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Gingrich raises the specter of another government shutdown

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In the 1990s, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich helped orchestrate a government shutdown, which helped make him something of a national villain. Soon after, Gingrich forced a second shutdown, and was blamed for that, too.

A few years later, Gingrich was forced from his post and resigned, but he continues to linger in DC, and has managed to convince his former colleagues that his advice has merit.

And as of this week, the former Speaker is talking openly about yet another government shutdown. (thanks to R.S. for the tip)

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) predicted Wednesday during the fourth day of Republican protests at the Capitol that Democrats would lose a potential government shutdown fight over offshore oil drilling.

The offshore drilling ban expires Sept. 30, and some conservatives have urged President Bush to threaten to veto any bill that extends it, including a routine stopgap spending bill keeping the government open.

“Are they really prepared to close the government in order to stop drilling?” Gingrich asked of Democrats. “I think the public would think they’re insane…. I don’t see how the Democrats could possibly sustain a suicidal strategy like that.”

And I really don’t see how the Republicans could listen to such a nut.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said a shutdown would backfire on Republicans.

“The Republicans haven’t had much luck with shutdowns in recent years, and I can’t imagine that this would be any different,” he said. “The American people want to see progress, they want to see comity, they want to see bipartisanship. They want to see some action, not shutdowns. I can’t imagine they would fare any better this time.”

Let me get this straight. Newt Gingrich, who was ousted because he was so ineffective in shaping the congressional Republicans’ strategy 10 years ago, wants to see congressional Republicans shut down the government a few months before an election, because Speaker Pelosi knows that expanded coastal drilling wouldn’t help consumers or improve our nation’s energy policy, and is prepared to wait until there’s a new president before negotiating a new national policy.

I’ll tell you what, House Republicans, take Newt’s advice. I dare you.

Comments

  • Helena Montana

    says:

    Oh, please, please, please, PLEASE, Newtie, GO FOR IT!

    It worked for you so well last time, it can’t possibly fail!

  • FreeProton

    says:

    Wait a sec. This is the same guy who did a joint ad with Nancy Pelosi (sitting on the couch, “polar opposites”) saying that it’s extremely important to save our planet, and for that we must set aside our ideological differences and work together. Looks like Pelosi meant it. Looks like Gingrich is a lying liar.

    Wow. What a surprise.

  • TR

    says:

    He’s even dumber than I thought. The last shutdowns crippled the Republican majority when they were popular. People hate them now, and this is only going to play worse. Sweet Jesus.

  • Memekiller

    says:

    After the Republican Revolution, when the Gingrich Congress floated this idea, I thought he was crazy. No one believed me when I said the Republicans had told a reporter for the NYTs, I believe, they planned to shut down the government and blame Clinton. Then they did.

    What is even more oustounding is that when the thing went predictably, and the Republicans got blamed for doing what they said they’d do (and threw a hissy fit, and pretended they were victims, as the reporters pretended they never told them they were going to shut down the government), the lesson they took away from it is the lesson they always take away from their failures: they faltered.

    So, they vowed, next time, they would do the same thing, twice as hard, with twice the vitriol, and stopped up emergency funds for natural disasters. I remember one Republican got an angry phone call from his own mother, complaining about it. The lesson they learned? They were too weak-kneed. They caved too soon.

    Because Republicans are never wrong, they have to repeat the same mistakes over, and over, and over. They smash their head against the wall and get a cuncussion, they do it again, twice as hard to prove they were right all along.

    Part of the reason Reagan was such a hero to the right is that after Nixon, he showed Watergate was the exception. Then Newt Gingrich came in with a grudge, not to further Reagan, but to right the wrongs of Nixon, whom they thought got a raw deal, and in the process, showed Reagan was the exception, Nixon was the rule. We suffered an impeachment for a year, in part, as payback for Nixon, and to prove that the only reason Clinton was still in office is that they were too soft in their charges of rape, murder and drug running. Part of it was they were still holding a grudge for Vietnam.

    It’s no accident that Cheney and Rumsfeld were part of the civilians the Powell Doctrine was designed to remove from military decision making in Vietnam. They wanted to prove they were right all along by fucking Iraq up twice as badly by doing the same thing. Because they didn’t screw up. They caved too quickly. So we stick it out, in large part, to prove that we were only two weeks away from winning Vietnam. We expand the war into Syria to show we were one bombing raid away from winning the war in Cambodia. We remove all restrictions and the Geneva conventions to prove it was our propriety and ethics that kept us from winning. If we have a headache, it’s because we aren’t banging our head against the wall hard enough.

    So if you think Bush is bad, just think of how collassally they’ll have to screw something up to redeem him, and prove the only reason he failed is that he was too cautious, too diplomatic, too well-read and intellectual.

