The 2012 Election Thread

[Maxius]

Just want him to run the country on a fiscally responsible basis. I don't want to marry him.

again all of you fail... seriously have any of you taken the us constitution test at all. the power to withdraw money from the us Treasury is firmly rooted in the congress. the problem isn't obama it is congress bowing to their corporate masters that got them into office.

[falcon_view]

again all of you fail... seriously have any of you taken the us constitution test at all. the power to withdraw money from the us Treasury is firmly rooted in the congress. the problem isn't obama it is congress bowing to their corporate masters that got them into office.

Maxius you are correct about where spending is rooted. But those budgets don't go into effect without the the president's signature or a veto over ride vote.

[jimzinsocal]

Its still early in the campaign but here is how Id explain Newt last nite win.
Maybe folks think Romney isnt the best salesman for what the republicans want to do. A basic issue will be argued in front of the American people: Obama's way or a republican free enterprise way.
For me personally? Romney is almost a posterboy for Obama's campaign.
He would solidify Obama's base like no other candidate. Lets face it...Romney isnt good at selling concepts to the public. Newt is far better.
So were in for an interesting campaign.

[bk94si]

Maxius you are correct about where spending is rooted. But those budgets don't go into effect without the the president's signature or a veto over ride vote.

And the President submits proposed budgets to the Congress.

[bk94si]

I remember the 90s with Newt. I have heard his talks on foreign policy and if president I have one thing to tell those going into and those in the militay, get ready for war, Newt will will one make one happen. Newt likes a fight and will go out of his way to start one.

What has he said that would lead you to this?

[Keven]

again all of you fail... seriously have any of you taken the us constitution test at all. the power to withdraw money from the us Treasury is firmly rooted in the congress. the problem isn't obama it is congress bowing to their corporate masters that got them into office.

Maxius' posts give me a headache. I think we found a new Poci.

[falcon_view]

What has he said that would lead you to this?

Hey, I think Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is the worst choice the republicans can make. The man with a 1000 closets filled with crazy ideas, questionable/unethical behavior, carcasses of those he stepped on and bad legislation. He’s the republican version of Nancy Pelosi.

I was around when Newt was in the House. If you want a bad A$$ bully that looks for a fight Newt is your guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFBPW...ure=plpp_video

[Invictus]

[kbohip]

^^^The best Republicans have to offer?

[Dutchcedar]

^^^ He won't make it to the end.

[Keven]

^^^ He won't make it to the end.

Hopefully "the end" for Gingrich is in the primaries and not losing in November.

[Invictus]

Newt Gingrich repeats claim about his record of balancing budget, reducing debt


During the Dec. 15, 2011, Republican presidential debate in Sioux City, Iowa, Newt Gingrich touted his record when he was speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gingrich’s comment came after moderator Bret Baier said that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney "just yesterday said you're an unreliable conservative. Now, obviously, he's your opponent. … But even Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said today he respects you greatly, but he openly questioned whether you had the discipline and focus to be president."

Gingrich responded, "Well, those are two different questions. .... I have a 90 percent American Conservative Union voting record for 20 years. I balanced the budget for four straight years, paid off $405 billion in debt. Pretty conservative. … I think on the conservative thing, it's sort of laughable to suggest that somebody who campaigned with Ronald Reagan and with Jack Kemp and has had a 30-year record of conservatism, is somehow not a conservative?"

The claim that Gingrich "balanced the budget for four straight years (and) paid off $405 billion in debt" sounded familiar. It turns out that we originally fact-checked it when Gingrich made it on May 11, 2011, when he released a video to launch his presidential campaign.

In that video, he said, "for four years, we balanced the budget and paid off $405 billion in debt." With soft music in the background, Gingrich said with a smile, "We’ve done it before. We can do it again."

Gingrich was speaker from January 1995 to January 1999, when he was a Republican congressman from Atlanta’s suburbs.

First, the balanced budget.

The federal budget runs on a fiscal year calendar that begins October 1 and ends September 30. During fiscal years 1996 and 1997 -- the first two that Gingrich helped shape as speaker -- there were deficits: $107 billion in 1996 and about $22 billion in 1997.

By fiscal year 1998, the federal budget did reach a surplus of $69 billion. And in fiscal year 1999 -- which Gingrich can claim some responsibility for, even though he was out as speaker for most of the fiscal year -- it was in surplus as well, to the tune of $126 billion.

But that’s only two balanced budgets he can claim credit for. The federal government did run four consecutive surpluses, but for the last two of those -- fiscal years 2000 and 2001 -- Gingrich was no longer serving in the House.

Now for Gingrich’s comments about the debt.

The national debt was slightly above $4.8 trillion when Gingrich became House speaker in January 1995. By the time he left the position in January 1999, the debt was more than $5.6 trillion. That’s an increase, not a decrease.

If you look just at the two years Gingrich can claim credit for where the federal government was in surplus -- fiscal years 1998 and 1999 -- the government did pay down about $200 billion in debt. But that would be cherry-picking, because over the full four years of his speakership, the debt rose by about $800 billion.

A final note: It’s PolitiFact’s policy not to focus solely on the accuracy of the numbers in political attacks (or, as in this case, efforts to claim political credit) but also to determine whether blame or credit for the results is justified.

With this statement, even if Gingrich’s numbers had been correct, his language suggested that he deserved sole credit for the achievement, when in fact it was a collective accomplishment with a Democratic president, Bill Clinton, and the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate. That further downgrades the accuracy of his claim.

Our ruling

Gingrich was off on both claims concerning the budget. The budget was indeed balanced for four years, but it’s a stretch for him to take credit for more than two of those years. As for paying off $405 billion in debt, the data we found shows the debt actually increased during Gingrich’s four-year tenure as speaker by more than $800 billion. We rate Gingrich’s claim False.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...-record-balan/

[Keven]

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...-record-balan/

As much as it pains me to say this, Clinton deserves more credit for the budget surpluses in the 1990s than Gingrich.

[BlackDragon24]

Wow, a lot of republicans fretting about Gingrich in here.

Let me be your usual voice of reason, fellas:

Say it with me "It was only South Carolina."

I mean come on....South Carolina for Christ's sake.

Now once this little Newtmentum subsides and the reasonable people put Romney up front, I will have no words of encouragement for you. Unfortunately you are going to have to back him.

[Keven]

Wow, a lot of republicans fretting about Gingrich in here.

Let me be your usual voice of reason, fellas:

Say it with me "It was only South Carolina."

I mean come on....South Carolina for Christ's sake.

Now once this little Newtmentum subsides and the reasonable people put Romney up front, I will have no words of encouragement for you. Unfortunately you are going to have to back him.

Not really concerned, I'm 90% sure that Romney will be the eventual candidate. Gingrich just doesn't seem to die. I mean, he's had enough scandals between the Fannie Mae thing, his support of Ethanol, his "open marriage", and all the other crap to sink five campaigns. I don't know how he's still going.