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Gingrich: Keys to end shutdown
Former Speaker of the House and host of CNN’s Crossfire, Newt Gingrich takes us through his experience negotiating a way out of a government shutdown, arguing that a shutdown of the U.S. government isn't a unique situation.
When negotiating the way out, talking is one of the most important factors, he says. Gingrich explains that he and Clinton spent many long hours discussing and listening to each other’s point of views.
Gingrich also suggests for our current leaders to start with what they do agree on to build momentum, otherwise you will “crash and burn” on the more complicated issues.
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Posted by CNN's Christina Manduley Filed under: economy • government shutdown • Newt Gingrich |
Meet the Hosts
Author, documentary filmmaker, historian, Speaker of the House (1995-1999), and 2012 Republican presidential candidate
Fmr. Obama Deputy Campaign Mgr. and W.H. Sr. Adviser, founder of Precision Strategies, fmr. Sr. Adviser to Maj. Leader Reid and Sen. Kennedy
Conservative columnist for New York Daily News, contributing editor at Townhall Magazine, commentator and author
Former Special Adviser for Green Jobs under President Obama, co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, author and attorney
Mr. Gingrich, did you hate President Clinton when he was in office? On every corner some Republicans literally hate our President and will do anything to discredit or undermine anything his attempt to do or say... Why and how do you think he can talk with this people. What are you doing to help our President with your people? Why can't you corral your party and keep them focus of the issues, unless your part of the problem, secretly.......
You guys at CNN had to be pretty desperate to resurrect Crossfire. You must really envy Fox News if you had to put Newt Gingrich on your payroll. Maybe he can tell you what kind of mental defect makes some legislators think that it's OK to shut down the government (hint: IT'S NOT!) I guess it would be the same defect that would allow him to investigate the president's infidelity while he himself is cheating on his own wife. Newt shouldn't be on TV, he should be emptying ashtrays at Adelson's casino in Vegas. So many of these guys act so badly, and you reward them by putting them back on the air. You did the same thing with Eliot Spitzer. Why don't you see if Anthony Weiner's available – maybe you could give HIM a show too.
Just for the record, I'm an independent voter, but over the last several years the GOP has been too irresponsible and too obstructionist to be trusted running our government. After seeing their treatment of the president, Romney/Ryan's lie-filled campaign and now this insane shutdown, I am DONE considering Republicans for ANY office, national or local.
Never again.
Both parties have sold out the bulk of the American citizens, who they're supposed to represent, by allowing the incursion of illegal aliens and the "out-sourcing" floodgates to open wider and wider without taking any sensible measures to stem the tide.
Our economic problems didn't happen overnight. It's been happening over the past 15-20 years, but the economy was kept going by middle class Americans tapping into the equity on their homes until they were completely tapped out.
Devastating annual health insurance increases started crushing our business 12-15 years before President Obama was even elected. I didn't vote for President Obama, but at least he had the guts to take on the healthcare insurance issue in the first place – Although it would have been better if both sides could have worked together to come up with a better plan. I consider myself an independent voter, but going back to the Reagan days and with the only exception having been Perot, I’ve always voted Republican. But I'm most angry at the GOP right now!
But please let's not forget that it was President Clinton who got us into bed with China in the first place. Nixon restored normal diplomatic relations between the US and China, but Clinton is the one who opened up the trade floodgates with China. Under Clinton jobs to China, Under Bush I & II influx of illegals/cheap labor into the US and jobs to Mexico/NAFTA – Bush started it and it was signed into effect by Clinton. I loved President Reagan because he brought pride and respect back to our country after those embarrassingly weak Carter years, but unfortunately his shortsighted economic policy sent us down the wrong path. Jeez and the wizards on Wall Street wonder why the American people aren't putting as much money into savings and their 401k plans anymore. Maybe it's because the shortsighted economic policies, from the 1980's to the present, have come back to bite the hands that feed them. I guess the thought of changing from a manufacturing based economy to a service based economy of smoke and mirrors is working out just great? Not!
The ONLY REAL FIX for Our Country is to Raise Revenue by Bringing Back Jobs to US Citizens who Pay Income Tax.
Americans don't care which side fixes it – Just fix it.
Okay America,
Get ready for the big dive, this is just the beginning of doom and gloom! My one-way ticket is waiting in the wings!
At least I won't have to watch or listen to morons leading us to bankruptcy ever again. There was a time I thought America was the greatest nation on earth, then I enlisted in the military. Now my pension is at risk of disappearing, this is the last draw politicians and elitists, Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln would be ashamed of all you nut jobs!
It is good to see so many Republicans saying such wonderful things about President Clinton these days. Such compliments were rather sparse while he was President. Newt was instrumental in defeating the Clinton Healthcare plan and I see he is on the same side now. If the Harvard study was valid and 30,000 Americans die every year from the lack of health insurance and if that conclusion applies over the 20 years since, then it certainly looks like Newt can claim his rightful place in history and maybe even beat Stalin. 600,000 is a pretty large number of dead people.
The GOP particularly Tea party faction in Congress are out of touch with ground realities faced by d millions of poor and needy folks , dependent on Government services . These folks continue suffering immensely ! Either those who support Government shut down even after two long weeks , are naive or have no compassion for people across the U. S. Rather than waiting , for a revolt against Speaker in the House , additional worsening of economy , and adversity in situation caused by Government shut down . Speaker Boehner and Dems both should listen to voices of reason and moderate in Congress on both sides of the isle : on CR for 2014 budget , debt and deficit and other issues of urgent national importance .
