Inside the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin, a ballroom packed with nearly 200 Las Vegas conservatives awaited an appearance by Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. For many folks on the right, he served as the only effective resistance to the liberal policies of then-President Bill Clinton. Co-drafter of the Contract with America, Gingrich was instrumental in helping Republicans take over the House for the first time since 1954.
As significant as the Contract with America was at the time in holding Republicans accountable for — among other things, not raising taxes — Gingrich now has bigger initiatives in mind. He recently launched a grassroots program called “American Solutions for Winning the Future,” which he hopes will get people involved in the process of securing a better world for our children and grandchildren.
“[American Solutions] is not about Republicans or Democrats,” he emphasized at one point during his hour-long talk on June 20. “It’s about creating exciting new approaches to issues like healthcare, national security and energy independence.”
The event was sponsored by Muslims for America, a bipartisan nonprofit group seeking to recruit citizens of the Muslim world against terrorism. In March, Muslims for America nominated Gingrich for President in 2008, despite the fact that the former Speaker continues to mull a decision about whether to run or remain a figure at the grassroots level. Taking the position that an “Irreconcilable Wing of Islam” doesn’t allow for negotiation, Gingrich insists America is in a fight it can’t afford to back down from. At the same time, however, he believes the current tactics employed in combating Jihad are deeply flawed.
Gingrich also touched on issues ranging from immigration to the recent electoral triumph of French conservatives. But he devoted the majority of his talk to the premise governing American Solutions: The current political and governmental system, he notes, “is failing to create the changes necessary to enable America to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.” Only a new, historic transformational movement can create the dialogue needed to devise solutions and educate the American people so they impose changes on politics and government to allow for better decision-making. Clearly, Gingrich considers American Solutions to be a resource for substantive policy transformation.
Before Gigrich’s talk, Liberty Watch had an opportunity to speak with many attendees eager to hear what the former Speaker had to say. They were excited about his potential candidacy, and stressed that, for them and many other conservatives, Gingrich represents a real break from the stasis plaguing the conservative end of the political spectrum.
Also present were members of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a free-market think tank that searches for “private solutions for public solutions facing Nevada,” with offices in Las Vegas. NPRI is hosting Gingrich’s next Southern Nevada appearance on Sept. 27 at the Venetian for the group’s 16th anniversary dinner celebration.
Liberty Watch also had a chance to interview Gingrich in order to learn more about his thoughts on the day’s burning questions. Here is what he had to say.
You’ve been traveling the country to speak with people about healthcare and healthcare reform. But what are you hearing back from them? What do Americans want or expect from their health system?
Well, I think people want more prevention, more wellness. They want more knowledge about the cost and the quality of the health system. And I think they want to find a way to have 100-percent insurance coverage, because they worry about losing a job or ending up being uninsurable. But my sense is that there’s a lot of interest in a better, more effective and more affordable health system.
Any desire to see Michael Moore's forthcoming documentary, SiCKO, about the inadequacies of the U.S. healthcare system?
No. I think SiCKO by “Sicko” is not something I want to waste my time seeing.
The immigration issue continues to heat up with President Bush pushing Congress to accept what many critics are calling an amnesty plan. What will happen to the U.S. if the bill passes and the President signs it into law?
Well, I don’t think the plan can be implemented. I think that if they pass it in its current form, it will be an absurdity. It will not be implementable. It will be further proof of the collapse of federal bureaucracy and it will be an enormous mistake.
How big a role do you see the Internet in the upcoming 2008 election?
The Internet is very helpful in the same way that, once upon a time, weekly newspapers or radio or television were helpful. [The Internet is] a tool; it’s a way for lots of people to get educated. At American Solutions, we’re frankly exploring how to make involvement and participation as available for everybody as possible.
The President recently vetoed a bill that would have allowed for an expansion in stem-cell research. What’s the big deal about this issue?
I’m puzzled by the lapsed passion about the issue, because there’s more and more evidence that you can use adult stem cells in a way that is very effective and that may actually in the long run be more usable and more practical. I think a lot of this is about politics. I’m very much in favor of research. I helped double the National Institute of Health budget [when I was in office]. I just wrote an article that will be published this weekend in favor of more research at NIH. And I think unfortunately a lot of people on the Left want to use this as a political issue rather than find the fastest way to get to the best scientific research to discover cures.
In your writings, you have repeatedly warned about the danger posed by what you call “the Irreconcilable Wing of Islam.” But that wing is growing bigger and stronger in the Middle East in the form of Hamas thanks to President Bush's failed policies in that area of the world. How do we turn the Middle East around? What will it take on the part of the U.S.?
I think we’re going to have to reach a decision — and our allies are going to have reach decisions — that shows we’re prepared to do whatever it takes to win this war, and to recognize how big this war is. And that includes a new doctrine for how you govern urban areas. It includes dramatically better intelligence capabilities. It includes being able to identify people in contested areas with real-time information. And it includes a willingness to police the schools and police the mosques and to ensure that no hate language is permitted. And I think it means a fundamental replacement of the U.N. refugee camps with an opportunity for people to own private property, create jobs, seek prosperity and have a better life for themselves and their children. Those camps are a primary cause of the current fanaticism, and frankly the United Nations deserves a great deal of blame for the way in which human beings have been kept in those camps.
French conservatives secured a big victory in last month’s national elections. But what about French conservatives’ puzzling inability to truly capitalize on a huge majority that was theirs for the taking? What happened?
It’s very ironic. The French have a system where, on the first Sunday, anybody who gets over 50 percent is elected, and then in the districts where nobody got 50 percent, there’s a runoff between the top two [candidates]. On the first Sunday, a hundred conservatives were elected to one Socialist — the biggest one-sided first round in history. But in the following two weeks, the new government indicated they might have a tax increase. And that cost them, by my calculation, about 140 seats, because people don’t want tax increases. I was a little surprised that [newly elected Prime Minister of France Nicolas] Sarkozy allowed [raising taxes] to be an issue, because it’s a guaranteed loser.
What do you think of Ron Paul’s startling Internet candidacy? And what do you make of Paul? Is he a kook a la Ross Perot or legitimate presidential material?
Look, Ron Paul is a smart, hard-working, very sincere Libertarian who I think very effectively advocates his views. I think they’re the views of a relatively small minority, but it’s a minority that’s passionate, activist and he deserves respect. I know that in one of the debates he was actually the candidate people were most impressed with.
In your talk tonight, you stated you interpret Michael Bloomberg’s recent switch from the Republican party to an independent as a sign that he’s running for president. Have you heard about his experimental anti-poverty program in New York City that rewards people for going out and getting jobs? It’s all funded through private donations, though. What are your thoughts on a program like this?
Bloomberg is a very practical guy, and he likes doing things that work. And it turns out that, if you provide incentives for people to go working, they go to work. He’s been trying to find a way to break through with hardcore poverty. Look, I think he’s a very smart man. I have deep respect for Mike, and I think he’s been a very good mayor for New York City.
For more information on American Solutions, go to americansolutions.com.
