Elections

Newt's revealing dance around the L-word

Jim Hightower — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Let's take a trip down the political rabbit hole to a mystical universe known as NewtLand!

This is where Newt Gingrich goes to get high on the fumes of his feverish ego and invent his own reality. For example, the current contender for the GOP presidential nomination has conjured up the fanciful claim that he is not – repeat, NOT – a Washington lobbyist.

Since lobbyists are right down there with loan sharks in public approval ratings, Gingrich thought it best to fuzz the reality of his decade-long lobbying career. He now insists that his favor-seeking corporate clients did not hire him for his insider connections in the Capitol City, but because he's a "historian" and "transformative thinker."

So please believe him when he says that the financial giant, Freddie Mac, paid him $1.6 million over six years to give them history lessons. Also, just accept his word that he was paid $55 million by several health care corporations between 2001 and 2010 because they merely wanted to bask in the glow of his transformative thoughts. Indeed, when asked by the Washington Post what those clients got for their millions, Gingrich said that he set them up with "a really important guy who really knows a lot and who really has lots of information." That guy was, of course, himself.

And, yes admits the former House Speaker, he has chatted up his old congressional cronies about issues of concern to his clients, but he did so as just another concerned citizen. It was not – repeat, NOT – lobbying.

Who does the Newtster think he's fooling? You can claim that chicken manure is chicken salad – but one whiff reveals the truth. Gingrich's silly semantical dance around the L-word is a devastating revelation of his true character – this guy is so full of himself that he believes his own lies.

Essence of Newt

Jim Hightower — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

What a sight to watch Newt Gingrich campaign for president. If ego was gas, he’d be the Hindenburg blimp.

Most politicians try to puff themselves up a bit, but Gingrich is wildly bloviating about his worthiness and levitating his character to incredulous heights. For example, he insists that he’s not merely a right-wing political writer, strategist, and operative – no, no, Newt says he is a “transformative” thinker, even anointing himself as the “Leader (possibly) of the civilizing forces.”

In fairness, he has been quite transformative recently, brazenly transforming himself from a three-decade Washington insider and corporate hired gun into a born again champion of outsiders who hate moneyed elites. That's some trick, since he's a moneyed elite, albeit a particularly grubby one.

Having been unceremoniously scooted out of the House Speakership in 1998 because of both corruption and ineptness, he turned to influence peddling, making himself rich by trading on his Washington connections to get favors for numerous corporate clients. His 2010 income topped $3 million, and he enjoys a net worth of some $6.5 million, including a luxurious home in one of suburban Washington’s swellest zip codes. And last year he ran up a $500,000 tab on jewelry purchases at Tiffany, the ultimate gilder of moneyed elites.

But to really get Gingrich’s goat, call him a lobbyist. “I was never a lobbyist,” he snaps. Yeah and Bill Clinton never had “sex” with that woman. What Newt means is he never registered as a lobbyist – but there he’s been for more than a decade, openly selling himself as a doorman for corporations wanting access to the Capitol City’s power centers.

Newt’s not transformative, not an outsider, and damn sure not presidential – he’s just another old fraud.

Newt Gingrich: the spawn of Citizens United

Jim Hightower — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

In its Citizens United decision, the Supreme Court upended our democratic elections by decreeing that corporations and über-wealthy individuals can dump unlimited sums of cash into campaigns to elect their favored candidates. Astonishingly, Justice Anthony Kennedy declared in his majority opinion that such a gusher of special-interest money would not “give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” Who knew so much political naiveté could be cloaked in a single judicial robe?

Justice Kennedy, meet Sheldon Adelson – a product of your cluelessness about how real politics work. For years, this casino baron has spent lavishly on right-wing front groups to advance his personal agenda, including pouring money into Newt Gingrich.

The billionaire and The Newt became symbiotic buddies in the mid-nineties, bonding over their shared fondness for crushing labor unions. Adelson was bitterly fighting Nevada unions, pushing a state law to crimp worker rights. Gingrich, then the House Speaker, endorsed Adelson’s Nevada legislation and also backed a tax break in Congress for casinos. In turn, Gingrich got campaign cash, funding to support him after being drummed out of office in disgrace in 1998, free rides on Adelson’s corporate jet, and backing for his present run for the presidency. In the past, the biggest personal check he could’ve taken from his casino sugar daddy was $5,000. After the Supreme’s Citizens United edict, however, Adelson can go all in to push his willing servant into the White House.

So Newt got $5 million from Adelson to buy his recent South Carolina victory and another $5 million from Sheldon's wife, Miriam, to advance Gingrich in Florida. And next… well, there’s no telling, is there Justice Kennedy, since you've legalized unlimited funds for the blatant corruption of America’s elections?

Rick Perry goes from "wow" to "oops" to "ouch"

Jim Hightower — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

To the relief of most Texans, our prodigal governor hath returned.

Most presidential pretenders envision a come-from-behind campaign ending in glory, but Rick Perry ran a vainglorious campaign that went in the other direction, ending in: "Oops." What happened to poor Perry was… well, Perry. His brain bone simply does not connect to his tongue muscle. So he fumbled, bumbled, and stumbled through the Republican debates, showing the entire nation that he was not presidential sapling, much less timber.

