Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Scott Reusser ·
Dec 13, 2011 at 3:01pm
In response to Romney's contention that he should give back his Freddie money, a petulant Newt responded with OWS-friendly madness:
"If Gov. Romney would like to give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years at Bain, then I would be glad to listen to him."
So our "conservative alternative to Romney" defends his perks as a member of the governing class by implying that engaging in free-market capitalism is immoral. Great. Just great.
Care to defend?
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Comments :
Aug '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Well c'mon . . . that was kind of a ridiculous thing for Romney to say.
Dec '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Attacking someone for accepting legitimate voluntary employment is just the rich kids version of the same.
Edited on Dec 13, 2011 at 7:33amMay '10
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Romney scolds Newt for profiting from the very dynamic that got us into this mess: the nexus of utopian gov't schemes and the free market.
Newt scolds Romney for participating in the very activity that will get us out of this mess: creating and nurturing successful businesses.
And they're equivalent? Oy.
Newt is becoming a religion.
Aug '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Scott Reusser: Romney scolds Newt for profiting from the very dynamic that got us into this mess: the nexus of utopian gov't schemes and the free market.
Newt scolds Romney for participating in the very activity that will get us out of this mess: creating and nurturing successful businesses.
And they're equivalent? Oy.
Nope. Rather, Newt responded in a manner that exposed the ridiculousness of Romney's attack. Rush Limbaugh used to call this "demonstrating absurdity by being absurd."
Do you really think Newt should give back the money he earned while working for Freddie Mac?
Edited on Dec 13, 2011 at 7:42amApr '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
I am hearing lots of rumors that the GOP leadership has figured out that Romney cannot get the nomination. But they hate Newt Gingrich, so they are looking at John Huntsman.
I watched the debate between Gingrich and Huntsman. Huntsman came across as smart, but a total bore. And Huntsman will not stick up for the Jews in Israel for the same reason that Mitt Romney and Ron Paul won't.
I remember back in the 90's when Gingrich was Speaker and Dick Armey (fat, arrogant, smart GOP insider who considered himself the best GOP leader on economic policy) hated Newt and joined with the Democrats to sanction and oust Newt Gingrich. Funny how nobody really remembers that fat blow-hard Dick Armey. But I do. He was just jealous of Gingrich's popularity with the American public. So he sided with Pelosi to remove Gingrich from the Speaker-ship. Armey was the traitor - not Gingrich, imho.
So for me, when the GOP leadership (including Romney) try to paint Gingrich as a Washington insider, I just laugh. Gingrich refused to bow down and tow the party line back then and he refuses to do so now. Good for him.
May '10
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
DrewInWisconsin
Scott Reusser: Romney scolds Newt for profiting from the very dynamic that got us into this mess: the nexus of utopian gov't schemes and the free market.
Newt scolds Romney for participating in the very activity that will get us out of this mess: creating and nurturing successful businesses.
And they're equivalent? Oy.
Nope. Rather, Newt responded in a manner that exposed the ridiculousness of Romney's attack. Rush Limbaugh used to call this "demonstrating absurdity by being absurd."
Do you really think Newt should give back the money he earned while working for Freddie Mac? · Dec 13 at 7:40am
No. Romney's suggestion was rightwing demagoguery, common in Republican primaries.
Newt's response was leftwing demagoguery, common in Democrat primaries ... and the occasional McCain campaign.
Dec '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
I have been thinking the same about Romney for about 4 years now.
Aug '10
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Newt was the one who said that politicians who who took campaign contributions from Freddie and Fannie should be thrown into jail - was that a ridiculous thing to say?
And if they should go to jail, doesn't that imply that F&F money is tainted somehow?
Look, the simple fact of the matter is that Newt lied when he said F&F paid him $1.6 million for history lessons. He knew that he had a non-disclosure with F&F so no one can prove otherwise. It's called influence peddling aka lobbying.
Drew, do you believe Newt's claim that the $1.6 mil was for history lessons? If not, does Newt's lying bother you at all? Do you think Newt is a lobbyist and if so does that give you pause?
Feb '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
If he's hated by the GOP leadership he can't be all that bad.
Jun '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Ugh. Newt pulled a Newt where he tries to take a bridge too far. He was defending his right to making a living. He did this by positing the absurd comparison of Romney giving up his cash as well. In the USA we get paid for our work and among us on the Center-Right: we say Go Girl! However, Newt tried to get cute and throw down some messaging, as if to say "you've got vulnerabilities too Mittens!" Of course the whole thing was a failure to launch and the dog whistle blew the wrong tune. More metaphors after I google them...
Mar '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
I hate illogical ad hominem attacks. I know they work, but they still are wrong.
Jun '10
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
John P., a bridge too far is an apt comparison.
