Free Republic

Fiscal Policy: This is a time for big ideas that take some political risk. Rick Perry's flat-tax solution largely fits that bill, and so do the proposals from most others in the GOP field. Then there's Romney. Perry this week finally unveiled the sort of detailed economic plan that, in a well-planned campaign, he would've had ready a couple of months ago. So it may be too late to help him much. But it's never too late to inject good ideas into the political mix. Perry's plan isn't perfect, but it would be a huge improvement over the laws in...

BOTTOM LINE Since mid-September, Cain has seen substantial increases in three key areas of his image and support among Republicans nationwide. Recognition of him has risen from 50% to 69%; his Positive Intensity Score has gone from 24 (among the highest in the GOP field) to 34 (the highest); and his share of the Republican vote for the nomination has risen from 5% to 18%. Cain now leads all other Republicans by a significant margin in positive intensity, is nearly tied with Romney for the lead in the vote, and has room to grow in recognition. The obvious risk is...

Gov. Rick Perry signed the Strong America Now pledge which binds him to tackling wasteful spending in Washington by implementing the waste elimination process Lean Six Sigma. The pledge was signed at the fourth annual Kaufmann Family Barbecue where Perry was the special guest. Perry is the eighth presidential candidate to sign the pledge, but the first who has also signed Lean Six Sigma legislation. Perry signed a Texas state bill, which formed a pilot program to improve efficiencies and quality of operations while reducing costs, as well as adopt a structured approach for identifying the wasteful use of state...

First, there were Lincoln and Douglas. This year, we have Cain and Gingrich. The two Georgians seeking the Republican nomination for president have accepted an invitation from the Texas Patriots PAC to meet in The Woodlands on Nov. 5 for a free-wheeling and moderator-free debate on the major issues in the 2012 presidential campaign. The two participants — former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — have gained ground in the polls following their performance in the first eight debates of the GOP campaign season. But Gingrich in particular has been critical of what he...

And to the joy of political junkies, Gingrich will join Cain for a one-on-one discussion at a tea-party forum in Texas next month, an event the campaign hopes will spark tea-party voters to reconsider, on a policy basis, their Cain support. The battle for the “non-Romney” slot in the primary, at least in Newt World, has only begun.

To help get there, Gingrich said that after he wins the Republican nomination he’ll challenge Obama to “seven Lincoln-Douglas style three-hour debates” — with a timekeeper, but, he added to great cheers from the crowd, no moderator — repeating a promise he made at last week’s debate in Las Vegas. Should Obama decline his challenge, Gingrich vowed to tail the president on the campaign trail, speaking after him in every town he visits — just like Lincoln did to Douglas. “I will methodically take apart every Obama speech from October until the election,” he said.

Religious faith is a source of strength in many people's lives. But religious faith when taken too far can prove ludicrous -- or disastrous. On Oct. 22, 1844, thousand of Millerites, having sold all their possessions, climbed to the top of hills in Upstate New York to await the return of Jesus and the end of the world. They suffered "the great disappointment" when it didn't happen. In 1212, or so the legends go, thousands of Children's Crusaders set off from France and Germany expecting the sea to part so they could march peaceably and convert Muslims in the Holy...

The former speaker launches an unlikely comeback. In June, after his top advisers bolted, Newt Gingrich was supposed to be finished. Four months later, after a series of sharp debates, his poll numbers are climbing and his coffers are stuffed. Behind the scenes, his aides aim to capitalize on the resurrection. “There is plenty of room,” says R. C. Hammond, the campaign spokesman. He bets that by early January, when New Hampshire and Iowa are blanketed by snow, Gingrich’s “tortoise” campaign will inch ahead. That optimism is backed up by cash, Hammond says. In the past week, the campaign has...

Tonight Newt Gingrich spoke at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition and then answered a few questions from a panel. I’ve split the Speech from the Q&A and both are below.

Full title: Strong Words From Newt At Iowa Faith and Freedom: 'After 8 Years, We Will Leave Iraq in Defeat, Don't Kid Yourselves, It Is Defeat' Newt Gingrich at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Dinner tonight gives some straight talk on Obama's decision (yesterday) to withdraw all American troopsVideo Gingrich: "We lost the 3rd Iraq war. This may or may not be popular to say but as a historian I think it needs to be said. We won the first Iraq war in 1991 driving Iraq out of Kuwait in 4 days. We won the second Iraq war to...