Rick was richly financed by corporate interests, burning through more than $21 million on his political joy ride. But he finished a sputtering fifth in Iowa and New Hampshire and was about to be lapped by "other" in South Carolina, before mercifully ending his sad run. Worse, polls showed he had fallen to third place in his home state!

So, he's back – but not to any cheers. The general feeling here is that he embarrassed himself and made Texans look like a bunch of ignorant hillbillies. In a new poll, 45 percent of Texans say he soiled the State's national image, and 56 percent don't even want him to run for governor again.

Also, Texans are a bit chapped about Perry's prodigality with our money. While he was running around denouncing government spending and berating people who live on government payrolls, Rick kept drawing his $150,000-a-year state paycheck, even though he wasn't doing state work. He was also doubling-dipping, using a special loophole to take $92,000 a year in state "retirement" pay, while also collecting his gubernatorial salary. Then there's some $2.6 million billed to us to cover the cost of the state security detail that traipsed along with him on the campaign trail.

Perry will always be branded nationally as the "oops" guy. But in Texas, he's called Rick "Ouch" Perry.

The Adelson campaign: buying our future

Jim Hightower — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Already, four of the GOP presidential contenders have had to drop out – Michele Bachmann because she was too wacky, Jon Huntsman because he was too sane, Herman Cain because he was too exposed, and Rick Perry because he was too dim-witted.

But the greatest surprise is the sudden surge of the Adelson campaign. Little-known until now, Adelson was the big winner in South Carolina, is way out front in Florida, and looks to have the political kick needed to go the distance.

Never heard of the Adelson campaign? It's the married duo of Sheldon and Miriam, neither of whom are actually on the ballot. Rather, they are running on the cash-ticket.

Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas-based, global casino baron, has long been a major funder of far-right-wing causes – and, he's Newt Gingrich’s very special political pal. When Newt’s presidential bid nearly flat-lined after his electoral collapses in Iowa and New Hampshire, Sheldon rushed in with emergency CPR – Cash-Powered Resuscitation. This one rich guy wrote a $5 million check to Gingrich’s SuperPAC, which is named “Winning Our Future.” The PAC injected Sheldon's money directly into toxic attack ads against Mitt Romney in South Carolina’s primary, jolting Newt’s campaign back to life.

However, Gingrich still lacked the financial vitality to match Romney’s media buy in Florida’s pricy primary. No worries, though – Miriam Adelson stepped in to infuse Winning Our Future with another $5 million jolt of CPR. The Gingrich campaign, you see, is a vessel for the Adelson campaign, and word is that this one power couple is prepared to spend another $10 million to make their boy the GOP nominee, with more to come if he's the one to run against President Obama.

Forget "Winning Our Future" – the ultra-rich Adelsons are “Buying Our Future.”

SuperPACs storm Iowa

Jim Hightower — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

In Iowa's presidential scramble, the biggest players were not the candidates, but an insidious, ever-growing force that voters couldn't even see: corporate cash.

Welcome to the Brave New Political World created out of thin air by the Supreme Court two years ago. In their now infamous Citizens United decision, the Court's five-man majority of laissez-faire ideologues decreed that corporations can funnel unlimited sums of money into non-descript, independent electioneering committees, dubbed "superPACs." These outfits are then free to bombard voters with non-stop attack ads to defeat candidates they don't like. In Iowa, an unprecedented $12.5 million went into the campaigns – two-thirds of that was spent by not by the candidates, but by these superPACs.

The Court theorized that superPACs would operate entirely independently from their favored candidates. What a fantasy! In fact, the candidates themselves have dispatched their top staffers and millionaire funders to create and run superPACs on their behalf, so "separation" is a legalistic fraud. Second, although they operate under such benign names as Romney's "Restore Our Future PAC" and Perry's "Make Us Great Again PAC," these conduits of corporate money have become the nuclear bombs of viciously-negative campaigning, sliming opponents with attacks. The Supremes also theorized that superPACs would report the names of their donors, but – surprise – most are refusing to do so.

So, by hurling the Citizens United monkeywrench into America's democratic machinery, the Court has put secret corporate money in charge of our elections, drastically increased negative campaigning, and dangerously hidden the identity of candidates and funders who are gaily conspiring to buy public office. Let's stop this thievery. To help repeal Citizens United, go to www.United4ThePeople.org.

The Deep Shallowness of Prof. Gingrich

Jim Hightower — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Just in the nick of time for Christmas, Newt Gingrich has burst onto the national stage in a leading role.

The latest front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination has adopted a theatrical pose for the season – not as the jolly ol' St. Nick bringing joy to children everywhere, but as Scrooge. Only scroogier.

Channeling his inner Ebenezer, the Newt called America's child labor laws "truly stupid," adding with Dickensian glee that he would fire school janitors and have low-income children do that work. Really? The top GOP contender for president of the USA actually advocates turning poor school kids into janitors?

Why, yes, explained the former House speaker, who never tires of telling us that he is not merely very, smart but visionary. "Start with the following two facts," he lectured at an Iowa campaign stop. "Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works. So they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday." Thus, sayeth the visionary, chain 'em to mop and teach the little ragamuffins about life.

