A PoltiJim reader (obviously an intelligent and insightful guy) asked to post his “Case for Newt Gingrich.” It is an extremely concise and comprehensive view of the fullness of Gingrich (I’m not talking girth here), and I felt it would be a great reference to bookmark. Oh, yeah. AND READ!
by Sean McKay
Who to Choose?
In the up and down GOP primary season, with a few good, but not ideal, candidates to choose from, we look for ways to set one candidate apart from the rest. It is an unfortunate aspect of the primary season that advocates for a candidate will often espouse that their candidate is “the only one” who can solve our nation’s problems. I do not believe that Newt Gingrich is the only one who can solve our nation’s problems; however, I do believe Newt Gingrich is the candidate who can best solve our nation’s problems.
Not an Army of One
First and most importantly, Gingrich understands that he cannot do the job of the presidency without help. While it is fashionable to declare that a candidate is all-capable, Gingrich would rather focus on reality. Many of his plans to address the big problems of the United States will require the support of Congress, which in its turn would be motivated by fire under their feet by a large base of supporters. This is why Gingrich says “I’m not asking you to be for me, I’m asking you to be with me.” So if you are looking for a candidate you can vote for on Tuesday and then forget about politics for four more years, then Gingrich is not the right candidate for you. He needs you not only on Tuesday, but he needs you for years if he is elected. Taking on activist courts, balancing a budget, fixing a corrupt bureaucracy all require the support of the people. The established political structures will fight these goals every inch. Gingrich has experience, as Speaker of the House, working past such opposition to pass significant legislation to fix broken systems, including balancing the budget and reforming welfare.
Urgent Motivation to Run
Often critics will cast Gingrich as an arrogant glory hound who seeks to be in power. In reality Gingrich is strongly motivated by the good of his grandchildren. "I have two grandchildren — Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they're my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American."[1] This has led him to evaluate and reevaluate what is important in light of his posterity. Gingrich would have stayed in the private sector if it were not for the danger he sees to our nation and to the future of his grandchildren.
The Courts Amok
One large part of the danger to our nation is the continuous onslaught of the courts on religion and our rights. This is seen numerous times in our recent history, as in the Kelo decision by the Supreme Court allowing eminent domain for economic development, as well as banning school prayer, Roe v Wade, and bans on the Pledge of Allegiance. The courts have acted consistently like they can make laws, which is in fact not designated power. The legislative and executive branches have refused to resist this usurpation of power. Add to this the common misconception that the Supreme Court is supreme over all other branches of government, and Americans are locked in an environment where the judicial branch is the master that all must please and defer to.
There are numerous problems facing the United States, but any attempted solutions can be counteracted by the judicial system unless there is a clear understanding of how to deal with the Courts. Happily, Gingrich is clear on this point. “There is no Supreme Court in the American Constitution. There’s the court which is the Supreme of the judicial branch, but it’s not supreme over the legislative and executive branch. We now have this entire national elite that wants us to believe that any five lawyers are a Constitutional convention. That is profoundly un-American and profoundly wrong.” [2]
Gingrich will pursue constitutional solutions for this problem [3] on a case by case basis:
· Executive and legislative branches can explicitly and emphatically reject the theory of judicial supremacy and undertake anew their obligation to assure themselves, separately and independently, of constitutionality of all laws and judicial decisions.
· When appropriate, the executive and legislative branches can use their constitutional powers to take meaningful actions to check and balance any judgments rendered by the judicial branch that they believe to be unconstitutional, including:
- Ignoring unconstitutional judicial decisions.
- Limiting the general application of a judicial decision.
- Abolishing judgeships and Lower Federal Courts
- Impeaching judges that deliberately usurp legislative authority.
- Reducing or eliminating funding of courts through Congress.
- Removing appellate jurisdiction by the courts on particular laws.
- Working with state legislators and state Attorneys-General to issue warnings to judicial power excesses.
- Holding judicial accountability hearings.
In the Presidential Pro-life Tele-Townhall on December 27th, when addressing the problem of courts overruling a Personhood Bill, Gingrich was the only candidate who proposed the solution of preventing judicial appellate review of the bill so that the courts could not overturn the Personhood Bill. In the past, Congress has used the same proviso to limit review of the Patriot Act, so this is something that had recent precedent of use of Constitutional power.
The continuous loss of ground to Courts on issues that matter to conservatives will thus be averted by a Gingrich presidency, since he will know and make use of the authority the Constitution has vested into the office of the President of the United States.
Social Issues
Gingrich is committed to solving the social problems of our time. Armed with a solution for handling overbearing Courts and the risk of judicial overturning of laws, Gingrich will show his commitment to Life by crafting effective solutions to ending abortion in the United States and defining life at conception (as indicated in the Personhood Pledge). Additionally, Gingrich was one of the first people to make use of the 14th Amendment allowing Congress to define life as a solution to the problem of abortion. Immediately upon taking office, he will push for the tearing down of Obamacare, as well as ending all funding for Planned Parenthood, and reallocating such funding for adoption services.
Regarding Marriage, Gingrich was instrumental in getting Iowa’s judicial retention vote of 2010 started, advocating and garnering support for the issue before it had support from larger organizations such as the AFA [4]. Gingrich has not sought glory for his involvement in the judicial retention vote, but it is a clear fruit showing he can be trusted in this! While Gingrich did not sign the FAMiLY LEADER’s Marriage Pledge, he made a pledge very similar to theirs [5].
