Newt Gingrich: Obama Has "Already Failed" (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Monday urged some 2,000 Republican party loyalists to stand up for GOP principles but to be inclusive as the party tries to retake the majority. He also declared that President Barack Obama's policies had "already failed."

"I am happy that Dick Cheney is a Republican," Gingrich said at the annual Senate-House fundraising dinner. "I am also happy that Colin Powell is a Republican."

Cheney, the former vice president under President George W. Bush, and Powell, who was Bush's secretary of state, have feuded recently over the approach of the party, with Powell calling for more moderation and Cheney arguing against that.

"A majority Republican party will have lots of debates within the party," Gingrich, the former Georgia congressman, said. "That is the nature of majority parties."

On President Obama, Gingrich was less magnanimous.

He said President Barack Obama's plan to save the economy through stimulus spending and government intervention in companies like General Motors has "already failed."

Gingrich also referenced a popular right-wing attack on Obama, saying that "bowing to the Saudi king is not an energy policy."

Standing in as the party's de facto leader, Gingrich was filling a speaking role that Bush held in recent years and that was initially offered to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president, this year. He headlined a series of speakers who gave the crowd a blistering review of President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill.

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Despite the rallying cry, the GOP faithful still weren't opening their wallets as they have in recent past. The event took in a relatively small fundraising haul of $14.5 million, the lowest total in at least five years. Last year, it raised $21.5 million, compared with $15.4 million in 2007 and $27 million in 2006.

Committee officials attributed the drop partly to the struggling economy and pointed out that when Bush headlined, he gave the dinner a bigger draw for donations..

The event, held in a hall resembling a small arena at the downtown Washington convention center, is one of the party's largest fundraisers of the year, drawing major donors and lawmakers whose support would be key to a presidential campaign. Organizers said some 150 members of Congress attended Monday's dinner.

Gingrich's remarks about inclusion came after he was criticized for calling Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a racist over her comments that a "wise Latina" would reach a better conclusion than a white man without similar experiences. Gingrich backed away from that criticism last week, saying his comments may have been too harsh.

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Associated Press writer Beth Fouhy in New York contributed to this report.

Comments

[FormerReaganite]

Gingrich has already failed. Sore loser. Did you hear about how he accused Sotomeyer of "faking" a broken ankle?

[PINO]

I wouldn't put it pass the dumbocrats to have her fake the broken ankle. More sympathy from (Olbermann and Mathews) that the left can then accuse the Republicans of being mean.

Boo Hoo.

[imworking4me]

We just finished eight years of with a fake Repug president--thanks to fake election results in 2000!

[mychagal]

Newt Gingrich is the lowest of the low. This is what the republican party has? It's 2009. Are they going backwards? It's amazing to me that he, of all people, he is the new/old representative of this seriously ailing party. They can't even make up their mind if they love or hate Sarah Palin. Newt with four divorces. What a mess!

[PINO]

The obama administration predicted that the massive deficit spending obama pushed in the stimulus would save the country from runaway unemployment, which they defined as 8.8%. With unemployment racing higher than the doomsday predictions after spending $800 billion on liberal pet projects, even the Looney-Left has to realize that this administration is in serious trouble.

Politically, it is the point at which people start looking for someone to blame. obama and his people will blame the president’s predecessor. Why not. He has been playing the "blame" card for the past 5 months. The problem, of course, is that the blame game gets harder when it becomes possible to link obama’s actions to soaring unemployment figures.

Here's the problem. The real unemployment rate, as opposed to the official rate, is well over 15 percent. That’s because the official unemployment rate — which as of Friday stood at at 9.4 percent, following another leap in jobless claims for May — is not, figured in the way that that the average person thinks of unemployment, meaning figured the way it was estimated back during the Great Depression.

obama has been in charge for almost five months and got every single bit of economic policy he wanted from Congress. If the economy remains mired and debt keeps skyrocketing, people will start to ask what they got for all of their great-gran­dchildren’­s money. Even a Party of No will look pretty good in comparison under those conditions, and perhaps especially so.

