I work at a school, and I understand exactly what Newt means here. I get herds of students every year who have not a whit of understanding of what it means to work hard and work productively. Obligating the kids to clean after themselves and maintain the school where they work (at learning) seems like the balanced counterpart to doing chores at home.
However....
See how neatly the Wizard of Smart creates his own cow pie and steps in it with a genteel smile ? Instead of wording his thoughts carefully, Prof. Gingrich boldly proceeds as if all discussions were academic wordfests over at the local bar between fellow brianiacs. I can easily, easily, easily see his comments here can be morphed with ease by leftists into cartoons of Dickensian hovels with rag-wearing orphans hoisting mops and buckets.
I agree with Savage that Gingrich would be a disaster, if only for the image of a doughy old white guy placed in counterpart to the dapper, thin Obama. Comments like this are another concern.
Gingrich needs to go on the talk show circuit and peddle his ideas there. He’ll be eaten alive in the general election - like a professorial Dole or McCain.
God help us.
That's true and everyone would agree but it really isn't what he meant. He said "fire the janitors and hire the kids". Completely different.
When my grandkids were in Head Start (gasp) they always had to clean up the room at the end of the day. And now their Young Marines post does the same. Entirely different from preposterously suggesting that they would be the sole paid workforce.