Newt Gingrich

Continuing with our series on Republican presidential candidates, it is Gingrich's turn to come under the microscope. If anyone is more qualified for the job of actually running the country, he has not been found yet. Holding a doctorate in European History from Tulane, he has been inside the beltway since 1978. Most famously, he authored the "Contract with America" in 1994, which put in place the first Republican majority in Congress since the Eisenhower administration. But how does he deal with our top issues?

#1: The Economy: Gingrich, who has spent most of his professional life in Washington, to great success, would seem an obvious candidate for providing real, tangible ideas for fixing the U.S. economy. However, when given the opportunity, he resorts to high-sounding vagaries that remind us of the Obama campaign in '08. He does provide us with a good view of his tax policy, though. He wants to eliminate both the capital gains and death taxes, while lowering the corporate income tax to 12.5%, while allowing 100% expensing of new equipment. In addition, he would like to "move towards" a flat tax.

While his tax policy makes good, conservative, sense, the other areas of his economic plans beg for specifics. For example, he wants to:

"Balance the budget by growing the economy, controlling spending, implementing money saving reforms, and replacing destructive policies and regulatory agencies with new approaches." 

Gee whiz, Newt, no one has ever thought of that. Bold leadership at its finest.

#2: Immigration: Gingrich has much to say on this issue, even going so far as to provide us with a ten step solution to solving our immigration problems. Most of these ideas are very good, and should prove beneficial, however, there is a level of arbitrariness given to some of these steps. For example, his sixth step states that the Department of Justice will start a 'citizen's review' to determine which illegals we should allow to stay and which should be deported. There are two problems with this: (1) He provides no system or policy that would determine who the illegals are. Does he recommend using his citizen's review on all 300 million residents of the US? (2) He provides no specific criteria to determine which illegals should stay. These issues, coupled with his ideal of solving the immigration problem at the personal level makes for a system that is ripe for corruption.

#3: National Security: His policies in this area promote a more unified approach to the War on Terror than has been put into action since 9/11. Most importantly, he has the guts to stand against the tide of political correctness that has impeded our security efforts. Just as Reagan realized that we must deal with Communism head on, Gingrich adopts this approach to radical Islam. For that we can praise him. However, America has many enemies, not the least of which is a large country between Russia and India. He basically ignores China's growing military capabilities, and therefore provides no solutions to confront them. If he truly believes that we should "know who we are as a country", perhaps he should spend more time explaining who we are as a country.

#4: The Constitution: While he supports many of the ideas of limited government, he has little to say about the actual founding document of our country. Like so many politicians of this day and age, he seems to purport the view that the Constitution is a tool to achieve his ideals, not something to think deeply about. Those who attach little significance to the ideas behind our country's founding are unlikely to employ those same ideas.

In conclusion, Newt Gingrich is defined by success. He is a Washington insider who knows how the game is played, and plays it well. There is no doubt that he will achieve many things if elected President. The problem conservative voters face is that of maintaining the principles behind his actions. While his bills may be passed, at what pragmatic cost will they come?