News Roundup: Bush tax cuts, other tax cut plans, and speaking in Georgia's 9th district

-- From Sentinel Source (NH): “If we do our job right in 2012, we can say the era of big government is over and mean it,” Gingrich said.

-- The Boston Globe writes:

Getting people off unemployment, welfare, and Medicaid rolls and into the work force is the best way to balance the federal budget, Gingrich told students at Saint Anselm College in Manchester during the first of three scheduled stops in New Hampshire.

The possible Republican presidential candidate said the goal should be to get the unemployment rate down from levels as high as 11 1/2 percent to 4 percent, which he said was the rate when he led the House in the 1990s.

"That shift of 7 1/2 percent [for people] who are depending on the government [into] being taxpayers is the single biggest step you can take back toward balancing the budget," he said.

Gingrich called for reducing to zero the capital gains tax, making permanent the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, allowing companies to write off 100 percent of new equipment purchases in the first year, and eliminating the estate tax.

He also called for a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, saying a reasonable tax rate would stop such companies as General Electric from sheltering profits to avoid paying federal taxes.

Gingrich said jobs began to be added after President Obama extended the Bush tax cuts but businesses would remain leery of adding jobs because those tax cuts are set to expire in 2013.

"It’s not bad luck that we have high unemployment; it’s bad policies," he said.

Gingrich said that he expected to open a campaign office soon in Georgia and that if he decides to run for president, he probably will announce it next month.

-- Newt will be the first speaker in the "live free or die speaker series," which is being put on by the New Hampshire Republican Committee:

“New Hampshire is poised to deliver the Republican nominee for president," New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Jack Kimball said Wednesday in a statement. "This is why it is so imperative to bring together those with strong ideologies who have a vision to create solutions to defeat the radical Obama agenda."

-- Newt will speak at the convention of the 9th District Georgia Republicans.

Roundup: Bush Tax Cuts, Obamacare defunding, General Petraeus, and more

-- Newt will be in North Carolina soon: "Former U.S. House speaker and possible presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will be the keynote speaker Thursday at the Wake County Republican convention....'We are delighted Speaker Gingrich has chosen to come to Raleigh at this important juncture,' [Susan] Bryant [the Wake County GOP chairman] said in a statement. 'He is one of the premier public speakers of our time, and his understanding of the important issues facing the nation today is unmatched.'"

-- In an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal, Newt and Peter Ferrara argued for extending the Bush tax cuts:

If the president had his way, the two top income tax rates would have increased by nearly 20% this year, counting his proposed phaseouts of deductions and exemptions. The capital gains tax would increase by nearly 60%, counting the new ObamaCare tax on investment income in 2013. The tax rate on dividends would nearly triple, counting the new ObamaCare tax as well. The Medicare payroll tax would increase by over 60% for the targeted income earners.

But after the stunning Democratic losses in the midterm elections, Mr. Obama finally agreed to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for two years, for everyone. And that has allowed the breathing room for the long-overdue recovery to begin to sprout. Unemployment declined last month to 8.9%.

...

Indeed, if the Fed has to reverse its loose monetary policies to avert rising inflation, the contractionary impact of higher interest rates and a slower increase in the money supply, combined with higher taxes, could lead to a horrendous downturn. Working people, not the rich, would be hurt the most, losing jobs and wages as a result.

To avoid that, this year the House Republican majority should pass a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts. Even that is just a beginning. To touch off a boom—and secure a prosperous future for all Americans—what's really needed are additional, sweeping rate cuts on both individual and corporate income.

-- The Washington Post reports of Gingrich's appearance Friday at the National Press Club:

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday that he expects President Obama’s health care bill to be repealed by the spring of 2013.

But even if Republicans can’t get to repeal, Gingrich said, the bill is doomed because GOP House leadership will refuse to fund it.

“He can block them from repeal,” Gingrich said at an event in Washington this morning. “I don’t think he can coerce them into funding.”

...

“The president would have to go to the country and say, ‘I’m going to veto this bill on behalf of more spending, a bigger deficit and a bigger Washington bureaucracy,’” Gingrich said. “I think that Speaker (John) Boehner and Majority Leader (Eric) Cantor are absolutely committed to refusing the fund the implementation of Obamacare.”

-- From his weekly newsletter:

During the president’s press conference Friday on rising energy costs, he sought to assure the American people that gas prices would not rise too much because other oil producing countries have “committed to filling any gaps” in supply.

This isn’t the first time the administration has said this. In February, the Deputy Secretary of Energy said he hoped “spare capacity” in other countries “will be brought to bear so that it will continue to support our economic recovery.”

Since President Obama took office, gas prices have increased over 90 percent.