Recently, Social Conservatives have been upset about being used by RINO politicians, and sacrificing their principles for a place at the table. With Gingrich as President, the Social Conservatives would be making the table that people come to.
Fiscal Issues
Gingrich is one of the two highest ranked candidates, earning a solid A by the Strong America Now voting guide, which is focused on eliminating national debt and deficit using Lean Six Sigma [6]. Gingrich’s solid economic understanding earned an endorsement by a Reagan economist, Art Laffer [7].
Fiscal policies that Gingrich would pursue are [8]:
- Stopping the 2013 tax increases.
- Eliminating capital gains tax so that American entrepreneurs would be more competitive against those in other countries.
- Reducing the corporate income tax to 12.5%.
- Ending the death tax.
- Allowing an optional 15% flat tax.
- Reforming the Federal Reserve.
- Repealing Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Community Reinvestment Act, Dodd-Frank Law.
- Breaking up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and completely privatizing them.
- Balancing the budget.
- Repealing Obamacare.
- Entitlement reform.
Foreign Policy
Gingrich has a clear understanding of the history of numerous nations around the world. When I have heard Gingrich speak about issues in Greece or Israel, I have asked friends in those countries what they thought about what Gingrich said. They were frankly quite surprised and grateful that someone in the United States understood the history and circumstances of their current predicaments. This clear understanding of history and motivations allows Gingrich to not be fooled with naïve statements and agendas. He does not think Israel should negotiate with people who continue to declare she has no right to exist. Likewise, he sees the threats and risks of our naïve relationship with Pakistan, and of Iran developing a nuclear weapon. He sees how our energy policy has enabled the militant Islamic regimes in the Middle East, and has a plan for diminishing our dependency on their oil [9].
Character / Fruit (for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity – Proverbs 24:16 NIV)
There are areas where Gingrich has baggage, and critics will cite things that are true as well as untrue about Gingrich. There is a lot of spin going around against all the candidates and Gingrich is not an exception. The simplest way to find out the details is to check out a page Gingrich has set up providing details and corrections where appropriate [10]. Often these things are brought up as a way to discredit the character of Gingrich and cast doubt as to his potential faithfulness as President.
In the same way that much of the rhetoric about other candidates is smoke and mirrors, while the candidates themselves are more solid than the attacks and insinuations would have you believe, so it is with Gingrich. Like all candidates, the people will still need to hold him accountable, but he has a number of fruit that show integrity in his actions and life, and provide evidence of fruit that shows he can be trusted as their candidate and President.
In the last decade, a number of things have happened in Gingrich’s life that have caused him to grow. He left public sector work and become a private citizen. He became a grandparent. He converted to Catholicism in 2009. Each of them, adding up has caused Gingrich to be a man with a big picture view and a big heart. He cares about the future for the sake of his grandchildren, who have by many accounts profoundly affected him. He has a desire for people to have tangible benefit and success and has often directed his private ventures to address the issues he has cared about.
Often people will talk about how their candidate does not pander. And that is a good thing, but happily there are a number of candidates who show their integrity and honesty by not pandering. Gingrich is one of them. In a speech before a town hall in Arizona, Gingrich outlined the exact same immigration plan that got him in hot water during one of the debates. If he was the kind of person who pandered, he would have embellished the parts he knew the audience agreed with and minimized the parts he knew they didn’t. However, the plan was the same nationally as it was before a group of people who would not be supportive of it [11]. Regardless of what you think about immigration, this is a clear indication of Gingrich’s integrity.
Gingrich is one of the few candidates who shows no fear (of man). When all the candidates were asked at the Family LEADER forum about DOMA being overturned, there was only one of the current candidates who was brave enough to speak up and mention that you show judges are accountable as well as re-pass DOMA and make it not appealable to the court [12]. When talking about controversial topics like challenging judges, Gingrich is willing to do it before a hostile audience like Face the Nation. Gingrich won’t backpedal or be bullied on the things he’s advocating for, and he’s shown clear commitment to advocate for what is best for the United States.
Gingrich is confident, and this is often confused with arrogance. However, he is also humble enough to admit making mistakes. He calls his “Pelosi Couch Experience” one of the dumbest mistakes he’s made in 4 years. When confronted on some comments by a supporter, Gingrich admitted he was wrong and that he had been thinking about the issue wrongly. I would ask which candidates can you think of that have the combination of confidence, but also the humility to admit being wrong? I can think of only one.
Conclusion
Newt Gingrich is the best candidate for the job of President. He has the solutions for the big problems our nation faces. He has the willingness to serve the people. He has the character and the drive to lead the nation to a better place.
References
[1]http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/52023.html#ixzz1httgippW
[3] http://www.newt.org/sites/newt.org/files/Courts.pdf
[4] http://stevedeace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/deace-12-09-11-full.mp3
[5] http://stevedeace.com/news/iowa-politics/newt-and-the-marriage-vow/
[6] http://strongamericanow.org/articles/news/strong-america-now-2012-voter-guide-255
[7] http://www.newt.org/news/video-art-laffer-endorses-newt-gingrich-fox-news
[8] http://www.newt.org/solutions/jobs-economy
[9] http://www.newt.org/solutions/american-energy-plan
[10] http://www.newt.org/answers
[11] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PbH-p8ruFA
[12] http://www.thefamilyleader.com/thanksgiving-family-forum (at 2:22)
