“none of the conservative friends I have are writing Newt off or jumping to someone else”
Let’s take a look at Newt’s record:
How Conservative is Newt’s Actual Voting Record in the House (1979-1999) ?
Voted YES on the Reagan tax cut of 1981
Voted YES on the Reagan tax reform bill of 1986
Voted NO on the George H.W. Bush “Read My Lips” tax hike in 1990.
Voted NO on the Clinton tax hike in 1993.
Voted YES on the capital gains tax cut in 1997.
Voted NO on the Chrysler bailout in 1979
Voted YES on the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget bill in 1985
Voted YES on a balanced budget amendment (as part of the “Contract for America” effort that he led) in 1995
Led the effort and voted YES to cut $16.4 billion from the budget in 1995.
Voted YES on welfare reform in 1996
How much federal spending increased while Gingrich was Speaker of the House (1995-1999)?
Federal spending rose an average of 3.1% a year while he was Speaker - this is the lowest rate of spending growth over the last 30 years. Federal spending as a % of GDP fell from 21% to 18.5%, a whopping decline in 4 short years.
Under Obama, the federal spending has been rising at a whopping 8.6% a year.
Defense Budgets during the Gingrich years in $Billions:
1995 321.6
1996 307.4
1997 305.3
1998 296.7
1999 298.4
Held Federal spending increases to 3.1% a year and cut defense spending by 7.2%.