Gingrich offers sobering look at problems, party

Mon, February 02, 2009 - 12:22 PM

Looking for a way to get over that post-Super Bowl high?

Well, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has the cure. He offered a sobering assessment this morning at a breakfast hosted for journalists by the Christian Science Monitor.

Our economic system is going off a cliff and government is not helping, he said. He even worked in a Super Bowl analogy. Click below to listen.




Gingrich focused his comments on economic pains, the need for American government to work more efficiently and how the U.S. can compete in the global market. He also spoke about revamping the country’s education system and the need to devote more funding to science programs.

His comments, of course, nicely dovetailed with the work of his Atlanta-based non-partisan organization, American Solutions for Winning the Future.

Government, he said, ought to focus on what’s working in the private sector and not focus on fixing what’s wrong. He used examples in the health care industry and financial sectors to illustrate his point,

“The Congress ought to immerse itself in skilled talent,” he said, and not bail out those who failed.

Politics were not ignored either.. As for the Republicans’ future hopes, Gingrich said new Republican National Committee head Michael Steele has to pull together the next generation of Republican leaders, such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

One of those leaders may be Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Click below to listen to his comments about Palin, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and others.




Gingrich also predicted that America may be on the edge of a progressive movement to rid the country of corrupt politicians.

-- Amy Dominello