Newt did a lot of things from the 80’s until he left in ‘99. He made his career by fearlessly confronting the very powerful, left-wing democrats. He took on the dictatorial Dem Speaker Tip O’Neill and actually caused O’Neill to be rebuked on the floor of the House, first time that happened in 200 years. He forced O’Neill’s democrat successor Speaker Jim Wright to resignation over a corrupt book deal that consisted of a huge payoff to Wright for a book that was essentially a bunch of blank pages. He pushed for ethics violations and formal censure of Barney Frank when his young boyfriend was running a brothel with very young (maybe underaged) guys out of Barney’s DC townhouse.
That all happened before Newt became Speaker. Newt electrified conservatives, especially Rush Limbaugh. In ‘94 when he led the conservatives to power, he had already created many enemies on the Left, and the GOP establishment feared him because in those days the establishment republicans were happy to be in the minority and get their kickbacks from people like O’Neill and Wright. Everybody was getting their earmarks, turnover in Congress was very low, and neither the democrats or the establishment GOP were happy with Newt coming in and cleaning things up.
The Contract With America was essentially a plan to clean things up. Newt brought 57 new conservatives into the House in ‘94, and forced spending cuts, reforms and things that the establishment didn’t really want. They were content with their old corruption. From the time Newt became Speaker, a gang of democrats formed a hit team and started creating ethics violations against him. Over a few years there were 84 violations, and the GOP establishment really didn’t come to help Newt - they wanted him out, too. Also, this ethics nonsense started to heat up during the Clinton Chinese Donations scandal, BEFORE Monica.
Anyway, the ethics committee took up the 84 ethics claims and threw 83 of them out as baseless. The one that stuck was a vague, tax-related disclosure issue that was so unclear it took months to figure out. In that time, nothing got done, so Newt agreed to accept it so that things could move forward. The establishment used this as a reason to turn on him and they got enough votes for Newt to step down as Speaker. When he left, the GOP was strong in both houses of Congress. In a few years the GOP leadership had squandered it all and in came Pelosi. Reid took the senate before that.
By the way, the one remaining ethics charge was proven invalid.
Thanks for outlining that. I lived through it and could not believe my eyes as the old line GOP did NOT support this man.
BookMark
Thanks SO much for the info. Would love any links to more information, or book/article suggestions.
As I remember, once Newt left, the GOP turned RINO again, and things started to deteriorate.
Sounds like Newt’s basically an as*kicker and an Establishment buster, and he’s not always nice about it. This type of person will always make enemies of the peopele who just don’t want to work all that hard or come out of their comfort zone. Sounds like a tough teacher who everyone hates, but who you will always remember as the ONE who taught you the most.
Something else I'd like to see a spotlight on is the July 1997 GOP-attempted coup to force Newt from his speakership position. The four ringleaders were Bill Paxon, Tom DeLay, Dick Armey, and none other than John Boehner who played perhaps the largest role.
It was Dick Armey's chief of staff who blew the whistle on it and informed Speaker Gingrich that the coup was to take place the following day. Gingrich called a meeting with the schemers, letting them know they were busted. Bill Paxon was the only one Newt was able to strip of his position, since he was the only one Newt had appointed, while the others were elected.
To say there is no love lost between Gingrich and Boehner would be a huge understatement. As the saying goes, when you plot to kill the king, be sure you leave him dead. The prospect of Gingrich returning to power, this time as POTUS, must be John Boehner's worst nightmare. For Newt, it may be a case of revenge being a dish best served cold. Paybacks are a bitch, and I have a feeling that Speaker Gingrich can hold a grudge for a very long time.
I think this is just one of the things that has the GOP Establishment, including John Boehner and his cronies, in an absolute panic.
That’s great info. I imagine the elites would be afraid of just his convention acceptance speech alone, let alone what he would do as President. His greatest power might come in 2014 when he could work with the Tea Party and try to engineer a fresh takeover of the Congress with grassroots conservatives.
“By the way, the one remaining ethics charge was proven invalid.”
Yes, and wasn’t that the one that the IRS took TWO YEARS to clear him on? Also, as I’ve heard several times, the $300k he paid was NOT a fine and Newt got screwed because of his lawyer’s erroneous wording in a letter that he didn’t proofread.
I really wish Newt would just give the excellent explanation you did (maybe in an ad) to educate the public and dispel all the rumors and misinformation floating around out there, especially because of the lies Mittens is spreading in both his smear ads & speeches.