The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Fall Banquet today: Herman Cain, as usual, was inspiring. Michele Bachmann, did well; same stump speech talking points but she did o.k.; she seemed tired. Rick Perry did ten-times better than he did in the Debates; receiving tepid applause upon entry and rousing applause as he left the stage. But, per my observation, only one, got a "standing" ovation when he left the stage and that was Newt Gingrich. I have always thought Newt was a political genius but felt like he just wasn't the guy to carry the banner for the GOP in...

Many of you have seen the new bumper stickers from various conservative groups that goes something like this: OBAMA = One Big A$$ Mistake, America! That definition has now been added to UrbanDictionary.com, and with your help, it can be "thumbed-up" to the top-ranking position. Left-wingers succeeded in labeling Bush as a "failure." But we can turn the tables and get America to realize that Obama really is one big mistake! Click here to give this new definition the "thumbs-up." Thanks!

The afterglow following Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary debate didn’t last long. The general reaction was that all the sniping back and forth made the whole event look like an unstructured free-for-all, which doesn’t help the opposition party’s argument that it is a sober, responsible alternative to the indiscipline and inexperience of the Obama era. This was partly the fault of CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who did a poor job keeping the discussion on track. However, it also was the result of a Grand Old Party that is getting increasingly frustrated over its inability to settle on a standard bearer.

This is Newt's new commercial called "Newt Now". In 2 days it has had over 18K views. Have you seen it yet?

While candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry battled it out in the CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate, Sarah Palin said she thought Newt Gingrich took home the winner's belt. "Everybody could learn from Newt Gingrich and the way - his calm, cool, collected manner," Palin said Tuesday in an interview on Fox News. "He's kind of seen it all before in this political game, if you will." Palin said the former House Speaker, often described as the most professor-like among the pool of candidates, would "clobber Barack Obama in any debate, any forum that had to do with substance."

Broadcast on: CNNBroadcast time: 8pm EDT/5pm PDT The Candidates: Michele Bachmann Bachmann is serving her 3rd full term in the U.S. House. Founder of the House Tea Party Caucus, worked as a tax attorney, and was a foster mother for 23 teenagers. She is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Herman Cain Cain is the former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He lost the Georgia Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in 2004. He was recently the host of Atlanta-based radio show. Newt Gingrich...

Politics: You'd think a Republican debate on the economy would be a perfect time to blast Obama policies as an unmitigated disaster. Yet Obama escaped largely unscathed. Whom do these folks think they're running against? If aliens landed Tuesday night and managed to find the GOP debate on Bloomberg TV, they might think the GOP candidates were running against Ben Bernanke, someone named Dodd-Frank, Obama-Care and China. Newt Gingrich focused his ire, for example, on Bernanke, saying he's "the first person to fire." Michele Bachmann went on about Dodd-Frank, calling it "the jobs and housing destruction act." Rick Santorum said...

In this week’s Republican presidential candidate debate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blamed the 2008 financial crisis on “reforms” enacted through the efforts of former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (D-Mass) and former Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn). Gingrich suggested that the two ought to go to jail for their “crimes.” Representative Frank defended his actions in support of the legislation that compelled banks to lend to untrustworthy borrowers as “well-intended,” and insisted that any blame for any bad outcomes really belongs to former President Bush because “he let me do it. He could’ve vetoed...

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is charging the Obama administration has failed to undermine the Iranian regime, saying Tehran has been “waging war against us since 1979.” The Georgia Republican tells CNN’s “State of the Union” he thinks President Barack Obama should have done more to reach out to ordinary Iranians when they protested against the regime. He was questioned about Iran in the wake of allegations that elements of the government supported an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Gingrich says “our goal should be the replacement of the Iranian dictatorship.”

WASHINGTON— Newt Gingrich is calling Republican presidential campaign rival Mitt Romney "a Nelson Rockefeller Republican" who will have a hard time appealing to the GOP's base.