Lies, Thieves, and Presidential Candidates

Isn’t it disgusting that if you are famous enough you can steal from the public and not get so much as a slap on the wrist. As long as you do not actually declare you are a candidate, you do not have to comply with Federal rules of what you do with your donations. You can raise millions and spend it on yourself. That is what Newt Gingrich did with American Solutions. He raised over 14.5 million dollars in 2010 and spent over 13 million on himself.

So Newt can announce a new website to collect donations to explore the idea if he should run for President. He just cannot actually declare his candidacy or he would have to account for the expenditure. Newt can get away with this because he appears as a potential serious candidate. You and I cannot get away with this. Anything we do to scam people out of 14.5 million will cause us to be arrested for fraud. But, since Newt Can pass himself as a potentially viable candidate he can accept donations for exploring the possibility of running and spend the money as he sees fit. He is stopping short of setting up an exploratory committee, which would have made him a legal candidate. He will only have to disclose his fund raising and spending if he ultimately jumps into the race. If you have extra money you want to flush down the hopper:

Newt’s biggest claim to fame is welfare reform. Wouldn’t you know that someone that scams people out of money would have as his  principal accomplishment  reform to  ensure those getting government help cannot acquire undeserved funds for their family.

And here is a little oldie but goodie, this wing nut conservative was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair.

His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Although Gingrich has said he doesn't remember it, Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery.

And from "Newt's a Beaut" by Mickey Porter published in the July 25, 2000 edition of the Akron Beacon Journal:

"Gingrich's most recent ex-wife says he ditched her eight months after finding out she had multiple sclerosis. Marianne Gingrich, 48, shopping a book proposal "both personal and political" about how women are treated in D.C., says the ex-speaker of the House told her on Mother's Day 1999 that he wanted a divorce, after learning she had a neurological condition that could lead to MS. In 1981, the former congressman told his other ex-wife, Jackie Battley, that he was dumping her, after she had been hospitalized with cancer. Newt, 57, will wed ex-congressional aide Callista Bisek, 34 -- with whom he had an affair while still married to Marianne -- on Aug. 18. "

 So why is this man still a hero of the right?  I have no idea how those people think.  In an interview with POLITICO, Gingrich reiterated his support for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's attempts to curb collective bargaining for government workers, and said he has been in touch with Walker, for whom he campaigned last year:

"Walker's not going to back off an inch, and he's going to win"

So he supports Walker who has set as his goal the elimination of collective bargaining in Wisconsin.  Just like Newt, Walker works for the ruling class and despises the middle class.