Newt Gingrich: The Republican Party's Barney Frank
Now he weasels that he was acting as a citizen, not as a lobbyist, reports Jim Rutenberg in The New York Times. More on his Freddie Mac work here in the LA Times. And here, by James Oliphant:
Newt Gingrich, who has built his now resurgent presidential candidacy in part around virulent criticism of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, found himself Wednesday defending the at least $1.6 million he reportedly earned while under contract to Freddie....He said his consulting firm, Gingrich Group, offered "strategic advice for a lot of different companies" but that he had done no lobbying.
One GOP rival, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, wasted no time in slamming Gingrich on Wednesday for "shilling" for the company.
Last week, Gingrich was asked at a GOP debate in Michigan what work he had done to secure a $300,000 payment from Freddie Mac.
"I offered them advice on precisely what they didn't do," he replied. "My advice as a historian, when they walked in and said to me, 'We are now making loans to people who have no credit history and have no record of paying back anything, but that's what the government wants us to do.' As I said to them at the time, this is a bubble. This is insane. This is impossible."
A Bloomberg News story earlier this week disputed Gingrich's account, saying that those familiar with Gingrich's work don't recall any warnings about the company's business model--and that instead, his job was to rally support for Freddie Mac among Republicans in Washington.
In a follow-up story, Bloomberg reported that Gingrich's ties to Freddie go back as far as 1999, soon after he left the House, and that he was consulted in the early days of the Bush administration on how to expland home ownership nationwide.
Don't forget, he was also for carbon trading before he was against it.
Stinky the Clown at December 1, 2011 7:03 AM
Newt's fees as a "historian" give hope to liberal arts majors everywhere that they too can join the 1%.
Christopher at December 1, 2011 9:16 AM
Peej
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at December 1, 2011 11:02 AM
I haven't figured out what to think of Gingrich. He was an important figure in the GOP's 1994 Congressional victories. However, part of the reason he isn't still in Congress now is because he showed a distressing tendency, after a while, to "go native" in Washington. I've seen different reports about the nature of his work for Fannie Mae, but what Oliphant reports would be consistent with that. Gingrich is a smart guy, but I wonder if he's as smart as he thinks he is.
Cousin Dave at December 1, 2011 6:22 PM
The good thing about Newt is there's little possibility the GOP will ultimately nominate him. This helps libertarians avoid the shame of voting for hypocritical Papist Newt as the lesser of two evils.
Andre Friedmann at December 1, 2011 7:45 PM
Newt is not a salamander he is a chameleon.
Roger at December 2, 2011 5:21 AM
Supporters can call him "Tiny."
'cause he's "my Newt."
Conan the Grammarian at December 2, 2011 3:27 PM
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank did a column today in which he talked about how safe K Street lobbyists would remain if Gingrich (or Romney) became president. Here's the link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gop-primaries-winner-washington/2011/12/02/gIQAviitKO_story.html
Iconoclast at December 2, 2011 4:38 PM
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Washington Post
Oh, of course I would believe everything that I read in those fine bastions of objective truth.
/sarc (Is this even necessary?)
Bob at December 5, 2011 5:41 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/12/newt-gingrich-t.html#comment-2829767">comment from BobBob, like Fox News doesn't have distortions? I see them all the time. As I do in a great deal of media. I'm researching herpes now and finding little substantiation for claims made on Spiked Online by the UK herpes association in a piece, and they're a respected, respected doctor-backed organization. I've asked them for substantiation for their claim (that a pharmaceutical company caused the hysteria on herpes) and not finding it.
Feel free, instead of coming on to demonize the information in these pieces in the most lazy way, to support your contention that these publications have printed distortions. What you come off as is somebody who is merely partisan and not interested in the truth. That sort of person is childish and tiresome. I call myself a "Neither," because I am neither a Dem nor a Republican. Both are responsible for acting in their self-interest to a disgusting degree, rather than in the interest of this country.
Amy Alkon
at December 5, 2011 5:47 AM
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