Tony Lee: Newt Gingrich Best Articulates American Exceptionalism

(I would have posted this Monday but with all the debate news did not want to deluge those who get the morning e-mail.)

Lee, who is covering the GOP Presidential nomination for the conservative weekly Human Events, wrote:

No current presidential candidate articulates what American exceptionalism is about more clearly and concisely than Newt Gingrich​. In addition, in an era where campaigns and candidates seem to have forgotten what a thesis statement that serves to tie together a campaign's message is, the former history professor also uses American exceptionalism to articulate not only what he is fighting against but what he is for.

...

To put it simply. More than anything else, what makes America exceptional (more than her geography and ability to historically assimilate different groups of people under a common culture and set of values) is that rights cannot be taken away from its citizens because they are granted to Americans by God and not a sovereign. According to Gingrich, this exceptionalism is under siege by liberals, led by Obama, who seek to slowly take away those rights. This framing allows Gingrich to use the Gibson Guitar incident, the Dodd-Frank legislation, and ObamaCare (in addition to a litany of other things) as supporting pieces of evidence to indict Obama and liberals as unexceptional. It is a powerful message that perfectly frames what election 2012 is really about.

Go read the rest of it; really an outstanding article.

Lee also includes the video of Newt's opening statement at the Palmetto Freedom Forum:

Another quote from Will Wade

Follow him on Twitter @WmSWade.

As a career community banker since 1998 I have always been aware of regulation, the role of the Federal Government and the importance of being involved in the process.

After the Iowa debate, I am now purposely engaged. I spent the evening truly listening to each candidate trying to determine which candidate is focused and ready to lead on true job recovery, to lead on sound short-term and long-term economic policy which will allow small business to thrive again. I watched looking for the best candidate to lead with real ideas about giving back authority to the states and local government, to lead in giving back freedom to individuals and communities to thrive on their own, and to lead by intently working on removing bad legislation like Dodd-Frank and Obama Care.

I feel that each candidate provides many great qualities to the political process and no doubt will serve this nation much better than our current President. That being said, I must say that Newt Gingrich stood out as the strongest candidate on the most critical issues facing our country today! I know that he will be the most concise and articulate leader to debate Obama for the Presidency. His leadership on States Rights, repealing Dodd-Frank and "Obama-Care," and actual experience on balancing the federal budget are just a few of the reasons that I feel confident that the GOP can not only take back the executive branch but also work to continue the gains in both houses of our legislative branch.

Newt Gingrich has the experience, the knowledge and the willingness to not only include "We the People" but to be with "We the People!"

Sincerely,

William S. Wade

Dawsonville, Ga USA

(For those who just read the daily e-mail, I forgot to properly format a post from yesterday that had pictures from Newt campaigning. Here is the link to the post.)

Roundup of Newt News: Repealing Obamacare this year, New CNN Poll, New Hampshire visits, endorsement from Sonny Perdue

-- In this week's newsletter, Newt laid out his strategy to repeal Obamacare this year:

Republicans should attach the full repeal of ObamaCare to the debt ceiling increase bill and pass it immediately.. While passing it, they should make clear that they would be willing to pass a clean debt ceiling increase if the White House and Senate Democrats agree to defund the implementation of ObamaCare through 2012 as part of a package of real spending reductions.

The debt ceiling does not become a crisis until June or July.

If the House passes the bill with an attachment to repeal ObamaCare as early as possible, there will be several months to marshal grassroots pressure on the 18 Democratic Senators running for reelection in 2012.

If President Obama is still determined to be unserious about bringing spending under control, he will be forced to decide whether he is willing to risk a financial crisis by defending a program that a majority of the American people wants to repeal.

The American people should not be forced to accept an increase in the debt ceiling without significant reductions in the out-of-control spending in Washington.

