Gibberish Man
by David Atkins
Newt continues to go rogue:
Newt Gingrich said Sunday that an “age of austerity” is the wrong solution for the economy and would “punish” the American people. He said he prefers “pro-growth” policies instead. The comments appear to pour cold water on the modern Republican belief that austerity and growth go hand in hand.
The 2012 Republican presidential candidate was asked by NBC’s David Gregory on “Meet The Press” whether his hopes for a U.S. colony on the moon fly in the face of the GOP’s fiscal responsibility mantra. Gingrich responded with some choice words about austerity itself before defending his lunar ambitions.
“First of all, David, I don’t think you’ll ever find me talking about an age of austerity. I don’t think that’s the right solution,” Gingrich said. “I am a pro-growth Republican. I’m a pro-growth conservative. I think the answer is to grow the economy, not to punish the American people with austerity.”
I don't even think Newt knows what he's talking about at this point. His campaign has always been something of an ego-powered confidence game. Newt poses as a pseudo-intellectual, but there's no substance behind it. He's basically running ad hoc at this point, hoping he can outrun the last thing to come out of his mouth with sheer chutzpah.
It would be awesome to see a journalist follow up with Gingrich to see exactly what he means by these "pro-growth policies" without "austerity." To a rational person, that means growing demand through increasing public investment, paid for in part by a tax system that forces the insanely wealthy to contribute their fair share while fixing the economy to reduce base inequality in the first place.
But I have no idea what it means for Gingrich. It could be very interesting for his "conservative" base to find out.
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