    Republican failure is exponential. Every screw-up gets squared.

  • brent

    says:

    I am actually not so sure he’s wrong on this. The polling data suggests that a lot of people have been snowed on all of this drilling nonsense. People seem to want it to happen and believe, despite all the evidence, that it will somehow be helpful to them. It is not out of the question that, in that context, Republicans could paint the image that its Democrats who are being intransigent on important legislation to help the middle class. Truth is, a lot of Republicans can afford to take the gamble. They don’t really have anything to lose.

  • edr

    says:

    Shutdown! The public thinks the Democrats control congress! They do not hear too much of the Republican filibustering.
    The democrats would really need to have control of the message if it happened!

  • Memekiller

    says:

    brent,
    I do agree that Dems will lose the drilling debate. The more consumers feel the pinch, the more they’ll want to drill. Republicans will lose the pro-oil company, anti-conservation debate.

    I’d rather choose a sunrise position to a sunset one.

  • TCG

    says:

    Newt Gingrich, who was ousted because he was so ineffective in shaping the congressional Republicans’ strategy 10 years ago

    Gingrich was ousted because he was cheating on his second wife with an intern old enough to be his daughter right before the house impeached Bill Clinton for Zipperitis.

    I mean what would the children think if the highest elected republican in the land was doing what WJC had been accused of doing.

    As such he had to go.

  • slappy magoo

    says:

    Memekiller @ 4, if this board had the ability to give a comment a thumbs up/recommend, I would for yours. Good job.

    Meanwhile, brent @ 5 is sadly right, in that many low-info people/voters really think coastal drilling is the solution, or at least a short-term solution. Never mind that we don’t have the drills, the oil companies already have plenty of land to drill on that they don’t, and my 3-week old baby will probably be in high school before we see any of the gas reach us (and at a negligible saving). Never mind we’ll save more money with routine car maintenance. Never mind that we were warned about all of this 30+ years ago, and instead of stepping up to the plate with demanding better use of renewable energy & more effiicient use of the fossil fuels we have, we all bought SUVs. People are desperate, and they’re clinging to what they think is a solution. The life raft has a leak and we can never bail out enough to keep it afloat for long, but what the hell, it’s stil a life raft, right? Right?

    This whole offshore drilling scam is a “gift” for oil companies who see that an Obama Presidency is more than likely, so they have even MORE land they can drill on…some day…or they can drill on now and leave the land they already have for another day. And the GOP is wrapping it up as instant relief for the American taxpayer. I wish someone would ask the American taxpayer: All of these politicians who are telling you, months before an election, that drilling will save you are the same ones who got us into this mess. Isn’t it POSSIBLE they have something MORE to gain by allowing these new areas to be drilled than YOU do?

  • Memekiller

    says:

    TCG,
    Don’t forget the ethics investigation. The affair came out after Gingrich quit. The Press protected Gingrich’s privacy during impeachment, so it was ethics that did him in.

  • Repugnants

    says:

    Now the Repugs want to pretend they are SO concerned about the struggling American people. Well where has their leadership been in the last eight years on this energy problem? They were so busy running around declaring war and calling everyone unpatriotic they forgot about the american family.

    The Repugs have padded their pockets for the last eight years at the expense of the American people and now they want to fake protest to stay in power.

    We all see through the games they are playing. We are not going to buy it this time. I say THROW THE BUMS OUT.

  • ml johnston

    says:

    See the news today. There is onshore oil drilling in ND and MT. We don’t need off shore drilling now at this moment. America can now wait until a thoughtful energy plan can be instituted .Hopefully the Democrats /Pelosi won’t cave in as is the usual practice . The Republican stand off is stupid at best. However is it a diversion from other nefarious deeds of the Bush/Cheney administration.?

    Perhaps the discussion of the oil in ND and MT is a diversion from off shore drilling.

    I hope McCain takes a vacation from his smearing and distortion in August . The WHITE HAIRED DUDE needs a rest as does the American people from the his warmongering, mud slinging lies, dupes and deceptions.

  • Roddy McCorley

    says:

    And I really don’t see how the Republicans could listen to such a nut.

    It is long past time to stop speaking about the Republican party as if they were still a legitimate politcal organization. The GOP as currently constituted is made up of delusional fools, unbalanced lunatics, militant theocrats, and outright criminals. They cannot honestly discuss their agenda, because they know that their agenda will not be supported by the majority of the voters. Which means that in every single election in which Republicans run, they are doing so fraudulently — it’s just a matter of degree.

  • Wayne

    says:

    Shutdown …. stupid.
    Blame goes to ….. Democrats.
    Because …. they control the government.
    Credit to ….. Republicans.
    Because ….. they are standing up with America.

    Convince me that it would not happen like that.