-- The latest GOP primary poll from CNN shows Newt in third place.
With Donald Trump included:

Mike Huckabee 19%
Mitt Romney 18%
Newt Gingrich 14%
Sarah Palin 12%
Trump 10%
Ron Paul 8%

Without Trump:

Huckabee 21%
Romney 19%
Gingrich 15%
Palin 13%
Paul 11%

Since the last such poll CNN did, Huckabee has the same support, Romney has increased one point, Newt has increased five, and Palin has fallen six.

-- Joining current Georgia governor Nathan Deal -- as well as two members of Georgia's Congressional delegation -- former governor Sonny Perdue endorsed Newt for President.

-- Two more upcoming visits to the Granite State:

Clearly pleased with the reception he received last week in New Hampshire, Newt Gingrich has scheduled two more stops in the first-in-the-nation primary state in the coming weeks.

The Union Leader's Granite Status has exclusively learned that Gingrich, the former House Speaker, will return on March 30 for a series of media interviews and private meetings with key Republicans on the Seacoast. That night, he will travel to Massachusetts for a speaking engagement at Salem State College.
Continue Reading

Gingrich will be back again on April 4, with the featured appearance at 10 a.m. at Saint Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics. There, he will speak at a meeting directed at students but open to the public.

January 19 newsletter: "1,968 Reasons to Repeal"

Newt's group Center for Health Transformation released a chart this week that shows "1,968 new and expanded powers given to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius" [and my former governor -- how lucky am I?].

In his newsletter, Gingrich lists five of the most egregious powers given to the HHS:

• "The Secretary will decide what clinical drugs seniors can access."
• "The Secretary will instruct physicians and nurses exactly how to give a drug to their patients in long-term care facilities"
• "The Secretary will determine how dentists and dental hygienists should examine your teeth."
• "The Secretary can overrule states on what insurance rates can be whether they like it or not."
• "The Secretary can use comparative effectiveness research to determine access to care for seniors, like they do for patients in the British National Health Service." 

After writing that "the rush to socialism under the Obama administration puts all our freedoms at risk," Gingrich gives some explanation:

Of course, I am hardly the first to warn about the inherently totalitarian nature of big government.

Thomas Jefferson warned in a letter to Charles Hammond that 'When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.'

Freidrich Hayek warned in the Road to Serfdom that 'The more the state ‘plans,’ the more difficult planning becomes for the individual.' Hayek also wrote in The Constitution of Liberty, 'Once wide coercive powers are given to governmental agencies for particular purposes, such powers cannot be effectively controlled by democratic assemblies.'

Even George Orwell, who was a left wing intellectual, understood the danger of giving too much power to unelected bureaucrats. Orwell’s novel, 1984, described dictatorship in London, not Moscow. He agreed with Hayek’s concerns in a review of the Road to Serfdom: 'It cannot be said too often…collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the Spanish Inquisitors never dreamed of.'

Gingrich again:

Flushed with the promise of these 1,968 new grants of authority to her office, Secretary Sebelius recently made a series of threats to use one of these new powers to punish health insurance companies who have dared to tell the truth about how the health reform law has led to rate hikes for their customers.

The idea of an unelected bureaucrat using her power to punish those who exercise their right to free speech should be considered abhorrent in a society that values liberty.

Also, as Karl Rove astutely pointed out in the Wall Street Journal, Secretary Sebelius has also used her new powers to reward her friends. The Secretary has granted a number of companies exemptions from key requirements in Obamacare. More than a third of these companies’ employees are unionized compared to a mere 7% of the national workforce....

No unelected bureaucrat should have this amount of power, whether he or she is in a Democratic or Republican administration.

The genius of the founding fathers is that they understood the fallen nature of man and designed a system of government to prevent any one person from being so powerful that he or she could violate the rights of any citizen.

Gingrich quotes Milton Friedman -- meaning Friedman, Hayek, and Jefferson in the same newsletter -- who said, "Where in the world do you find these angels that are going to reorganize society for us?”