Abraham Lincoln pointed to our solution when he said "The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly." If the Affordable Care Act is that bad, enforce it. It will either work or it will be repealed. That is the way our democracy works, not this.
Don't try using logic, it seems to have gone out the window with our current leaders in Congress.
Thanks Newt, that was just brilliant advice!
Gingrich says shut down of Government not a unique situation. That statement tells the world how far America has fallen from a Government of the People to a Government run by a ruling class who think nothing of the people lives that will be effected by such a stupid decison..
The world is quickly becoming dependent on robots to do critical jobs that used to employ human beings. The jobs many think are just around the corner are being consumed by sophisticated software and machines that can work 24 hours a day. It is definitely unambiguously certain that in order for everyone to have food and shelter in coming years that a higher tax on wealthier citizens is necessary until we figure it out.
So in other words, you want to punish the rich for being sucessful, what a load of crap!!! I feel for the needy, I used to be one of them and then woke up one day and decided I didn't want to live like that!!! Yes some truely can't help it but a large number of them can but don't WANT to!!!! We do need safety nets but 99 months of unemployment is CRAZY (Obama increase it to 99 during the recession), if you can't get a job after 6 months you are NOT trying!!! Let go of the pride and work at wal-mart or 7-11, there are jobs if you are willing to work! I took a horrible phone jobs just so I could work nights and go to school to get a better job, now I am making very low 6 figures but still 6 figures 7 years later, it CAN be done if you have the drive!!! I didn't get any help from family, my job helped pay for it (hence why I accepted the job) and I got loans which pretty much anyone can qualify for. Taxing the rich is NOT the answer better and more access to higher education is! The unemployment provided by the government is actually hurting people making them dependent on it, this need to be fix too!
Clear out the politic smoke screen a little... the only key the conservatives want to end the government shutdown is the "Key" to the Social Security Trust Fund. And they want it ALL!
You are 100% correct Bush tried and failed but the GOP won't let go. Don't they understand that SS and Medicare are not part of the budget they have their own taxes. We need to force the government to replace the trillions they have taken from these accounts in the past.
Gingrich is quite right according to his experience in government,some said 'health reform and not Obamacare',sounds like the battle is between personal legacy behind the progress ! let them get to remember Kennedy,'don't ask what American can do for you,ask what you can do for America'.
How CNN could even print anything from a confirmed LIAR like gingrich is beyond logic. But this absurdity is not beyond the same cnn corporate boardroom that killed off journalism within its own walls. Profit is the only reason this pigs opinions are on cnn and in print.
Nice of Mr. Gingrich to give his advice on the shut-down but he is no longer directly involved. Instead of a man with some intelligence we have Mr Boener and his cast of clowns. No end in sight this time – we should probably ask the Koch brothers when this will end and how.
Larry needs to graduate from high school before commenting again. It takes leadership and a willingness to listen to move any project forward. Your messiah has no leadership abilities and acts like you, a child.
So it's better to have a coward President that gives in to the duress of threat by the minority rather then stand his ground? And what about the next threat or the one after that? I'd rather have a leader that stands his ground and doesn't give in to the unlawful demands of children throwing a temper tantrum to overturn a law they couldn't get repealed in the first place because they don't have the support to do so. Personally I'd tell them I would postpone the Affordable Care Act, in return that he wanted a new Gun Bill that outlawed the domestic possession of all military grade weapons as well as all semi-automatic and automatic firearms, in addition adding stricter background checks and identity verification, also adding in that all persons found with a silencer, military grade weapon, semi-automatic and automatic weapon gets automatic 10 year prison sentences, second offenses 20 years and a third would be life. That would shut them the hell up, because this isn't about compromise – it's about do what they want or else!
Mr. Gingrich is absolutely right. I don't care whether you're labeled a liberal, a republican or a democrat. It doesn't matter when you should, instead, be focused on the "bigger" picture. Whether you like or dislike this man, he has been around for quite a long time and is worth listening to with regards to government shutdowns. I agree with him when he says our current leaders need "to start with what they do agree on to build momentum, otherwise you will “crash and burn” on the more complicated issues". Sounds like pretty good advice to me.
Gingrich is a political HAS BEEN and as such is not worth a chit in any sensible discussion.
The problem of course, is the difference between Obama and Clinton. Clinton was a good old fashioned "liberal" (a term I detest). He was not a Progressive. So, the differences between Newt and Clinton were largely issue specific, as Clinton's famous "the era of big government is over" speech indicatates.
Obama is the most ideologically committed President we've had since Woodrow Wilson. The ONLY thing that matters is the furtherance of the Progressive agenda, NEVER individual issues. Those are simply used in whatever way best advances his theory of government.
The main difference between Clinton and Obama is that for a few months Obama had 60 votes in the senate and could get Healthcare done.
One would be pretty hard-pressed to demonstrate that Obama is a progressive, or even very ideological. What ideology is it to be afraid to challenge Wall St., the big banks, and then bail out auto companies? To go for a health insurance reform that settled for a watered-down market-based mishmash instead of a single payer system? That's not the sign of a progressive liberal.