouth shut about the candidates you don’t support. How do you manage to manufacture so much bile so continually, don’t your internal organs breakdown... I think you have bigger problems than not supporting newt in 2012... and they are fairly obvious to everyone...

[PeskyOne]

There have been reports that he has a terrible, sometimes uncontrollable temper, when it comes to folks disagreeing with the Professor.

I have read some of these reports also. He's quite an actor too. He attacked Chris Wallace after being asked a question about Gingrich's staff resigning when Gingrich went on a cruise. This was a question any good newsman would have asked, but Gingrich tried to make Chris look bad. He gave Chris a hateful look, and said, "Chris, I wish you would stop the gotcha questioning." This was no "gotcha" question and Gingrich knew it, but he didn't care if he embarrassed Chris Wallace! He intended to use that statement at the first opportunity. After the debate, while talking to another reporter, he boasted that when Brett Baier told the candidates to keep their answers brief because of time restraints, he jotted down "gotcha questions", and was going to use it at the first opportunity. His demeanor was one of pure hatefulness, and I decided then and there, he was not getting my vote. He may be "brilliant" to some people, but to me he represents a brash, contemptible person who does not care who he hurts as long as he gets what he wants. He seems to think he is the most intellectual person on the stage and he plays to that, but when a person thinks more of themself than they deserve; they aren't as smart as they think they are. Frankly, some of our best presidents have been those who didn't have the label of "brilliant" attached to them. Reagan, Bush, Truman, are a few who weren't considered brilliant, and then you have those we were told were brilliant, but weren't...Wilson, Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, and Obama! According to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. on Meet the Press when Lawrence Spivak was the moderator, 'Wilson and Kennedy became brilliant after they left the Conservative ranks and became Progressives.' Even then, the media was telling the public what they wanted them to believe.

Carter's, Clinton's, and Obama's actions prove they aren't brilliant. Clinton had 'the gift of gab', but he disgraced himself with his behavior and lies, plus, they trashed the WH when they left. You can have so-called brilliant people, but for me, I'll take someone who is honest, sincere, with moderate smarts and lots of common sense!

[Fred]

There are not enough hours in the day to stop Newtcare and Romneycare and Obamacare..

Go ahead and vote for prof cornpone. Just know what you are getting.

[BigBobber]

You are lying about the links. Here is an example from the first one:

Fred: Newt loving CARD CHECK!!

Article: “You see, all this year Newt Gingrich has been claiming the fight against Card Check as one of the biggest issues for his group, American Solutions. You’ve probably received emails from him asking for money to fight the card check bill.”

Fred has got some ‘splaining to do.

[PieterCasparzen]

Here they are for rankin’...

Compare the conservative principles...

A new interview with Michele Bachmann by the Des Moines Register:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RegisterE

Herman Cain on the issues from his website:

http://www.hermancain.com/issues

Newt’s websites:

http://www.newt.org/solutions
http://www.gingrichgroup.com

Which sounds most true to the most conservative principles ?

[PieterCasparzen]

Most people have no idea what Newt has been doing since he quit Congress. For better or worse, now they are finding out.

IMHO, a good education plan is to simply have the government get completely out of the education business. Meaning, shut down the Federal Dept. of Ed. and end all Federal money being sent to states or spent on education, end all subsidies, loans, loan guarantees, grants, etc.

This is because when the rubber hits the road, a big education "plan" or "initiative" at the Federal level - is just a big spendfest of hogs at the Federal trough, IMHO.

From Newt's website:

The Gingrich Education Plan:

The continued growth of American jobs and American prosperity in a knowledge-based, internet-connected, globally-competitive world will be determined by quality of America's schools. If America is going to remain competitive with China and India in the 21st century, then we must commit to improving education, especially in math and science, and moving from a bureaucrat-dominated status quo to an innovative system that emphasizes accountability, transparency, and parental choice:

* Empower parents to pick the right school for their child. Parents had the right to choose the school that is best for their child, and should never be trapped in a failing school against their will.
* Institute a Pell Grant-style system for Kindergarten through 12th Grade. Per-pupil school district funding should go into each child’s backpack, and follow them to the school their parents wish to attend. Parents who home school their children should receive a tax credit or be allowed to keep the Pell Grant.
* Require transparency and accountability about achievement. Each state must set a rigorous standard that allows every student everywhere to master the skills they will need to be competitive, and develop a process for grading the effectiveness of every school.
* Implement a “no limits” charter system.
o All of the money allocated for student education goes directly to the school.
o The school manages its own staff, whereby it is exempt from laws regarding tenure, and need not unionize.
o The school defines its own curriculum, in line with the state standards and assessments. Students in charters are not exempt from state assessments. The schools are not exempt from reporting requirements, nor should they be.
o State law allows the school to "franchise" its model without limitation. That means they need not apply for a new school every time they can build a new one. If they have the demand, they must be able to serve it.
o The state has NO CAPS on the number of charter schools that can be approved, and the process for approving charter schools is smooth and efficient.
* Establish a pay for performance system. States and school governing boards should lift all existing prohibitions that prevent a principal from evaluating teachers based in part on student achievement.
* Welcome business talent in our communities into the classroom. Every state should open their systems up to part-time teachers so that retired physicists, neighborhood pharmacists, or local accountants could teach one or two hours a day and bring knowledge to the classroom, and business-like adult expectations to the students. And programs like Teach For America should be encouraged and not limited.[IMHO, from my experience, many of these people do not want to deal with schools since the behavior problems are so bad]
* Restore American history and values into the classroom. America is a learned civilization and every American, including immigrants, should learn American history and the principles of American self-government, productivity and prosperity. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1820: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Every student must learn to read and much of what they read should reinforce American civilization.
* Protect the rights of home-schooled children by ensuring they have the same access to taxpayer funded, extra-curricular educational opportunities as any public school student.[IMHO, most home schoolers are trying to avoid the influences of public school families]
* Encourage states to think outside outdated boundaries of education. States have developed very innovative models:
o Students who graduate early should get the cost of the years they skip as an automatic scholarship, following the model of Governor Daniels’s program in Indiana.
o Every state should have a work-study college that enables students to graduate debt free, following the model of the College of the Ozarks in Missouri.
o Individualized, 24/7 learning should be universally available online, with the Florida Virtual School (over 120,000 students for K-12) as a model.[IMHO, boondoggle project]
* Shrink the federal Department of Education and return power to states and communities. The Department's only role will be to collect research and data, and help find new and innovative approaches to then be adopted voluntarily at the local level.[IMHO, shrink is code for keep as many gov't employee's as possible]

[org.whodat]

No, not under the law, mr cain was an employee of NRA, if he represent his organization he was not a lobbyist. A lobbyist is a none employee paid to represent interest of varied individuals and organizations for a fee.

[Joann37]

Agreed, but my point is that no such candidate is running. So now what - four more years of the Bamster?