He did indeed.
But you have those who hear only what they want to hear and nothing else.
Newt comes up with plenty of bombs, like now he says the GOP should repeal DOMA, but sometimes he comes up with some good ideas like the ones here,
He knows first hand how easy it is to get trapped in one of these budget-shutdown fights and have public opinion turn against him and has had plenty of time, almost 20 years to consider this sproblem..