The election of Barack Obama in 2008 and his subsequent radical agenda was one of the best things that could have happened to our country. It awoke the conscience of the people, and it showed what can happen when the people become apathetic. I have never heard so much talk about politics, and granted, I have probably not been as interested in the past as I am now, but the TEA party is an example of the new resolve that has swept the nation. The last four years have gotten us to think about what we want for ourselves, our futures and our families. Do we want lives that are more regulated, with government hand-outs, or do we want more freedom and less regulation to do with our lives as we see fit. This has become the dividing line of our nation, and 2012 is the time to make the choice which way we will go. The problem is the choice is not as clear in real life as it is on paper. There are those on the right and the left who want power and station for themselves, they do not care about Liberty or the Constitution, it is a matter of how do I get elected and get as much power as possible. There are those, Republicans and Democrats who believe that Government is the answer to the problems, that more regulation and more government programs can fix the ills of society. President Obama and his healthcare plan are a perfect example of this kind of thinking. The fact is most government programs cost way more than they produce and do not accomplish anything except to get in the way of ordinary people who are just trying to live their lives and be left alone.
So what is the answer? Well we are all involved and awake, it’s an election year, what are my choices? Oh… ewww…ouch…eek… are just some of the expressions that come to mind when we see our alternatives to the current administration, but we have to face facts no matter how much we dislike the choices almost anything would be better than what we have now. Anything, that is except for possibly a fraud. President Obama never made it a secret who he was before the election in 2008 and he was elected, O.K. But in our field of choices we have a candidate who says that he is a Reagan conservative, the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney yup you guessed it, Newt. Is Newt giving us the whole story? I don’t think so and I want to lay out why I think that is. Newt may be your guy and if he is OK, but I ask you to hear me out, if you still feel the same after reading this article by all means stick to your principles, but at least know what those principles are and whether or not Newt is with you.
Newt talks like a conservative in these debates and gives these wonderful sounding monologues about how he is the small government guy the Ronald Reagan conservative, but he seems to forget who his favorite president of the 20
th century is, Reagan? Nope, FDR he said: “...the greatest Democratic President of the 20th century and in my judgment the greatest President of the 20th century was FDR"
Not just once but multiple times.
The president that gave us the New Deal and began our modern entitlement society, the Great depression was only called the Great depression in America because of FDR’s policies.
So Newt the conservative likes FDR, who let’s just say was not conservative.
Newt can also be heard saying that he is a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, what does that mean?
Well TR was the founder of the Progressive party whose aim it was to make sure that the federal government remained stronger than the free market. Hmmm. So, conservative Gingrich aligns with a guy who wanted to increase the power of government, in order to control markets. OK.
What about the example cited earlier of Mr. Obama’s healthcare plan, surely Gingrich would be against that. Well, he says it should be repealed but he also says that every American should be required to buy health insurance… So Ronald Reagan conservative Newt believes FDR is the greatest president of the 20th century, calls himself a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, which means progressive, and supports an individual mandate. The truth is Newt is a big government guy, he is no better than Romney and may be worse, Romney has his healthcare thing in Massachusetts working against him but on the state level there is nothing wrong with what he did, and I know there are plenty of other things to fuss about Romney, but at the same time I do not believe he is prancing around claiming to be something he is not, he is a moderate, and I think he would admit that. Gingrich on the other hand holds to a national individual mandate, believes government can lead through regulation, and still claims to be conservative. It just doesn’t add up.
The problem arises when we elect someone who says they are conservative and they really aren’t. Their policies do not work and then it looks like conservatism does not work and then liberals are back in power. We need to be awake, the right and the left are infected. If we do elect another progressive republican, and make no mistake I will vote for Newt before I send Barack back, we must be very tenacious in our calls for their accountability. Mitt and Newt say they are for small government, they better be careful, the public is watching and it will not be as easy to back pedal now. The people are awake, and unless you want to be the next one term president you better stick to what you say. We must stay involved and stay informed if we are going to change the course of this country, we must hold our politicians and each other accountable. We have to do the research. Search Newt Gingrich on the internet and find his views on the individual mandate, climate change, and wilsonian foreign policy. Learn who Theodore Roosevelt was and what he stood for, then do the same for every other candidate, just do not make the mistake of believing that Newt is conservative, he is not.
I am not saying any of the other candidates are better I just want you to dig as deep as possible to find out what they actually believe.
Luke