[mychagal]

PINO,

Look again, pal. It's not the left that's looney. It's the also ran republican debacle, what you call the republican party. The GOP is the party of nothing. They should be exiled to another planet before they cause anymore damage.

It's so fun to watch.

[PINO]

It is sad to see that there are still those like 'mychagal' and his 'pals', who are delusional, and wont or can't accept the basic facts that obama is running this country into the ground.

Regardless of facts put forth on paper or in the news, they just can't stop drinking the koolaid.

[juanjo]

Pino

You need to stop the selective editing. All along Obama has said that things will get worse before they get better particularly when it comes to unemployment [an issue I am facing right now]. Employment is typically one of the last things to recover in a recession. But if you look at the indicators, things have started to improve, albeit not dramatically. The market is up, banks are starting to lend again and people have started to have a more positive attitude which is critical in any economic recovery.

I am not happy with the level of debt either but I cannot lay all that at the feet of Obama or the democrats. 8 years of Republican borrow and spend policies is a major contributor.

[PINO]

Wait. Be patient. It is about to get worse. And there is nothing obama is doing that will fix the problem. All I am stating is that he sold America on the fact that unemployment will only go to 8.8%. It is now at 9.4% but many economists believe those numbers are skewed and unemployment is really at 15%.

Why then should I put my faith in a "Pretender" who doesn't know what in the heck he is doing to this country.

As for the level of debt, Yes you can lay that at obama's feet. No other president has quadrupled our debt in such a short time. Granted Bush signed off on TARP1, but so did obama. And then TARP2 was all obama, and then the pork-a-stimulus bill, all obama. And now he wants to saddle this country with universal single payer health care/insurance.

You say the market is up. Tell me when it reaches the 12,000 mark. Then I will agree with you that the market is up. Until then those numbers at the 8,000 mark are what I say back in 2001, around the time that Bush took office.

Give it up 'juanjo'. obama is bad news. I hate to tell you but all indicators are showing that come summer, inflation will rise. obama and his crew will continue to print money. The you will see hyper-inflation with the dollar devalued.

Bad times are on the horizon...

[TruEngineHearing]

These loonies are still out there and still dangerous and nowhere near capitulating on anything. Gingrich lies with deep passion because, for him, truth is subservient to honor and loyalty. I am not interetsed in someone like that for neighbor, let alone as a leader of anything.

[manofmystique]

continue from above:

It is peculiar why the media doesn’t bring this to his intention during interviews, this suggest to me that they are complicit in aiding Newt and other Obama haters in doing whatever they can to dishonor or discredit the President. This is truly sad; and as far as I’m concern it is pathetic and unpatriotic too

[mychagal]

Most people understand things for what they are. They can see that Obama is brilliant and is managing to get a lot done and is doing a great job.

Who's going to listen to a politician who was prominent a generation to go. It's embarassing. All the GOP have is Palin, Gingrich, Limbaugh (who's not even a politician) and a newly annointed Jon Voight who must be nuts becoming a republican at this point.

It's a wonder that the GOP, vis a vis the Bush administration, having done so much damage in the last 8 years, are still standling, let alone having fundraisers. They have this loser as the keynote speaker. What an embarassment!

[manofmystique]

This kind of "nonsense" is a prime reason why America is in such bad condition. Think about it, this "intellectual" idiot once was a Leader of the House. That should tell you everything you need to know. This nincompoop even said that Sarah Parlin and John McCain would have been better for the country. I dare anyone to make a good cast for that out of touch statement. Challenge me if you will. Talk about a dumb thing to say.
What is in the cool-age his followers and media drinking? A man who speaks like that should never be on a national stage addressing ordinary people. There's a special audience for a disturbed individual like Newt Gingrich.
The reality is Newt’s hate for Obama is what drives him today. It took a black President to expose the true nature of Newt Gingrich.
Newt, like bonehead Sean Hannity, can not control their dislike for the black President. This is what all of this about, hating on the black President. They are against everything Obama stands for and because of that they will say the most stupid things imaginable.
Newt needs to be confronted with the fact that his idol former President Ronald Regan once said “I am a citizen of the world”. I would pay to see this hate-monger explain him self then.

[fireW]

Obama has already failed? Right. The sun has risen, the birds are singing, the grass is still green; a new day has begun. And Gingerich has already lied through his teeth. What else is new? Seems like only yesterday . . .

[mychagal]

Right, Obama has failed? Who is Newt kidding? If anything can be gleened and learned by the GOP, is their complete inability to look inside themselves for answers as to why they are such monumental failures. The concept of taking responsibility for their actions is an alien concept.

Until they are willing to do that they will continue to fail. 21% of the American population admit to being republicans. They have hit rock bottom. If they keep the same old republicans around as leaders and keep talking about a dead president, there will no longer be a republican party!

[Whinger]

Another one of Limbaugh's delusional children, the sound his a voice crying in the wilderness!

[Subtle]

Not in office for 6 months and he's already failed? No Newt. His work has just begun.

You on the other hand... well looky here! I'm the 1999th commenter. Does the number 1999 bring anything to mind Newt?

[ladycubsfan]

I see the right-wing nutters are on here, still trying to spin their web of lies. What is it going to take to get them to see that their way of doing things is one big, fat failure. We are never going down that road again, if I have anything to say about it. And, judging from the poll numbers, I am NOT alone.
Obama's change campaign succeeded for a reason. Republicans will never change. They just keep trying to recycle the same crap in a different package. But it's STILL CRAP.

[OptimusMaximus]

Yes we are, and how are you?

Can you elucidate any of our "lies" so that we could debate you on them?

Or is hurling insults the extent of your debting skills?

[fran-pan]

unfortunately newt's brain has failed but his empty words go on and on..does he think that we don't remember the three wives and the corruption when he was speaker?????

[nana4g]

Gingrich looks like Hammas Leader. Cheney is bin Laden. Palin is Tokyo Rose. Every once in awhile, Cantor surfaces and says something in just utter wonderment, usually when he thinks he has something with teeth in it that he can use to his advantage.

[Okay]

The agenda of the Obama administration isn't nearly so bold and revolutionary as the unprecedented break neck speed at which it has creatively employed its unconstitutional tactics in pursuit of their agenda. The scariest part of the Obama led administration is its glaring willingness to trample years of case law and almost dare anyone to get in the way. It is a very unnerving administration to watch as it continues to issue forth executive orders, bills, and programs at light speed to apparently ensure no true review by either the people or its representatives and subsequently no fair opposition to bog it down.

Our laws give us the ability to live in security. To fairly predict the outcomes and consequences of our efforts and actions. A government body which consistently eludes or circumvents these laws negates its agreement with the people - that in and of itself should scare the daylights out of the average citizen. This was the foundation of the opposition to the previous administration.

I believe there is a valid argument to be made that this administration threatens our security not through its agenda which appears to be very noble - but through its methods of execution.

[McFlipFlop]

Oh god. Examples? Just more blather to scare people.

[Okay]

I don't do pictures. Sorry.

[ExPatriot70]

I really think you are talking about the miserable last 8 years with the rethugs in power and G.W in particular

[propitiousmoment]

Kindly enumerate the multitude of executive orders Obama has issued since taking office. Very few, actually. Kindly give at least one example of "years of case law" that the Obama admin has "trampled". You have not lost any predictability due to Obama's admirable work ethic and ability to persuade Congress to act at something more than glacial speed. You should turn your considerable emotional energy to something where you can do some good instead of just freaking yourself out.

[Phxflyer]

If anyone knows about failure, it's Newt.

[BeyondKen]

So, Newtie, how's your 401K doing? (Mine's up 17% since President Obama took office)

[tqjones44]

Nice!

[OptimusMaximus]

I would love to see a comparison of his 401K to yours.

He has been tremendously successful, from publishing books, to his American Solutions, and a multitude of other initiatives since he left office.

I would love to achieve his "failure" you guys rant about at that level.

You should wish to be so lucky.