He supported cap and trade, the individual mandate and TARP. He attacked Paul Ryan. He wants to build a colony on the moon … The attacks on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich during Saturday’s Republican presidential debate were many and varied, but in the end, if you were an Iowa conservative leery of Romney because he supported a mandate, would you switch to Romney because Newt supported it, too?
Newt has a fairly reasonable response to all of these allegations, but one: that he lobbied Congress. He still is in denial about. Here is what he said Saturday:
That is just plain false. Newt may have not done enough lobbying to qualify as a “lobbyist” under the legal definition, but the evidence that he did lobby is rock solid. The Washington Examiner‘s Tim Carney reported:
There is no ambiguity here: Newt is simply not being honest with the American people when he tells them he did not lobby Congress to pass the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug program. Republican primary voters seem to be very ready to forgive many, if not all, of Newt’s past transgressions. But being lied to in real time is a different story. Rival campaigns ought to force this issue.
Around the Bigs
The Washington Post, Congress edges toward a compromise on spending: With most of the attention sucked up by the payroll tax rate fight, Republicans and Democrats are reportedly close to reaching a deal on spending that would keep the federal government running through the end of September 2012.
Politico, Headache looms for Medicare: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is preparing to take emergency measures to extend the deadline past January 1 to prevent a 27% cut in Medicare payments to doctors.
The Wall Street Journal, European Stocks Fall: European stock markets fell this morning as doubts about the European Union agreement reached Friday rose.
The Washington Examiner, Bills rise, patience wanes with Occupy DC: District police have spent more than $1 million monitoring Occupy DC protests, and officials say the city’s patience with the two-month-old demonstrations is wearing thin. “The District … is being abused by the occupiers,” Greater Washington Board of Trade CEO Jim Dinegar, said. “There’s not a city in the country except for the Washington, D.C., area that has accommodated these protesters to this extent. McPherson Square will be a toxic waste dump for the next couple of years.”
The San Francisco Chronicle, Opposition grows to Occupy’s port shutdown plan: The Occupy movement will try to shutdown West Coast ports from San Diego to Anchorage today. Monday’s action has not been endorsed by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union … yet.
Campaign 2012
Iowa: The Washington Examiner‘s Tim Carney reports that Gingrich’s support in Iowa is “broad” but “shallow” and predicts Ron Paul will win the caucus if another anti-Romney candidate fails to emerge.
New Hampshire: The Washington Examiner‘s Michael Barone reports that Mitt Romney’s campaign has an active absentee ballot program already capturing votes for Romney, and the campaign plans to win the state with at least 38% of the vote.
Righty Playbook
The New York Times Ross Douthat predicts Republican primary voters would be disappointed in candidate Newt Gingrich for the same reason Democrats were disappointed in John Kerry in 2004.
RedState‘s Erick Erickson updates all of the conservative organizations that have endorsed Sen. Rob Johnson, R-Wis., for Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
The Weekly Standard‘s Mark Hemingway dismantles the “fact-checking” phenomenon.
Lefty Playbook
In The Los Angeles Times, The American Prospect’s Harold Meyerson urges California liberals to unify behind just one tax hike plan.
Talking Points Memo‘s Josh Marshall notes that NBC’s latest poll of South Carolina has Romney and Gingrich losing to Obama.
The Washington Post‘s Ezra Klein lists 21 reason Gingrich will not be the nominee.
