According to Elliott Abrams, Newt Gingrich’s claims of “working with President Reagan” to change things in Washington D.C. is bunch of hot air. Elliot Abrams was Reagan’s Assistant secretary of state. Newt was a new member to Congress and he ‘spewed’ insulting rhetoric at the president in his administration’s efforts to defeat Communism. Newt in fact was predicting that Reagan’s policies would fail and that the president was dead wrong.

Abrams goes on to explain the conflict and who the players were in the National Review article. But as a blogger looking at the 2012 Republican Race, I’m running out of options for a choice now.

In another article, this one by Fred Barnes for The Weekly Standard, he displays a page from The Reagan Dairies that mentions for the first and last time – Newt Gingrich. In it quote: “Newt Gingrich has a proposal for freezing the budget at the 1983 level. It’s a tempting idea except that it would cripple our defense programs. And if we make an exception on that every special interest group will be asking for the same.” end quote. This is from Chapter 3, page 123 in the dairies that covers the year 1983.

All the folks that I liked are now out of the running (Cain, Bachmann, Perry). I don’t like Mitt Romney or the ‘other’ Rick (Santorum) that is in the race. Ron Paul – his foreign policy sucks big time for this blogger. And the word ‘sucks’ is being kind to the man.

The third Newt Gingrich article I found today was the one where he pledges a moon base by his second term. Newt Gingrich is already thinking of having a second term?!  We got to get you in there for the first term dude!

Quote: “By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American,” Gingrich said to applause on the space coast of Florida.

He also said that the development would include commercial and private efforts, and will make apparent, “we clearly have the capacity that Chinese and the Russians will never come anywhere close to us.” End quote.

Newt Gingrich also has plans to push propulsion development technology that will get manned crews to Mars quickly. He went on to emphasized that it doesn’t have to be expensive if done in partnership with private companies (which appears to be his main theme in this matter) that can lower the cost of exploration. Quoting again, “If it’s cheaper and it’s faster and it works, do it,” Newt Gingrich said. He also added at the end of this article the following quote: “Does that mean I’m visionary? You betcha,” end quote.

As far as I know, no other candidate has gone to even this much detail as far as to what the American space policy vision should be.

This is why I like him (Newt Gingrich). He’s a fighter. I see Mitt as someone who’ll go along to just get along with someone.

And Newt has his bad points. From what I heard on Rush Limbaugh’s talk radio today (January 25, 2012), Newt’s divorces and talks of open marriage are anchors and chains around his throat – dragging him down. One caller claimed that he wasn’t going to vote at all if Newt was going to be the Republician nominee.

Such boastful talk right now I’m sure. Closer to November’s election day and the chance that Obama might still get his second term in office, I think that caller will have to change his mind about not voting after all. Such a claim is really a vote for President Barrack H. Obama when you think about it!

And we cannot afford such stupid thinking this year from the Republican masses. This nations survival is at stake!

If Mitt gets the top position after all – I will vote for him. Even if I have to hold my nose while doing it. I would feel even better if it turns into a Romney/Gingrich team at this point.  Remember, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush didn’t get along in the primaries either back then.

UPDATE January 26, 2012:  Here is the summary from another article (link posted below) for Newt’s Space Vision.

Newt Gingrich gave his JFK-style speech in Florida today followed by a round table. As with Newt, it didn’t contain a single overriding goal (build a transcontinental railroad, land a man on the moon), but rather a series of grandiose goals. A summary, based on this video:

*Invoked both Abraham Lincoln (railroads) and John F. Kennedy (moon program).

*Proposed setting aside 10 percent of NASA’s budget for prizes.

*Promised to build a permanent lunar base on the moon by the end of his second term and it will be American (Jan. 20, 2021).

*Proposed commercial near-Earth activity including tourism, manufacturing and science based on the model of the airline industry in the 1930s because he’s sick of being told we need to be timid and we need to use 50 year old technology.

*Wants the U.S. to gain so much experience in space that that Chinese and Russians will never be able to match.