  • DrBB

    says:

    gingrich v. trans. To crassly divorce one’s hospitalized or otherwise seriously impaired spouse in order to marry a richer or more attractive one. “In 1980 McCain gingriched his first wife, disfigured in a car accident, in order to marry a wealthy heiress.”

  • Rick

    says:

    Hey Wanye, it takes bush to shut down the gov. with his veto. Only you and your 25%ers will blame the dems. The rest of us stoped listening to you and bush 4 years ago.

  • zhoward

    says:

    When on unsure footing in the present, republicans look to the past. Newt is the poster child for government shutdown, and not in a positive way. Another moment when they seem to take pride in their ignorance.

  • LFC

    says:

    Time for the Dems to drive this home against the GOP. There are currently 40 billion barrels available that are not being developed. If the oil companies can’t or won’t drill the oil that is available to them, then how can adding 20% to that unexploited total do anything? The obvious answer is that it won’t. The ten year time horizon for the new areas to begin producing any real amount of oil is a pipe dream. We have 4X that amount sitting untouched and available. They won’t get around to these new areas for decades, so there is no rush to open them up.

    Time to hold the GOP feet to the fire on this one. It’s nothing more than a way to sell the country’s assets at fire sale prices, all in the name of “helping” the American consumer, while beefing up oil company balance sheets.

    Maybe the Dems should say that they’re willing to open up more leases, but that any new or existing leases will be canceled if development hasn’t started in the next five years or full scale production in 10 years. That takes away the incentive for the oil companies to buy and hold, because another company that’s ready to drill will have a shot at the leases.

  • petorado

    says:

    Oil has gone down nearly $30 a barrel in the last month. With Labor Day signaling the end of summer driving season, it should fall ever closer to $100 a barrel. Next missed his golden opportunity to have an impact when prices kept climbing. Now that they’re falling, will shutting down the government really help his right-wing cause?

    Besides, how popular will shutting down the federal government be while we’re fighting TWO WARS? Add screwing the troops yet again just before an election to the list of Republican accomplishments for 2008.

  • Lance

    says:

    memekiller wrote: “Because they didn’t screw up. They caved too quickly.”

    That’s the basic excuse of all extreme capitalists (Chicago School of Economics and the late Milton Friedman) when their prescriptions send their victums into a spiral of economic decline. And how can you disprove the assertion that if you’d just pushed a little more of their anti-government hyper-capitalist policies you’d have had an explosion of wealth rather than a destruction of an economy. No one is every willing to keep capital stripping their public economic sector once the costs become clear.

    Read Naomi Klein’s “Shock Doctrine, the Rise of Disaster Capitalism”

  • Wayne

    says:

    Rick@17 – What did I say that leads you to believe I am a Republican? I was stating an opinion on how I think it would be percieved.
    Polaris@19 – you understood my point.

  • joey(bjobotts)

    says:

    Wayne is not one of “them” Rick…he is merely asking a question and making a statement that the press would surely try to make a reality. The problem being that republicans are now viewed as Obstructionists anyway, ridiculous in their claims, and acting like children.

    Dems only have to do their own political theater forcing repubs to drill where they already have leases. Paris Hilton is the republican energy policy standard for these clowns. Pelosi needs to point that out with more than a news release. She’s pathetic at making a dem voice heard…believing one just has to tell them…what more can one do…make it a show Nancy…that’s how you make the point known loud and clear. Pass out dental drills saying you might just as well be drilling with these for the amount of difference it will make on the cost at the pump. Pass out road signs saying they already can drill here now but aren’t doing it. Signs should be drilling allowed here now. Drill here first.

    Pelosi believes dems shouldn’t have to get ridiculous and act like babies to make a point and she’s right…they”shouldn’t”. They should do what teachers do to children who constantly misbehave and disrupt the classroom( can’t kick them out). Make an example out of them. Make them write a hundred times I will not disrupt congress??? No silly…you embarrass them to the point they will not do it again for how pathetic it makes them look. So get with it Pelosi…make the house repubs behavior a huge embarrassment.

    What they claim is a lie, their plan cannot withstand scrutiny, and are doing nothing but disrupting and blocking congressional progress in other areas. Pass out the dental drills and mock them at every turn. Show that hurricanes can and do cause oil spills. Stop just ignoring them and hope they get some sense because that is how they make the lie believable.

  • Diogenes

    says:

    Why the hell do people keep listening to people who have failed in politics? Seriously, what makes people listen to failures? You saw it in 2004, when Kerry listened to the same advice, given by the same morons, that lost the 2000 election (or allowed it to be close enough to be stolen). You saw it in 2002, when congressional morons listened to the DLC, and tried to out-right the republicans. You see it whenever someone tries to defend supply-side economics, even after Reagan had to raise taxes the year after he slashed them and after Bush the elder was hoised on that petard. You hear it now, when people listen to anyone saying that conservation is a personal virtue, without realizing that it’s really the quickest way to help. So what is it about D.C. that makes people take failed ideas seriously?