Newt on Fox News, talks about NoMoreObamacare.com

Last night, Newt was interviewed by Greta Van Susteren about mainly the new website he set up to repeal Obamacare -- NoMoreObamacare.com -- and the GOP retreat this weekend, at which Gingrich will speak.

A portion:

[The House passing a repeal bill] is more than symbolic. Passing by a substantial margin the repeal of Obamacare is a very important first step. We have now over 100,000 signatures and they are growing every day. Our goal is to target the 23 Democratic senators who are up for election in 2012....

The Center for Health Transformation going to release tomorrow its third chart on Obamacare. This is a 50 square foot chart that lists the 1,969 grant of authority the Secretary of Health and Human Services in Obamacare. Thing about that, 1,969 grants of power over your health care to a single bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. I think combined with our earlier charts of 159 new offices under Obamacare and a 50 square foot chart of all the deadlines under Obamacare, those three charts are devastating examples of why we should repeal Obamacare.

Newt's e-mail on judge calling individual mandate unconstitutional

Today's ruling by a federal judge that a key provision in ObamaCare is unconstitutional is an enormous victory for all Americans.

Congress should finish the job by repealing this flawed legislation and replacing it with market-based, individually centered health reform that leads to affordable coverage for all Americans.

Full repeal is going to be a very long, difficult fight -- but today's ruling is a huge victory that should not be overlooked.

We wouldn't have reached this point if it weren't for your vigilance, and your willingness to speak out and spread the truth about this destructive legislation.

And the other person who deserves immense credit for today's victory is Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who had the courage to stand up and file this lawsuit against the federal government.

I've just signed my name to a letter thanking Attorney General Cuccinelli for helping make today's victory possible.

I hope you'll join me by signing your name and encouraging your friends to do so as well.

Additionally, we can send a copy of this letter to your state's Attorney General, urging him or her to join Ken Cuccinelli's lawsuit (if they haven't already) and support his request for President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to send this case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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.

Newt's 12 in 2012 segment

The interview happened a week ago, but here are some of the highlights of Newt on Fox News' 12 in 2012 special:

• Will only run if there is a good chance to win. “If I just wanted to make noise, I could make noise without being a candidate. It's a lot less expensive.”
• The House Republican majority "have to" attempt to repeal Obamacare, take up spending cuts, and stopping the tax hikes.
• “Confronting” President Clinton so earnestly over spending, even factoring in the government shutdowns, was crucial to proving to the GOP base they were serious.
• When asked by host Bret Baier if he sometimes went too far, Newt responded: “Sure. Every once and awhile, I have to say, 'Well, that one wasn't all that clever, was it?' I think as a candidate, you'd have to be more disciplined, more careful, more methodical.”
• On his personal baggage possibly dragging down his candidacy, “If you think we need to go back to first principles, in terms of the Constitution, people may say, 'You know, Newt's been around a long time. He's the guy who can actually fix it.”
• Mara Liasson: “I think Newt Gingrich would love to run for President -- if only to be on stage with everyone else, driving the debate and coming up with more ideas than anybody else could.”
• When prompted for real spending cuts: Discretionary spending levels of 2008 would save a trillion over the next decade; “fundamentally rethink unemployment compensation,” thinks “it ought to become a training program; “would overhaul” the Pentagon procurement process as it is “absurd to take 15 or 20 years to get a weapons system.”

In a blog post on FoxNews.com, Chris Stirewalt wrote, Gingrich "also has a political action group American Solutions for Winning the Future that boasts a wide donor base and big fundraising. His mailing lists would be the envy of most of the 2012 field.”

Repealing Obamacare to be biggest "advocacy effort" of American Solutions

RIn an e-mail, titled simply "Repeal it," Newt slams Obamacare -- listing, among other things, the cost to taxpayers and small businesses -- and then lays out a course of action.

Put simply, as long as ObamaCare is the law of the land, America will not be providing an environment that allows businesses to grow, which means accepting stagnant growth and high unemployment as the new normal.

