College Republicans get a lesson in deficit spending

April 7, 2007

There’s ample evidence that Republicans in DC are not fiscally responsible, but it appears that GOP lawmakers are having an awful influence on the College Republicans who look up to them.

Take, for example, the College Republicans at the University of Vermont, who were driven out of existence by Newt Gingrich. (thanks to N.J. for the tip)

When the club invited Gingrich to speak at Ira Allen Chapel on Oct. 6, 2005, he settled for an undisclosed honorarium that was apparently higher than the College Republicans could afford. They took out a $7,000 loan from the Student Government Association to help pay the bill, but more than a year later, when the loan still wasn’t fully repaid after several ultimatums, the Student Government Association decertified them. In other words, the College Republicans were removed last month from UVM’s long list of “recognized,” or subsidized, student clubs. […]

One point everyone agrees on is that there was nothing ideological about shutting down the Republican club. It was strictly a money thing.

The fee for Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was never revealed — the College Republicans said from the beginning that his contract was confidential, and Gingrich, through his press spokesman, will not say how much it was — but an educated guess is possible.

In 2005-06, the College Republicans budgeted $25,000 for speakers, according to Maggie Doran, who works in the Student Government Association’s front office. Gingrich, who rose to national prominence in Congress during the 1990s, was the only speaker the club brought in during that academic year. The UVM President’s Office contributed $2,000 toward Gingrich’s fee, as did the Student Life Office. The sum of all those funds, plus the $7,000 from the loan, comes to $38,000. Such a figure is not uncommon for someone of Gingrich’s national stature.

That’s true; a $38,000 speaking fee is not uncommon — but it is more than the University of Vermont’s College Republicans could afford. They spent it anyway.

In other words, the College Republicans acted much the same way Congress’ Republicans have acted for years, spending money they don’t have and can’t repay.

Here’s hoping the students at least got a good speech out of Gingrich before having to close shop.

So, the little boys and girls from Brazil couldn’t ask their mommies and daddies to bail them out, the way Georgie-Porgie-Pudd’n’n-Pie would have done???

Oh, right – the Student Government Association should have just forgiven the loan because… because… because they’re Republicans, and that makes it right.

  • Way to go, Newt! I mean, a small, anonymous donation of, say $7,000 wouldn’t have broken the bank. Then again, I guess that would have been setting a bad example for all those kids who need to learn that you grab all you can in this world and screw everyone else.

  • beep52 nails it.

    Newt taught them a lesson in “how to be a REAL Republican”!

    They probably learned it, too.

  • My only question is . . . a College Republicans club at UVM??? What, did it have only, maybe, two people in it????

    But, yes, I agree with the above comments. Republicans. They get on my nerves.

  • Gingrich was asked Monday, via e-mail, if he realized that his appearance in Burlington had effectively led to the decommissioning of the UVM Republican club. A reply came from Joe DeSantis, communications director of Gingrich Communications: “We have no comment.”

    Sounds much better than “Who gives a damn about a bunch of snot-nosed brats?”

    From the article:

    “There are some conservatives here,” said Marissa Nickelsberg, a sophomore, “but you’re more accepted if you’re a Democrat.”

    Waaah. People prefer friends who don’t have moral leprosy, how unfair.

  • I hope the College Dems put an extra lock on their clubhouse door and take home the petty cash box and other valuables between meetings. RepubCo youth will go steal their stuff if they think there’s anything there that they can use to replenish their reserves.

    And yes, beep52 sums it up.

  • I took the time to read the linked article and it’s pretty amazing. Here are some tidbits I gleaned from it:

    The Republican club had about 200 members.

    UVM collects $71 from each student as student fees. They have about 8800 students, which results in about a budget of $1.2 million. This is divided amongst all the recognized and registered campus clubs.

    The Republican club had an approximate budget of $ 25K

    The Republican party that is supposed to be the ‘business savvy’ bunch figured that by charging $5 to attend the event (a little more for reserved seats) it would cover the total cost of the event.

    They were able to only collect 2 donations of $100 each.

    Considering that the Republican party is all about personal responsibility and small government, it seems that this particular club was more about depending on the government (student government fees) handouts, than chipping in themselves.

    The members were too stingy to come up with a measly $35 each to cover the shortfall in their budget. ($ 7000 in the hole divided by the 200 members) They choose ‘bankruptcy’ over taking responsibility. Aren’t the Republicans the party that looks down on anybody who walks away from their responsibilities?

    Luckily the Student Goverment will be able to recoup their money by witholding it from future budget considerations. But doesn’t this mean that all the other groups will be affected as well?

    IRONY: The article also mentioned that UVM has a socialist club. That club seems to be considered to be active on campus. It hosts an average of 6 speakers per year. They have fewer members, and they are actually able to live within the means of their ‘smaller’ budget.

    WOW. The Republican party could take some lessons from the Socialists. Not only their in Vermont but in Washington DC as well.

  • UVM has a socialist club. That club seems to be considered to be active on campus. It hosts an average of 6 speakers per year.

    Bet they come a lot cheaper!

  • UVM—the “No ReThug Zone.” Betcha O’Reilly’s all over this thing within a week. It’ll give him a new screaming-point….

  • Not that I’m weeping tears for the Young Republicans – of all the guest speakers they could choose from, they chose Gingrich? – but it takes an extra special kind of dirtbag to gouge a bunch of college kids for $38,000.

    Man, if Gingrich somehow gets the GOP nomination, this would be an excellent story for a Democratic attack ad during the general election.

  • How is there even such a thing as a Young Republican or College Republican group at any college right now? If their not in Iraq, then their hypocrites. I personally don’t respect the opinions of anyone in their 30s or younger who take a pro-war or pro-Bu$h stance.

  • Enrico Caruso once agreed to perform for a charity run by NYC wealthy women
    for a specified fee. the women tried to stiff him of his fee by making a devious appeal to his generosity and altruism. Caruso insisted on payment upfront, but after the performance endorsed his check over to the charity with the comment “Caruso the performer must be paid but Caruso the man gives willingly”. An apocryphal story? Dunno, read it somewhere.

  • Heraclitus: “I personally don’t respect the opinions of anyone in their 30s or younger who take a pro-war or pro-Bu$h stance.”

    Why in heaven’s name do you have an age qualification here? Personally I have no respect for anybody who is pro-war or pro-Bush, and I have even more contempt for those whose greater age and experience should give them better judgment.

    • Comments are closed.