Did I mention that this guy is a candidate for president? Of the United States? In 2012, not in 1812?

Newt is a cluster bomb of ignorance. First, three out of four poor adults work, and most poor children are in households with at least one of their parents showing up every Monday for a job. And Gingrich's condescending implication that poverty equals bad morals is not only wrong, but frightening shallow, elitist, clueless... and, well, scroogy. If he wants to see bad morals in action, he shouldn't be looking down on poor people, but pointing up at Wall Streeters and CEOs who're profiting by creating more poor people.

The question for Republicans is: do you really want to nominate Scrooge for president?

Palin bows out

Jim Hightower — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

And just like that – phffffttt – she was gone. Sarah Palin, the phantasmagoric shooting star of far-right-wing wackiness, has formally bowed out of the 2012 presidential race.

Apparently, her decision was God-sent. We can assume this, because, in her 2008 vice presidential run, Palin explained her decision-making process to us on a Fox-TV show: "I'm like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere' – this is what I always pray – I'm like, 'don't let me miss the open door, show me where the open door is, even if it's just cracked up a little bit, maybe I'll plow right on through that, maybe prematurely plow through it, but don't let me miss an open door."

Eons from now, archeologists will unearth this truly-awesome and breathless sentence, and say: "Huh?" But, for us political observers today, that burst of Palinese simply translates to this: God showed Sarah the door.

In breaking the news of her departure from the political stage, the Fox-made millionaire trotted out her family again, declaring that she decided not to run out of respect for them. Uh-huh... and out of respect for polls showing that only 21-percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of her. Also – get this – three-fourths of Republican primary voters said they did not want her in the race!

But let's give her credit. Yes, she's shown herself to be an incoherent, frighteningly-unqualified, and far-out political figure, but without her, the door would not have opened for Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and other incoherent, frighteningly-unqualified, and far-out Republican contenders.

Palin would probably give credit to God for opening the door for Bachmann, Perry & Company – but I don't think God hates America that much. So take a bow, Sarah – you earned this one.

A political Buddy for the people

Jim Hightower — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Well, gosh, look at this: the Republican Party does have a presidential candidate who's not a far-right goofball, a product of Wall Street banksters, a tripped-out Koch head, or a yee-hawing bs-er from Texas.

Because of what this contender is not – and of what he is – you've probably never heard of him, and chances are quite good that he'll not be the GOP nominee. But Buddy Roemer should be listened to and ought to be the nominee of some party, because he's making a heap of sense. Not only is he daring to speak truth to power – but truth about power. The central issue, says this former member of Congress and former Republican governor of Louisiana is "the corruptive power of big money in campaigns... it's about the big checks and special interests... and its Democrat and Republican."

The political and media establishment have responded to such rare honesty and blunt talk with blanket coverage of Roemer's campaign – by which I mean they've thrown a heavy blanket over him, hoping he'll neither be seen nor heard by voters, who might actually like what he's saying. He's not been allowed in any of the GOP's presidential debates, for example, even though his one-to-two percent showing in the polls is slightly better than that of Jon Huntsman, who has been consecrated as a "serious" candidate by the political cognoscenti.

Here's a little sampler of Roemer's ideas: "I would have a rule that lobbyists could not give a check to a candidate... that PACs could give no more than individuals... that there'd be no superPACs." And, he adds: "I would have a rule that there would be criminal penalties for violation of these rules."

This guy might actually be the people's buddy! Wouldn't you like to see Rick, Mitt, Michele and the rest have to deal with him in debates? To learn more go to www.BuddyRoemer.com.

The Enronization of presidential politics

Jim Hightower — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

In the infamous Enron scandals of a decade ago, unregulated energy hucksters created an array of dummy financial funds so they could evade public scrutiny and perpetrate fraud. To disguise the scams, the funds were given such names as Chewco and JEDI.

While Enron's house of cards collapsed, "Enron accounting" not only continues in Corporate America today, it is also infesting an endeavor that should never be tainted with such financial gimmickry: America's democracy. Corporate hucksters, intent on political profiteering, are setting up dummy funds with such star-spangled names as Make Us Great Again and Restore Our Future.

These are Super PACs, created to amass millions of dollars in unrestricted corporate cash to back the candidacies of particular presidential wannabes. These groups can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money – something the candidates themselves are barred from doing. Already, the dummy funds are becoming larger than the candidate's own campaigns, allowing a few big money interests to pervert our democratic process into their plutocratic plaything. How few? As of August, more than 80 percent of the money in Super PACs backing Republican candidates has come from only 35 people writing six- and seven-figure checks.

Technically, these dummy groups must not coordinate their actions with the candidates they back, but this "ban" is a fraud. For example, Rick Perry's Make Us Great Again PAC is headed by a corporate lobbyist who had been Perry's chief of staff and is now both a major fund raiser and political advisor for Perry. Hello – the front group, the lobbyist, the fund raiser, and the advisor don't have to "coordinate" – they're all the same person!

What these Super PACs represent is the Enronization of our politics – a legalized corruption that's tantamount to a corporate takeover.