*Pledged to set up a $10 billion tax free prize for devising a way to get to Mars on the cheap.

*Promised to fund the development of the first continuous propulsion system in space to enable short-duration trips to Mars.

*Proposed that the U.S. launch 5 to 8 rockets per day instead of 1 per day — more like airports.

*Change civil service laws to make NASA more like Boeing than….well, NASA.

*Plans to introduce a “Northwest Ordinance” that would allow a lunar colony with 13,000 people to petition for statehood.

end of summary.

On first blush, Newt Gingrich is really getting his Klingon on.  Followers of this blog should know by now what I mean by that.  For newcomers, that really means willing to get into someone’s face to promote a point of view. No prisoners taken approach for politics that I like.  Those on the right always have to give.  The left never, ever does and its about damn time that they do.  Hence, that is why I invoke Star Trek’s fictional species of Klingon into this type of problem.

But I am worried that wrapping himself in the mantle of Ronald Reagan and whats coming out now about how wrong Newt was and how right (correct) Reagan was… this I’m afraid will shoot down Newt for the 2012 election.  But with this vision for space he has, I think now that he will have a better chance as VP for Mittens.

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Ref.
1. National Review. “Gingrich and Reagan” By Elliott Abrams. January 25, 2012. ( http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/289159/gingrich-and-reagan-elliott-abrams ). picture from same article.
2. The Weekly Standard. “What Reagan THought of Newt” by Fred Barnes. January 25, 2012. ( http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/what-reagan-thought-newt_618549.html ).
3. Politico.com. by Alexander Burns and Ginger Gibson. January 25, 2012. ( http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/01/newt-pledges-moon-base-by-second-term-112319.html ).
4. image off of internet of lunar base (from old Britsh TV series ‘UFO’). (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O_L1W8HmE8E/SfoSKvA0KuI/AAAAAAAAAjA/z3Xwy7uwTtk/s400/moon+base.jpg).

5. ParabolicArc.com. “Gingrich’s Gradiose Plans for American Space Exploration” by Doug Messier.  January 26, 2012. ( http://www.parabolicarc.com/2012/01/25/gingrichs-gradiose-plans-for-american-space-exploration/ ).

China has been building up is ships and anti-ship weapons in recent years. China may try so to flex its muscle and limit access to those seas. And the US Navy is working on a strategy to keep the south China sea and Western Pacific open to international shipping.

Quote: “Over the long term, China will have the greatest potential, I view, to affect the economic and the security dynamics throughout the region and perhaps the world,” he said. “Their economic strength has grown. They have great regional capability and capacity, and it’s growing.

“And under circumstances, that capability could limit access in the region.” Admiral Jonathan Greenert stated.

Almost half of the US Navy is deployed to the Pacific now. end quote.

Council on Foreign Relations analyst Max Boot is an advisor to the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, has told the governor that many of China’s neighbors – including Vietnam, are looking towards the United States for leadership.

“The Chinese navy has become very aggressive in trying to push out the navies of the Philippines, Japan and other local powers to extend Chinese sovereignty beyond what international law would allow. Everybody would like to see China have a peaceful rise.” Mr. Boot said.

Mr. Boot also added the following: “I think we have to preserve the balance of power in the Pacific. But unfortunately, right now, I see the balance of power tilting against us. And I see a further tilt unless we actually increase our defense spending and expand the size of our Navy, in particular, which I think is at a dangerously low level.”
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Ref.
1. The Washington Times. “Navy readies for Chinese power grab on shipping” by Rowan Scarborough. January 11, 2012. (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/10/navy-readies-for-chinese-power-grab-on-shipping/).

The Washignton Times yesterday ran a commentary that Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachman sent them. Her entire commentary is posted below.

This blogger still thinks that Michele Bachman would make a great GOP candidate for the Office of President of the United States. But, right now, the poll results out of Iowa are very dim for her chances. After all the fighting and we finally get to the GOP Convention, if she did not save her campaign and become the primary winner – then some of her points in this commentary should be included as planks in the party platform going into the November election.