  • Rick

    says:

    Wayne, Because the Mctrolls are out. And I can see it happening that way too and it piss’s me off. Smart people I know believe the BS coming from McSame. I didn’t mean to insult you by calling you a repub, well I did, but since your not. Sorry dude.

  • John Dickerson

    says:

    Politicians’ Logic: Something must be done, this is something, therefore we must do it.
    – Yes, Prime Minister (UK TV Show)

  • N.Wells

    says:

    Wayne, I understand those fears, but I don’t think you need to worry. Gingrich’s ideas are a non-starter. Republicans were able to close down the government last time because they solidly controlled Congress so they were able to hold a budget bill hostage by refusing to schedule a vote on it. They are now a shaky and insecure minority. If they try to shut down government spending in the run-up to a general election, they are going to cause the same amount of worry as the last time, and they would be heading into a general election with a citizenry upset about not getting their social security checks, mail, medicare, etc. This time, the D’s, being in control, can simply keep calling votes and the Republicans are going to keep having to vote “no”. If they were really smart about it, the Democrats would keep offering up “compromises” that include whatever the R’s demand, plus popular stuff that is completely unacceptable to them, such as single-payer health care, generous family health care services that includes government-funded abortions, windfall taxes on large oil companies, a huge sin tax on llobbying expenditures, and the like. Before long, some of the members facing tough re-election battles would clearly cave under pressure, so the Republican effort would get much of the anger and none of the actual success.

    Language to ensure that the blame falls on the Republicans already exists, and would need only minor modification: see
    http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/legacy/121695-presidential-radio-address-on-the-budget-and-government-shutdown.htm

    Oh no Mr Gingrich, not the briar patch, anything but the briar patch …….

  • TomB

    says:

    Newt Gingrich is a bizarre person for sure. I have heard him speak on non-political issues before and he sounds smart and informed; but when it comes to politics, well that’s always a different story.

    Gingrich’s political future rose as a back-bench minority organizer and he did that quite successfully climaxing with the “Contract for America” campaign which led to a Republican Congressional majority. His downfall wasn’t “shutting down the government” (although it was a political mistake), it was the revelation of his affair while trying to impeach Bill Clinton.

    A “shutdown” over off-shore drilling would have unpredictable political consequences depending on how it was “framed.” Whichever party can frame the issue to their advantage will benefit. So far on this issue, the Republicans have been winning the “frame game” (unfortunately). That may very well change by fall, but who knows?

  • libra

    says:

    […] during the fourth day of Republican protests at the Capitol […]

    I just hope that, in the interest of conserving energy, someone had the sense to turn the AC off; it’s not as if the Congress was a grocery store, which has to keep their products cool and fresh…

  • Argus

    says:

    I guess I missed something. When did Gingrich become the tactician/spokesperson/leader of the entire Republican congressional delegation? Do McConnell and Bonehead now report to him?

    I believe that McCain will not be the republican nominee. Cheney and the rest of the cabal are not going to let some old dude on an ego trip ruin their ability to steal another close election. Its about time for McCain to drop out because of medical concerns. I expect to see a Newt/Mitt team sailing out of Minneapolis.

  • Bruno

    says:

    repugnants @ 7 said:

    I agree with the latter. however I tend to disagree that we all see through the games.

    If that were true, we wouldn’t be talking about McCain and republicans.
    nor
    would the media be talking about a ‘close’ race between and Obama
    and
    pretending that each of their proposals have merit.

    Just read some of the troll postings here… Do you think they see through all if it? I doubt it.

  • Bruno

    says:

    One of the former Presidents once said:

    A conservative is someone who doesn’t trust progress, and when in doubt he will ask his grandmother

    I”m paraphrasing here, but isn’t that what the GOP is pretty much doing.

    Replace the grandma quote with:

    McCain who could easily be everybody’s grandpa
    They keep looking at good ol’ Reagan
    Now they bring up Newt Gingrich
    and before long
    we’ll be having Tom Delay, Rick Santorum, Bill Frist, and who knows who else they drag out of the ditch.

  • toowearyforoutrage

    says:

    N.Wells @ 30 has it right.
    Unlike with Clinton, the GOP wouldn’t have the flexibility of having the government services they want go through.
    They’d hold up the whole works because the Dems would be able to clearly say, the checks are in the mail the second they stop worrying about the 6 month oil supply that Exxon Mobil is paying them to demand.

    Like everyone says. Go for it, Newt.

    I may be horribly miscalculating, but this seems suicidal on its face. To be a good idea, my political instincts have to be DEAD WRONG.
    I’d put a tenner on it that I’m not.