Difference between revisions of "Newt Gingrich"

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Newt Gingrich (born 6/17/1943) is a conservative politician. Gingrich served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Widely considered a mastermind of the Republican revolution that swept Congress in the 1994 elections, the well-known architect of the “Contract with America” [1] that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 by capturing the majority in the U.S. House for the first time in forty years.

Gingrich remains very popular among many conservatives. He has repeatedly placed near the top of Republican presidential polls recently, even though he has not formed a campaign committee.

Under his leadership, Congress passed welfare reform, passed the first balanced budget in a generation, and passed the first tax cut in sixteen years. In addition, the Congress restored funding to strengthen our defense and intelligence capabilities, an action later lauded by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

Gingrich's congressional career ended in 1998 when he abruptly resigned from Congress after poor showings from Republicans in elections and after being reprimanded by the House ethics panel over charges that he used tax-exempt funding to advance his political goals. He was later cleared of any illegalities.[2] Newt Gingrich has publicly admitted to having been engaged in an extra-marital sexual relationship during the period he was pushing for Clinton's impeachment. ""The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards." Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity. "The President of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials." [3]

Speakership

• All ten items in the Contract With America were brought to a vote in the U.S. House in the first 100 days (the promise was to bring them to a vote). Nine of the ten items passed the House. The sole exception was term limits which received a plurality but required a two-thirds majority as a Constitutional Amendment.
• Committee Chairmen were term-limited as was the Speakership.
• The Legislative branch was cut including the Speaker's office. Also reduced were committee sizes. Unnecessary perks like the House barbershop, shoeshine and ice service were eliminated.
• The Congress was forced to live under the same laws as the rest of the land - OSHA, disabilities, workplace laws, members, staff etc.
• A big six accounting firm audited the U.S. House's finances for the first time in history.
• The Budget was balanced for the first time in a generation. When Time Magazine named Gingrich their Man of the Year in 1995, they said that because of Newt a balanced budget was no longer a question of if, but when.
• Taxes were cut for the first time in 17 years. Included were a cut in the capital gains tax, a $500 per child tax credit and new tax credits for tuition to college and voc-tech schools. The cap gains tax actually ended being scored as a revenue increase, a shift in tax policy debate due to Gingrich's success.
• Military spending increased for the first time in over 10 years including funding for a national missile defense.
• The line-item veto passed and was signed into law.
• Six of the bills were signed into law by the President. (In 1996, President Clinton pointed to 13 seperate reforms that were contained within the Contract with America at the Democratic National Convention.[4])
• More women were appointed to leadership positions in the House than anytime in history.
• Increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act by 700%.
• Megan's Law was passed. [5][6]

[7]

Post Congressional Activities

• Started the Center for Health Transformation, January 2003. [8]

Quotes

• “It is impossible to maintain civilization with 12-year-olds having babies, with 15-year-olds killing each other, with 17-year-olds dying of AIDS and with 18-year-olds getting diplomas they can't read”
• If Thomas Edison invented electric light today, Dan Rather would report it on CBS News as "candle making industry threatened".”
• “The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument.”
• “All free people stand on Reagan's shoulders. His principled policies proved that free markets create wealth, that the rule of law sustains freedom, and that all people everywhere deserve the right to dream, to pursue their dreams, and to govern themselves.”
• “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”

[9]

Writings

As an author, Gingrich has published nine books including the best sellers, Contract with America and To Renew America and his most recent book, Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America. In June 2005, Never Call Retreat concluded Newt's series of active history studies in the lessons of warfare based on a fictional account of the Battle of Gettysburg and its aftermath. And in Saving Lives & Saving Money, Gingrich demonstrates how to transform health and healthcare into a 21st century system. [10][11]

Personal Life

• In 1962, Gingrich married Jackie Battley, his former high school geometry teacher, when he was 19 years old; she was seven years his senior at 26 years old. They had two daughters together. Gingrich divorced Jackie Battley in 1980.
• Gingrich married Marianne Ginther in late 1981. Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on family values issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide more than 20 years younger than he is.
• By August 2000, Gingrich married Bisek.
• The Gingrich family includes two daughters, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren.