Report: Gingrich Stabbed Boehner In Back, Whipped GOP Opposition To Bailout

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was working aggressively behind the scenes to defeat the Wall Street rescue plan minutes before he himself released a public statement in support of the package, NBC's Andrea Mitchell reported on Tuesday.

Gingrich was whipping up votes for the opposition, Mitchell said, apparently without the knowledge of the current GOP leader, John Boehner, who was responsible for recruiting enough support from his caucus to help ensure the bill's passage. Ultimately, the GOP was only able to rally roughly a third of its members.

"Newt Gingrich," she said on MSNBC, "I am told reliably by leading Republicans who are close to him, he was whipping against this up until the last minute, when he issued that face-saving statement. Newt Gingrich was telling people in the strongest possible language that this was a terrible deal, not only that it was a terrible deal, it was a disaster, it was the end of democracy as we know, it was socialism -- and then at the last minute [he] comes out with a statement when the vote is already in place."

Indeed, as Mitchell noted, shortly before the bill's failure, Gingrich "reluctantly" came out in favor of its passage: "Therefore, while I am discouraged at the final collapse of the Bush Administration, and frustrated by the Democrats' passion for the taxpayer's money, I would reluctantly and sadly vote for the bailout were I still in office."

The rest of the set of Morning Joe had some interesting takes on the news nugget. Joe Scarborough called Gingrich's backstabbing of John Boehner "undercutting his own."

Mike Barnicle offered his own bit of reportorial insight: "Andrea, I could hug you for saying that, because I was told last night by two or they members of Congress that this was the opening salvo of Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign four years hence."

And Mika Brzezinski summed it up succinctly: "Talk about a crap sandwich," a reference to how Boehner described the bailout bill.

Comments

[hmmmmm]

newt v. boehner. who do you root for there? how about neither?

[souris]

..........­..methinks the Newtster has his eyes on 2012!!! He must think our memories are really, really short [kinda like McSame thought we wouldn't remember the Keating 5]!!!

[loria]

Why didn't he just run this year? What held him back?

You have to wonder why Gingrich inserted himself into this process when McCain is supposed to be the leader of the Republican party. Something stinks. Gingrich needs to get out of Washington and leave the process to Congress. He isn't part of Congress, so why is trying to influence people on this bill?

[Sammy00400]

To reply to your first question, I believe he did have an exploratory committee but it showed that he did not have popular support among enough republicans to be a viable candidate. I could be wrong but thats what I remember. To answer your second, to be a bigger party insider and a player in the party again.

[drec1500Madrid]

Why does Newt hate America?

[StarkRavingNakedEmperor]

For the same reason all neoCONS do--it is not quite a Fas.cist state yet.

[PT6]

WHAT THE HECK IS "GINGERINE" STILL DOING MESSING WITH THE HOUSE?

Beohner had the VOTES LINED UP HE SAID!

It was “GINGERINE” not “HURT FEELINGS” that WIPED OUT the DEAL!

"GINGERINE" like ROVE NEEDS TO DO A DISAPPEARING ACT FROM TV AND POLITICS!

They have both done enough DAMAGE TO AMERICA in their LIFETIMES!

[loria]

Yes her does. But you have to wonder why he would also screw over McCain like this.

[DuPageDem]

It's in the interests of Andrea, as a good corporate shill and wife of Greenspan, to find a boogieman on which to blame the bailout failure. Newt's the perfect candidate, since he isn't in Congress. She and the corporate class need all the congresscritters they can get, all the better to rob us with the next bailout bill.

[hmmmmm]

are you calling Andrea Mitchell a liar?

[tonycoyle]

Are you on kool-aid.

Newt was - according to multiple sources - all over the house republicans in the days leading up to the vote, and prior to the WH photo-op last week was on record encouraging McCain to disavow the bailout.

Where do you get the cute Andrea_is_­a_robot_co­ntrolled_b­y_Greenspa­n conspiracy theory?

[DuPageDem]

I don't recall denying Newt's role. That's not the point. Lots of people have their fingers in this sh*t pie. Newt's a handy fall guy because he's not in Congress, unlike the GOPers they need to pass this. As for Andrea, let's see ... she's married to Greenspan and (over)paid by GE. If you think her interest are with the people, and not the corporate class, you're the one on neon-colored artificially flavored kids drinks.

[loria]

Maybe she's diverting attention from her husband Alan Greenspan. She might be, but I still think Newt (what grown up has a name like Newt?) was there working against the bill. Why I don't know. I don't trust him or most any other Republican right now.

[frappe]

Gingrich, the author of the "Contract on America", is at it once again. Always known as a grenade thrower while in the House, he did whatever he could do politically to put the Democrats at a disadvantage, regardless of the impact on the country as a whole. Once again, Gingrich proves that Republicans have one interest supremely at heart -- a selfish, personal interest. They think everything flows from that motivation. That's the Republican philosophy. And that's why whenever Republicans control government, we have disasters -- financial and otherwise.

[loria]

I think Gingrich did try to sell out the country while making the Democrats look bad. But, the real loser in this was John McCain who was taking credit for the passage of the bill and then left holding the bag when his Republicans didn't deliver. So, ultimately, Gingrich screwed over McCain (and of course, the American people).

It makes you wonder what Gingrich was thinking. Maybe he's a secret Obama supporter.

[NTO08]

The Dems also had their flamethrow­ers...Obam­a trying to be all high and mighty with his "no politics" meme that is a lie...

[loria]

Versus McCain who claimed responsibility for the success of the passage of the bill, only to have the bill fail because the House Republicans (and Newt) threw him under the bus. McCain looked foolish last week. He was erratic and all over the place. Certainly not what we would hope for in a time of crisis. Although erratic is preferrable to clueless Palin. The chose of the two is just plain scary.

[weslenforever]

It's troubling that based on the same old Bush mantra "Do this NOW or we're DOOMED" crowd, the Democrats jumped on the band wagon. The VERY FIRST thing I would have done is to tell Paulson and Bernanke to "Take a hike" and called in someone who knows the right way to do this FOR THE PEOPLE and not FOR THE CORPORATE HACKS and who has NO ties to the Bush Administration whatsoever to give advice on how to do it right AND at the same time would have called in an independent prosecutor to INVESTIGATE every transaction and every dime the CEOs socked away going back 10 years and throw the crooks in JAIL while the investigation was going on or kept them under surveillance so they couldn't destroy evidence. Full audits and freeze their assets.
Take Bush completely out of the equation.

[loria]

If it were true that only the "corporate hacks" will suffer then you might have a point. But, I would imagine that we'll start to the effects of inaction if something isn't done relatively soon. Maybe you are right and this is a lie. But, it could also be that the real wolf is here and we just don't want to believe the administration that has cried wolf too often.

There are too many economists alarmed by the situation for me to feel that inaction is the answer. I have felt that our ecomony was living on borrowed time for awhile. There was no way that the mortgage meltdown and subprime loans could have no consequence. The housing bubble collapsed and there is no new bubble with which to prop up the economy. So, we will have to deal with the years of deregulation and lack of oversight. But, by all means, don't trust the House Republicans who want more of the same of what has gotten us here.

[tbone99]

Yes but this "rush " to action" is a little too reminscent of certain other rush jobs that Bush has forced upon us with dire warnigs. Now no one trusts anything he says ... Actually after living under the man for 8 years we do trust that whatever he says its a lie and intended only for the profit of he and his cronies...­. hence we want the opposite.

[ObamaLover]

5 years ago:
"The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government­-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios­." Democrats pushed back. "Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing". "These two entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis", said Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

[BlueInARedState]

Please specify your source.

[cadawa]

You're right. Both Parties are complicit but the impetus for deruglation came from the right wing, the accolyes of the 'free for all markets". The Democrats merely caved as is their wont.

[NTO08]

Caved and actively contributed to the demise of bill...

Many people called offices of Repub reps to tell them the bill sucked...w­hich it does...
The meme that idiots like Suzy Orman are trotting out that this is an "investment" is sheer poppycock that we would hear from people whose sole business raking in dough from Average Joes...

People underestimated the anger and rage people felt about this bill on the far right and on the left...yet financial twits are on TV saying how stupid the people ae for not knowing that defeating bill would end up costing THEM as well as WALL STREET.

[loria]

So, you are saying that this isn't the fault of the Republicans or Bush. The country isn't buying that. Bush and the Republicans have worked there hardest to bankrupt the country in every way possible. You site what you believe is the cause of this, but most of us know that it isn't true.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hale-stewart/whos-to-blame-for-the-mes_b_130044.html

Here are the causes:
1.) Bailing out LTCM set a very bad precedent

2.) Deregulation exposed banks to unnecessary risks

3.) Deregulation led to the development of an entire shadow market in CDSs

4.) Lowering interest rates to 0% after inflation led to massive speculation in real estate

5.) Lack of any regulatory oversight encouraged outright fraud

All of these combined led to a terrible problem that we are now paying for.

