By the time you read this it will be after Thanksgiving. But it you were like me and happened to be watching the news coverage of the Republican Presidential primary candidates earlier in the week, your overstuffed turkey was delivered a few days prematurely. The turkey is Newt Gingrich and I’m talking about his message to the people who are taking part in the Occupy Wall Street movement, saying to them, “Go get a job right after you take a bath.”
Go get a job? That’s easy for him to say. But not all of us can land one of those lucrative gigs being a “consultant” for Freddie Mac, which by all accounts brings in a lot of money for a little bit of work.
Craig Smith
The arrogance of Gingrich is nothing short of astounding. Last weekend he told an audience at an Iowa family values forum that, “All the Occupy movement starts with the premise that we owe them everything. They take over a public park they didn’t pay for, to go nearby to use bathrooms they didn’t pay for, to beg for food from places they don’t want to pay for, to obstruct those who are going to work to pay the taxes to sustain the bathrooms and to sustain the park, so they can self-righteously explain they are the paragons of virtue to which we owe everything.”
Never mind that many of those protesters pay sales tax every time they purchase goods and undoubtedly pay property taxes either through the rent they paid to their landlords or on the homes they own that could very well be “underwater” due to the lending practices that were condoned by Gingrich’s client Freddie Mac.
Of course, acknowledging that would mean that Gingrich would be biting the hand that feeds the overstuffed turkey.
By the way, how much was Newt paid by Freddie Mac? According to a recent article that appeared on the Huffington Post, Gingrich said he couldn’t remember exactly how much he was paid. Although Gingrich may not remember the officials at Freddie Mac certainly do. One of them said it was at least $1.5 million for consulting contracts stretching from 1999 to 2007.
Has anyone ever gotten so much and given back so little?
According to that Huff Post article, Gingrich began doing work for Freddie Mac in 1999 when he was brought in for “strategic consulting,” primarily on legislative and regulatory issues. He was reportedly paid about $25,000 to $30,000 a month. That job ended sometime in 2002.
In 2006, Gingrich was hired again on a two-year contract that paid him $300,000 annually, again to provide strategic advice while the company fended off attacks from the right wing of the Republican Party.
Wait a minute! Isn’t Gingrich part of the right wing of the Republican Party? This “consulting fee” sure sounds a lot like protection money.
I’m sure that many of you, like myself, were outraged by Gingrich’s comments, but we’re not the only ones. Mika Brzezinski, who co-hosts the “Morning Joe” show on MSNBC reacted to what he said by calling him “the biggest hypocrite in the Republican field.” She raised the question of whether what Gingrich had to say would make some people “wonder if they should even live in this country anymore, if that’s who the Republicans are gonna pick as their nominee.”
I wonder too.
Now, I can’t say that I honestly agree 100 percent with the Occupy Movement when it comes to message and tactics. Much of their message is muddled and blocking traffic probably isn’t the best way to win friends and influence people. But I can say this. If there is anybody who epitomizes the one percent of the population who controls so much of the wealth in this country and who is quick to claim that anyone who suggests that perhaps they should pay a little more in taxes is a “socialist” or “un-American,” it’s Newt Gingrich.
It’s outrageous that Gingrich and his acolytes can be so contemptuous of those who are making an effort to exercise their rights of free speech while attempting to engage the country in a civil discourse about how the distribution of wealth in this country has become so unbalanced.
The fact that Gingrich would have the nerve to do this is enough to make one’s skin crawl. I’ve never met Newt but if I ever did, I feel like I’d probably have to take a bath afterwards.
Craig Smith is a blogger and observer of the cultural scene.
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