Here is her commentary…

I have often been criticized for saying that I could turn around the U.S. economy in just a few short months. That is not blind optimism talking, but rather the realization that the biggest impediment to true economic recovery has been the signal President Obama’s policies have been sending to the key audience for recovery, the job creators. Should I be fortunate enough to be elected by the American people to serve as president of the United States, I will have an ambitious agenda in the first 100 days that will send a signal to our country’s job creators and to the world that the days of socialist policies are over, that our free market is once again open for business and that we will once again lead the world as the true exceptional nation.

My first act as president will be to repeal  and Dodd-Frank. No two pieces of legislation represent socialism and big government more than those, and both have greatly hindered the creation of jobs and capital necessary for economic recovery. Obamacare represents the largest expansion of entitlement spending and playground of left-wing social engineering in our country’s history, and it must be stopped. In its place, I’ll reform the health care system by ending state monopolies on health insurance, introducing real tort reform and providing tax incentives for health care providers who give free health care to those who cannot afford it.

I also will get government spending, which has spiraled ever upward, leaving us with over $15 trillion in debt, under control and shut down departments in the federal government that have no constitutional authority and, worse, waste your money. In the first 100 days, I will submit legislation to repeal laws establishing the Departments of Education, Commerce and Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency and their related bureaucracies. That will send a signal that I intend for government to do what it is mandated to do under the Constitution.

I will honor the Constitution and send Congress a balanced budget in my first 100 days. If Congress passes an unbalanced budget, I will veto it.

Government should not do what both the Constitution and morality prohibit – practicing crony capitalism, forcefully taking your money for the purpose of paying off a politician’s political friends. That’s one of the most important signals we can send to level the economic playing field for all Americans.

Our tax code has 3.8 million words and is too complicated for the average American to understand, and it has a corporate tax rate of almost 40 percent that makes America hopelessly uncompetitive. It advantages companies large enough to hire an army of lawyers to exploit it. I’ll end the practice of crony capitalism and special-interest influence in Washington because, as a federal tax lawyer, I’ll abolish the tax code, the place where most of Washington’s influence peddling occurs. I’ll replace it with one that is simpler, fairer and flatter, in which every American pays something, even if it is $10 a year, because every American has a stake in America.

Reforming our tax code and ending crony capitalism will send a signal to small businesses, the true job-creation engine of our economy, that they’ll be treated the same as large corporations. Lowering corporate tax rates will make American businesses more competitive and keep them from shipping jobs overseas. That overhaul will include repatriating the more than $1 trillion held overseas by U.S. corporations that could have an immediate private-sector stimulative effect on our economy. These economic policies will send a signal that we will enact permanent free-market solutions for our economy and end the temporary gimmicks that have had such devastating effects.

I’ll also begin the process of undoing the enormous government regulatory burden on America. I’ll start by legalizing American energy production, which will bring down the cost of gas, create millions of jobs and decrease our dependency on foreign sources of energy.

While the economy is rightly at the top of voters’ minds this election season, we also need to consider who can be the best commander in chief from Day One. Of all the Republican candidates in the race, I am the only one with current experience in national security. As president, I will ensure America remains free, safe and sovereign – the greatest force for good the world has ever known. And on Day One, I’ll announce that we’re moving our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, and I’ll attend its opening within the first 100 days. I’ll make sure Iran knows I will not tolerate it obtaining a nuclear weapon and will take whatever action is necessary to prevent that.

I’ll also secure our border and begin building the fence in the first 100 days. I’ll begin immediately enforcing our immigration laws, empower our border agents and help the states instead of suing them. And I’ll submit legislation to make English the official language of our federal government.

Finally, I’ll defend the family. I will ensure that Planned Parenthood no longer receives federal funding. and I’ll immediately re-establish the Mexico City policy and other policies aimed at protecting life from conception to natural death. America cannot be strong until its families, the most basic unit of government, are strong.

I understand this agenda to be ambitious, but we have little time to reverse the very damaging policies of President Obama. As president of the United States, I will be prepared to meet those challenges and do the hard work necessary to restore America to being the leader it can be for you and your children and mine.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, is running for president.

end of commentary.