[NTO08]

Newt may be dirty dealing, but the Dems have their hand in dirty work, also...no one is blameless here.

However, there is substantial evidence of Dems being involved up to their eyeballs in the shenanigans that caused the markets to buckle. As I had written before, major Dems, such as Frank and Maxine Waters are on record as praising the man who singularly contributed to Fannie Mae's demise, Raines, and who is Obama's financial advisor no less...Wat­ers and Frank also are on record to have claimed that there is nothing wrong with Fannie Mae, when, of course, nothing could have been further from the truth...th­e reason for this? Keep the focus off of Fannie Mae so they could provide loans to poorer communities to offer ownership, yet, at the same time, fleece those poor people with awful loans, as it turned out, by disreputable mortgage agents who knew how easy it was for people to get terms through Fannie Mae.

Though everyone is quick to label Newt as evil personified, he and The Donald are precisely right: stop mark to market flimflam, and liquidity will be activated in record time...no need to do it permamently, but try it for a short span to see what it does...if it does as Trump and Newt claim it will, then we are on our way to taking some pressure off the problems at hand.

Aveage people suffer as two parties scam and conniver.

[ByersL]

oops, here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luwqRA0GWGc

[ByersL]

Here is the YouTube link, pretty damning for the right, they don't want Palin either!

[ByersL]

He is also seen on a YouTube video, along with George Will and some others, discussing what a disaster Palin is...very telling.

[screenname223]

Gingrich says Palin isn't ready for an interview with Katie Couric but is ready to be V.P. and President if something was to happen to McCain.

THINK ABOUT THAT.

Palin should do better in interviews, I believe she has a degree in journalism.

[democritus]

This episode was and is a political trap. If this is going to be passed with Democratic votes, it should be based on the idea of recapitalizing banks in exchange for equity. The Paulson bill should die and be replaced by one based on a fair deal for taxpayers and which punishes guilty institutions.

[NTO08]

The Dems are as guilty in this mess as Repubs...b­oth sides have conducted themselves in the most shamefully partisan, slimey manner...s­ticking this failure on Mack was a deliberate ploy that has managed to convince gullible voters...w­hen they learn how badlt Dems have acted also in all of this, things will look very diffferent­...I do not wish Mack any success in the election, but what the Dems have done is the worst form of dirty politics. It seems Obama can't win fair and square, but must resort to cheap theatrics to convince people he should be President.­..I always knew he was a product of the worst Chicago machine politics has to offer. He has proved it over and over.

[goodgravy]

the operative words are "were i still in office".

newt. the other white meat.

[darthmaul]

Newt is suppose to be the "intellectual force" of the Republican party. Did anyone notice how many plugs he got in for his website, books etc?

[NTO08]

Newt may be scheming, but he has plenty of company on the other side of the aisle...it almost resembles some bad Masterpiece Theater rendering of the Roman Senate during some of the most corrupt and debauched periods of The Empire.

[BBDisk]

Question: Why are so many here convinced that the Bailout Bill would be good for America?

Please answer honestly, without resorting to vilifying Republicans or Democrats. I want to know why you, personally, think that the bailout bill is the right thing to do.

*Is it because we're being told by our "leaders" that this is a desperate time in need of a desperate measure?

*Is it because you have some specialized knowledge of the situation?

*Is it because of some other factor heretofore unexplored?

Please elaborate.

[jnratliff]

I don't think it is a good idea. If it was it would not have come from bush and the retards.

[JiminNC]

I can only go on Bush, his experts and leaders of both houses of congress on each side of the aisle promising gloom and doom if we don't do this. I expect the same is true for most folks. I wish it were not true but really, those of us that do not have extensive economics education and access to the data they have are left with little choice but to trust our elected officials. Doesn't that suck?

[BBDisk]

I was reading an interview with Lou Dobbs who, in turn, interviewed a bunch of experts who said that the bailout was a bad idea.

I'm worried that we're being frothed into a panic by the same people who managed to froth us up for the Iraq war. I'm worried that we're being frightened into doing something that we'll really really regret.

[darthmaul]

Discount Bush, anything he usually says is a lie, or incorrect. You have to go with what the rest of the "experts" think.

[wardropper]

Not that Boehner didn't need stabbing in the back by SOMEONE.
He's arrogance incarnate.

[Pegi]

Newt is planning a run for prez. in 2012. HA HA!!! the same newt that was on the impeach bill clinton bandwagon, or lead the charge actually, and then was caught cheating on his wife.!!! i wouldn't trust him with the trash!!!