Comments by RestrainedRadical

The media, being dominated by white journalists, is totally clueless when it comes to race. Newt has said racist things but "welfare president" isn't one of them. Anyone can easily imagine him say that about a white president. If Obama were Jewish, I'm sure you'd say that Newt's constant reference to him as a "Saul Alinsky radical" is anti-Semitic.

I too have been puzzled by why people call Newt an "ideas man." Apparently, anything outside the status quo is a bold idea. They're a dime a dozen in academic journals and Newt just takes advantage of the fact that nobody reads them. BTW, there's a reason Newt doesn't talk about his tax plan. It's a joke of a plan. It reads like a parody of Perry's plan which received bipartisan ridicule. Which brings me to my other point: What good is a bold idea if it's a bad idea? Newt's one big idea in this campaign is to make poor black kids clean toilets so they can value work and stop being pimps, prostitutes, and drug dealers. These are ideas for people who hate political correctness and don't like to think. If you're incapable or unwilling to think of objections, Newt's racist plan sounds great.

One final point. I like big bold ideas. But I recognize that they don't always work as intended. 100 years ago, some politicians were probably claiming that public education will eliminate poverty. 10 years ago, ethanol was the future of energy. Then it was hydrogen. All sorts of proposals to curb health care spending have failed, most recently, eliminating fee-for-service. Newt is just a typical American who's so sure how to fix the world's problems. David Brooks would say that's a philosophically liberal tendency but it's infected the populist right as well.

With Marco Rubio as running mate, any Republican can win Florida.

Good point. By election day, Newt will be 69 years old, obese, and aspiring to the most stressful job on the planet. I think he should have to release his medical records. The people deserve to know whether he's physically fit to be president.

Newt suffers the same problem as white journalists. Not having experienced racism, they don't know what it looks like unless it's hanging from a rope on a tree. Newt errs on the side of almost nothing being racist and the media, dominated by white journalists, errs on the side of almost everything being racist. Often the media misses real racism because they don't know what that looks like. Newt's said racist stuff but it's not any of the stuff mentioned here (Newt Gingrich's Poverty Code). I think every news outlet should have to hire Larry Wilmore to help determine whether something's racist.

The VAT would most likely have to be accompanied by a reduction in personal income tax rates.

Tax avoidance is lower with a VAT than income tax.

Regarding Newt "bringing it to Obama," I remember when everyone was saying that Biden would run rings around Palin. Everyone was waiting for the bloodbath. It never came. The Republican debates have become more free-flowing but the debates with Obama (3 at most and none so close to election day) will be highly structured. They'll basically be a series of prepared remarks.

Nate Silver noted that an anti-establishment candidate has never been nominated in modern times. If it were just Newt vs. Obama, I'd say that a significant portion of the GOP will go third party, assuring Obama a victory. But Newt gets to pick a running mate acceptable to the establishment. With a Newt nomination, we'd basically have a reversal of the McCain-Palin ticket. It might be enough for establishment Republicans to hold their noses and be team players hoping for an assassination.

I think Erick Erickson reads this blog. This is what I said 3 days ago: "They love when Newt attacks. It doesn't even matter if he's attacking conservatism. The point is to show the "establishment" the finger."

Romney now has to go on the offensive for once and make the case that Newt is unelectable. This will help Santorum who's positioning himself as the compromise candidate. I'd love to see a brokered convention in my lifetime.

Everyone's saying that Newt is unelectable and I agree but I don't think he's as unelectable as some think. If he's the nominee, he's going to pivot hard to the center and he gets to pick a likeable running mate. Maybe a Hispanic or female or Hispanic female. Newt's scum but don't underestimate his ability to abandon "principles" (or wives) for political (or personal) gain.

Nobody mentioned Stephen Colbert who finished with a disappointing 1%.

A Mormon can't "marry anyone he has an affair with."

You're wrong. Newt made a deal with the devil and Obama is saying "Allahu akbar!"

The problem is the "loaded gun" is pointing at the GOP's head.

Yes, thanks to the Texas school board, no state teaches Creationism. Damn Republicans!

BTW, I was doing some reading and discovered that Democratic California governor Jerry Brown is a big advocate of local control over education. He wants to eliminate the federal Department of Education and severely limit the California DOE. Damn Democrats!

It's over.

I heard a commenter say Santorum is hoping that Newt becomes the national frontrunner because as we've seen he'll inevitably fall and Santorum will be there to get his second surge.

Newt Gingrich will not be the Republican nominee — even if it means a brokered convention

Yeah, I don't think an anti-evolution GOP ever existed. You mention the unanimous decision of the Texas school board to teach evolution only. Ironically, Democrats don't like facts that screw up their narrative that Republicans are anti-science.

He is very calculating. Politico says he kisses up to the media like no other off camera. He copied Perry's tax plan and released it one day before Perry officially released his. Newt knows politics.

Some Christians say Newt found Jesus and so deserves to be forgiven. It's a perverted view of forgiveness IMO. First, Gingrich didn't wrong me. He wronged his wives and his god. He says he's right with his god and I won't question that. But as a Catholic he must also believe in the temporal punishment due to sins sacramentally absolved. He's obviously not right with at least one of his wives. If he hasn't made temporal satisfaction for his sins, justice demands that society impose it. We don't let murderers free because they say they found Jesus. For better or worse, we don't punish infidelity as a crime. I think forfeiture of the Republican nomination is a very lenient social sanction. Even from a purely secular POV, letting Newt off the hook creates moral hazard. Society can pardon him but that's society being merciful, not as Newt probably things, something he deserves.

You seem to love increasing transaction costs. Your Tobin tax idea has been tried in Sweden and failed. I know, I know, "the idea is good but it just wasn't implemented correctly." I used to hear that from Communists.

Cap gains don't receive preferential tax treatment! Does failing to tax pencils at the same rate as income give pencils preferential tax treatment? I was for taxing cap gains at the same rate as ordinary earned income way back before I knew better.

Ron Paul was at the debate? I seriously forget he's still around sometimes.