The Real Newt Gingrich: Special Interest Shill
As Newt Gingrich prepares to address leading conservative activists at this weekend's National Review Institute summit, recent reports are shining a harsh light on his true motivations.
Last weekend, the Philadelphia Inquirer revealed that Gingrich has been using his health care think tank to promote the business interests of one of its corporate backers. [Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/21/07] Later in the week, the Washington Post reported that Gingrich's new 527 group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, took a $1 million contribution from casino CEO Sheldon Adelson, a long-time donor to the Republican Party. Adelson's contribution "dwarfed" all other checks to the group, which totaled just $60,000. [Washington Post, 1/23/07] Finally, Fortune magazine noted that Gingrich’s post-Congressional career is "making him rich" as he travels the country collecting "lecture fees of $50,000 a speech, at the rate of about 60 [speeches] per year." [Fortune, 1/22/07]
"Given the huge speaking fees he draws and the shadowy network of financing for his think tanks and non-profit groups, Newt Gingrich should start tomorrow's speech with a disclaimer," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. "After all, Gingrich's audiences have a right to know whose ideas he’s shilling, so they can see that he's just another overpaid pundit trying to attract bigger contracts."
From Speaker to Shill In Just Eight Years
Newt's Corporate Speaking Fees, Think Tank "Making Him Rich." "Eight years after stepping down as House Speaker, Gingrich runs a for-profit think tank, the Center for Health Transformation, that promotes his ideas while ensuring a handsome living for the former public servant...[T]he center offers policy ideas to companies that want to get health-care costs off their backs but oppose government-imposed, universal-health-insurance plans as costly and burdensome. The center's roster of 75 clients is impressive, including insurers Blue Cross & Blue Shield and GE Healthcare, providers like the American Hospital Association, and employers like GM and Ford. Clients pay fees ranging from $10,000 to $200,000 a year. Along with lecture fees of $50,000 a speech, at the rate of about 60 per year, Mr. Speaker's new career is making him rich." [Fortune, 1/22/07]
Gingrich Using Health Care Think Tank to Shill for Corporate Backers. The Philadelphia Inquirer highlighted Gingrich's use of his health care think tank to promote the business interests of one of its corporate backers. Through his Center for Health Transformation, Gingrich has been calling for the creation of a national electronic medical network that would, in his words, contain an "electronic health record for every person" that would "start with prenatal care and end with analytics after you passed away." As the Inquirer pointed out, the center is backed by Siemens, who has been "trying to boost its presence in the electronic-medical-record market." [Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/21/07]
Newt Took $1 Million Check from Casino Exec. For 527 Group. According to the Washington Post Gingrich's new 527 group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, took a $1 million contribution from casino CEO Sheldon Adelson last November. A long-time Republican donor, Adelson's contribution "dwarfed" all other checks to the group, which totaled just $60,000. Despite Gingrich's claim of bipartisanship, the group "is clearly courting conservatives" by proposing "private savings accounts for Social Security, 'patriotic education' in public schools and the appointment of judges who understand the 'centrality of God in American history.'" "Kent Cooper, a former Federal Election Commission official, said: 'A check of this size could either bankroll the start of a new organization or underwrite the exploration, traveling and contacts of a potential presidential candidate...' Adelson's check underscores the uncomfortable position that Republicans face on the issue of gambling. The party rose to power under Gingrich in the early 1990s on the strength of social and religious conservatives, and many of the latter oppose gambling on moral grounds... 'The problem is the income comes from what we call a vice, and that is an issue,' said the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, which has long been a powerful voice on social issues inside the GOP." [Washington Post, 1/23/07]