This is why we have these debates and primaries -- to prepare our eventual candidate for the general election. What happens is that when you go too far you feel stupid and you (should) re-calibrate and re-tune for that in the future. This is an iterative process and in each step you hope to increase your return (poll numbers, in this case). A healthy system is self-correcting. Let's see how Newt handles this tempest (in a tea pot).
Snow Bird: Romney is not "hated by the GOP leadership" -- the point JoBeth was making was that he is in trouble and not likely to get the nomination. Big difference.
Frozen: Not "history lessons" from what I understand -- that's not what Newt said. (Please correct me if I am wrong.)
Aug '10
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Here's the transcript from the debate - you decide;
If you believe that Freddie paid Newt $1.6 million to tell them they're insane, well, what can I say...
Feb '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Larry Koler:
Snow Bird: Romney is not "hated by the GOP leadership" -- the point JoBeth was making was that he is in trouble and not likely to get the nomination. Big difference.
I said IF. As I don't have a great deal of confidence in the wisdom of the 'GOP leadership', such as it is, I see no reason to alter my comment.
Jun '10
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Snow Bird
Larry Koler:
Snow Bird: Romney is not "hated by the GOP leadership" -- the point JoBeth was making was that he is in trouble and not likely to get the nomination. Big difference.
I said IF. As I don't have a great deal of confidence in the wisdom of the 'GOP leadership', such as it is, I see no reason to alter my comment. · Dec 13 at 11:32am
Apologies, Snow Bird. I didn't read the two comments carefully enough. Sorry.
Absolutely agree with you. The GOP leadership and the conservative elites seem to be supporting the status quo or at least to be wanting to be very cautious here.
Feb '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
If Romney actually created and nurtured successful businesses he should tell us about them. Instead I hear a lot about the Olympics, his family, Romneycare, and "Bain Capital"
I gather "Bain Capital" was where Romney worked for a long time and made a lot of money. I haven't heard about all the businesses Romney nurtured at "Bain Capital". Yes, I congratulate him on his success.
But I have the suspicion that the reason why Romney's business career is so vague is because it involved a whole lot of bankrupting companies and laying off employees, as Gingrich says.
Romney needs to talk more about that. One paragraph on a campaign bio to describe a lengthy portion of his career just doesn't cut it
.
Feb '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Larry Koler
Apologies, Snow Bird. I didn't read the two comments carefully enough.
No problem. Done that myself.
May '10
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Xennady
If Romney actually created and nurtured successful businesses he should tell us about them. Instead I hear a lot about the Olympics, his family, Romneycare, and "Bain Capital"
I gather "Bain Capital" was where Romney worked for a long time and made a lot of money. I haven't heard about all the businesses Romney nurtured at "Bain Capital".
Staples, AMC Entertainment, Brookstone, the Sports Authority, Toys R Us, Warner Music Group, and others....and Bain Capital itself, of course.
I suppose the reason Mitt doesn't brag about it more is because he suspects that it would lead only to the type of leftist bile that Newt spewed.
Feb '11
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Scott Reusser
Staples, AMC Entertainment, Brookstone, the Sports Authority, Toys R Us, Warner Music Group, and others....and Bain Capital itself, of course.
I suppose the reason Mitt doesn't brag about it more is because he suspects that it would lead only to the type of leftist bile that Newt spewed. ·
Do you think Barry O. isn't going to come after him with leftist bile?
Because as of right now I don't see any sort of response except to complain that people aren't genuflecting enough before the majesty that is Mitt.
It isn't good enough. If Romney is actually proud of his business career he should tell more about it instead of relegating it to a few sentences on his campaign website.
Let's hear exactly what he did at those companies, and see if Gingrich is wrong, and what the voters think about it all.
I suspect that there are more companies involved, some of which Romney knows full well won't help his political career. So he keeps quiet about them.
Obama won't. I hope Romney has something to say about that, besides lecturing people about the glories of outsourcing.
He better.
Aug '10
Re: Newt Indulges in Left-Wing Demagoguery
Xennady
Scott Reusser
Staples, AMC Entertainment, Brookstone, the Sports Authority, Toys R Us, Warner Music Group, and others....and Bain Capital itself, of course.
I suppose the reason Mitt doesn't brag about it more is because he suspects that it would lead only to the type of leftist bile that Newt spewed. ·
Do you think Barry O. isn't going to come after him with leftist bile?
It isn't good enough. If Romney is actually proud of his business career he should tell more about it instead of relegating it to a few sentences on his campaign website.
Xennady,
Your failure to pay attention to Romney when he talks about his business success doesn't mean he isn't talking about it.
Your willingness to take Newt's socialist accusations at face value speaks volumes about your objectivity.