One final note.  Of the three departments she wants to get rid of (plus the EPA), they are the same ones that Texas Governor Rick Perry want to get rid of. I also like him, but he shot himself in the foot with his debate performance and that is too bad. At least Rep Michele Bachman can reconnize a good idea and go with it despite the author of it.

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Ref.
1. Washington Times. “BACHMANN: Little time to save America” by Michele Bachman. December 29, 2011. (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/29/little-time-to-save-america/).

I’m going to pull several quotes from that article and post them here on my blog. As always, the link to the original article is at the end of the post.

Quote: But something curious happened when Ms. Palin strode onto the stage last weekend at a Tea Party event in Indianola, Iowa. Along with her familiar and predictable swipes at President Barack Obama and the “far left,” she delivered a devastating indictment of the entire U.S. political establishment — left, right and center — and pointed toward a way of transcending the presently unbridgeable political divide. End quote.

Quote: She made three interlocking points. First, that the United States is now governed by a “permanent political class,” drawn from both parties, that is increasingly cut off from the concerns of regular people. Second, that these Republicans and Democrats have allied with big business to mutual advantage to create what she called “corporate crony capitalism.” Third, that the real political divide in the United States may no longer be between friends and foes of Big Government, but between friends and foes of vast, remote, unaccountable institutions (both public and private). End quote.

Quote: Ms. Palin’s third point was more striking still: in contrast to the sweeping paeans to capitalism and the free market delivered by the Republican presidential candidates whose ranks she has yet to join, she sought to make a distinction between good capitalists and bad ones. The good ones, in her telling, are those small businesses that take risks and sink and swim in the churning market; the bad ones are well-connected megacorporations that live off bailouts, dodge taxes and profit terrifically while creating no jobs.

Strangely, she was saying things that liberals might like, if not for Ms. Palin’s having said them.

“This is not the capitalism of free men and free markets, of innovation and hard work and ethics, of sacrifice and of risk,” she said of the crony variety. She added: “It’s the collusion of big government and big business and big finance to the detriment of all the rest — to the little guys. It’s a slap in the face to our small business owners — the true entrepreneurs, the job creators accounting for 70 percent of the jobs in America.” End quote.

Quote: Ms. Palin may be hinting at a new political alignment that would pit a vigorous localism against a kind of national-global institutionalism. End quote.

A very interesting conclusion by Mr. Giridharadas with that last quote.  I will now be on the lookout for the ripples of this spreading out into the rest of our culture.

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Ref.
1. NY Times.com. “Some of Sarah Palin’s Ideas Cross the Political Divide” by Anand Giridharadas. Sept 9, 2011. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/10/us/10iht-currents10.html?_r=4&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1315569719-RpR5AuX40tZqZl8xOiUg7g ).

The 55-year old Rep from Minnesota is going to establish herself among the conserative rank and file more easily than Mitt Romney does.  Michele Bachmann is the head of the Tea Party caucus in the House and a fiscal hawk looking out at waht is happening to our national economy.

Quote, “Make no mistake about it, Barack Obama will be a one-term president,” End quote.

While most folks still think of her as “just another Sarah Palin,” they are in error.  Ms. Bachmann has gone out and proven that she is her own woman and political candidate.  And she will have to be reckoned with in those terms.

Another quote from the Reuters article is this:  Bachmann quoted Obama as saying in February 2009 that if he did not get the economy growing in three years “there’s going to be a one-term proposition.”

“Well, Mr. President, your policies haven’t worked, spending our way out of the recession hasn’t worked, and so Mr. President we take you at your word,” she said. end quote.

On a different note, this website had a problem with reaching its bandwidth for the paste few weeks and it took that long to get it corrected.

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Ref.

1. Reuters.com. “Bachmann launches 2012 presidential bid” by Steve Holland. June 27, 2011. ( http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/27/us-usa-campaign-bachmann-idUSTRE75P1G320110627 ).