After presiding over this enormous rise in prices that are putting a greater and greater strain on family budgets, imagine the naiveté of hoping OPEC and other hostile and unstable countries will “continue to support our economic recovery.”

-- Also from the National Press Club appearance:

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday he continues to have faith in Gen. David Petraeus' strategy in Afghanistan and encouraged other GOP presidential hopefuls to consult the top U.S. commander about his war plan.

"Thank You For Helping Cut Taxes"

In a two-minute video sent out in an e-mail, titled "Thank You for Helping Cut Taxes," Newt talks about the role that American Solutions played in the mid-term elections and the debate over the Bush tax cuts.
Some notable points:

• American Solutions hosted seven Real Jobs summits that involved "over 5,500 people."
• Also hosted ten Jobs rallies, "where thousands of people came together all over the country."
• "[W]ith your help at tenmillionvoters.com, we organized over 10,000 activists who went out and turned out the vote."
• He highlights the temporary two-percent payroll tax cut, "so that every working American will have an increased take-home pay, which is a position that first appeared at American Solutions and was championed by Congressman Jordan in his Economic Freedom Act, which American Solutions worked for."
• He closes the video with: "So you are making a difference. You have made a difference. And we'll continue to work with you in 2011 to continue making a difference."

Newt on Fox News Sunday

Today with Chris Wallace, Newt discussed a variety of issues, including the extension of the Bush tax cuts and the WikiLeaks scandal.

I think [incoming House Speaker John Boehner] understands that jobs come first, controlling spending and the deficit comes second, and repealing "Obamacare" comes third. And I think you're going to see him stay in a -- he's a very disciplined team leader, and that's been his back ground. I think he'll be very effective as speaker.

On his Speakership and what Boehner should do:

Well, what I would say is that I was too aggressive in public relations. I was too willing to lead with my chin in debating with the president, which I thought was essential to fill a vacuum at the time.

But I think -- I don't think Boehner has to do that. I think what Boehner should do is decide what the voters who led to a landslide, the biggest shift in House power since 1948 -- what is it they really want? What is it he owes them as a legitimate part of a free society? And he ought to calmly and methodically get that done. I think he has so far. I mean, you know, his reaction has been to try to get the president to understand there was an election, which the president still seems to be confused about, and to try to communicate in a calm way that -- if they don't pass the tax bill before the end of this month, my guess is the Republicans in the House will pass no tax increase on anyone no later than the 15th of January.

On Obama possibly moving to the center on some issues:

Well, he does have to worry about blowback from the left. I mean, he's caught in a dilemma, which Bill Clinton was faced with. And I gave Clinton a certain amount of cover because he could always say to the left, "At least I'm not Newt."

And so -- you know, so Clinton could sign welfare reform, for example, which we thought he'd find very painful, and the left just said, "Fine, do whatever you have to, we just got to beat Gingrich," you know, and -- and Boehner's not going to give him that kind of cover.

On tax cuts:

Look, the number one challenge in America is jobs and paychecks. What Republicans ought to do is say to people who create jobs, 'How many years does the tax code have to be extended for you to make an investment decision?' mean, the goal is not to have an annual extension of the current tax code and have every business in the country trapped, saying, "Well, I don't know. You know, I want to make a 20-year investment in a factory," or a 10-year investment....

I would say let's go out and find out from American -- if you're a small business, how much do you have to have security about your future taxes, particularly a time when we haven't repealed "Obamacare" and "Obamacare" is freezing hiring by small businesses?...

Second, I am against any tax increase on capital gains or on dividends because it makes us less competitive with China, Germany and India.

On 2012:

No, I think we're much more inclined to run than not run. And I think we -- everything we've done over the last year, talking to friends, thinking things through, has made us more inclined to believe that it's doable.

WikiLeaks:

First of all, I'm very deeply shaped by the fact that my father spent 27 years in the Army. So I approach this taking warfare very seriously.

Information warfare is warfare, and Julian Assange is engaged in warfare. Information terrorism, which leads to people getting killed, is terrorism, and Julian Assange is engaged in terrorism. He should be treated as an enemy combatant. WikiLeaks should be closed down permanently and decisively.

But even more, how can we have gone through the last year and not figured out how did all these documents get released? Who's responsible for security?

How do you have a system so stupid? I mean, you and I have credit cards, and if the credit card is used here and in Belize the same day, they call you and say, 'Gosh, were you really there,' OK? You have a private first class who downloads a quarter million documents, and the system doesn't say, 'Oh, you may be over extended?' I mean, this is a system so stupid that it ought to be a scandal of the first order. This administration is so shallow and so amateurish about national security that it is painful and dangerous.