We shouldn't have to accept that. For that reason, we must begin the process of repealing this destructive law and replacing it with common sense health reforms.

Repeal and replace will not happen overnight and it will not happen after a week's worth of debate in Congress. Repeal will require a grassroots movement that puts strong and sustained pressure on Washington.

The time to start that movement is today.

Over the next few weeks we will be very active in starting the movement to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

We intend for this advocacy effort to be our biggest to date.

Thanks for everything you did to elect job creators last week, and thank you for all that you will do to keep the pressure on the new representatives in Congress to do the right thing.

"Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" was a game-changer and got 1.5 million signatures, so the group has a high standard to pass.

And in recent interviews, Gingrich has put the desired number of signatures at 50 million -- focusing on "every state where a Democratic senator is going to be up for re-election in 2012 -- drive them to vote yes." This petition drive would come after the House passes a repeal bill rather easily.

Gingrich continued, "Get the bill out of the Senate and then have a nationwide petition drive to the president, and seek to gather 50 million signatures so the president has overwhelming public pressure to sign the repeal of Obamacare."

Chicago Tribune writer tries to argue Gingrich was for individual mandate

In an attempt to help sell Obamacare, liberals have tried to tie Republicans and conservatives in with some of the aspects of the legislation. In some instances, such as with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, they are correct. But their other attempts have fallen flat.

Recently, President Obama claimed that the premier conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, favored the exchanges set up in his health care bill. Heritage immediately came out to refute the claim -- as they had to do in 2008, when candidate Obama said the group favored his tax plan over John McCain's and as they have to do in the previous weeks over claims they support the White House's financial reform package.

In another example of liberal fibbing, Media Matters first "reported" -- and then numerous of lazy reporters parroted, including one from The Chicago Tribune -- that Newt Gingrich supported the individual mandate a few years ago. While Newt talked about the idea of forcing people to put up a bond equal to a health insurance policy -- to drastically reduce the number of free loaders -- he did not support the idea of forcing citizens to buy a private product in order to be in good standing.

A notable difference is that the money remains the individual's unless they need medical care. If they do not need it, it is still in their possession. It serves the purpose the mandate does while maintaining more liberty and not violating that pesky Constitution.

Newt with Georgia Governor Perdue

Numerous states -- fourteen at last count -- have filed a lawsuit against the federal government since the passage of Obamacare, with more contemplating one. Georgia is an interesting case, because it's Attorney General, a Democrat who is running for governor, has refused to file any such suit. However, the current governor, Republican Sonny Perdue, is in favor of one.

The day after Thurbert Baker announced his decision -- saying he looked at the Constitution and "came away with the feeling that there really is no legal basis" for suing -- Perdue said he would name a "special Attorney General" to challenge the federal health care legislation. "The governor said the state will probably go it alone on the suit to avoid any costs," wrote the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "If Georgia joined with the other 14 state challenging the health legislation, it would incur some legal costs, Perdue said."

On the Thursday after the vote to pass a bill that is clearly unconstitutional -- if for no other reason than the federal government will require each citizen to buy a product or be put in jail -- Perdue and Newt Gingrich held a joint press conference discussing ways to roll back and replace the bill.

Newt condemned the threats against elected officials that have been on the rise -- though the media only seem to cover voice mails to Democrats and not when the second-ranking House Republican gets his office shot up -- but added: "But look, I think there’s something very disingenuous about the Democratic leaders who attacked the tea party movement, who refused to hold town hall meetings, who refused to go back home, who kept the Congress locked up in Washington, and are now shocked that people are angry."

"I think the Democratic leadership has to take some moral responsibility for having behaved with such arrogance, in such a hostile way, that the American people are deeply upset," Gingrich added. "So let’s be honest with this. This is a game that they’re playing." He went on to say the Democrats ran "a machine that used corrupt tactics that bought votes that bullied people, and as a result has enraged much of the American people."