TV Nation - Newt & Mike Save America

Run time: 09:24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJWemnpvrSM   Posted on YouTube: April 02, 2011 By YouTube Member: koalafrog Views on YouTube: 2798   Posted on DU: May 15, 2011 By DU Member: democracy1st Views on DU: 404

 
A segment from Michael Moore's TV Nation (1994) in which Mike takes note of the fact that Cobb County, Georgia, home to outspoken "big government" critic Newt Gingrich, is the third largest receiver of federal funds. The show then tries to relieve Cobb County of government interference by closing its federally funded highways, schools, sewer system, and senior center.

FLASHBACK: As Gingrich Calls Obama A ‘Food Stamp President’, He Was One Of Biggest Spenders In Congress

Last night, GOP presidential primary candidate Newt Gingrich appeared at the Georgia Republican Party’s state-wide convention, where he delivered a wide-ranging speech covering a variety of issues related to his presidential run.

At one point during the speech, Gingrich derided progressive economic policies that value public investment and spending to get back to work, saying that “we’re at the crossroads” and that “down one road is a European centralized bureaucratic socialist welfare system” and the other road is a “proud, solid reaffirmation of American exceptionalism.” He then went on to declare Obama to be a “food stamp president”:



http://youtu.be/W-WfXCDhWsA

The theme of Gingrich’s economic critique was clear and blunt: Democrats and progressives want to use government to stifle the economy and imagine a future of government dependency for everyone. Gingrich, on the other hand, believes in the free market and capitalism, which are the correct paths.

There’s one glaring problem with Gingrich’s narrative: as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 1990′s, he himself was one of the most avid big spenders in the entire country, using government cash to enrich his district and lift it up to being one of the wealthiest in the country.

During his tenure in Congress, Gingrich represented large portions of Cobb County, Georgia. Cobb was a mostly-white district and largely suburban — completely different from the crude stereotypes Gingrich and others used to blast the welfare state, which were generally portrayed as minority-heavy urban environments. At the same time Gingrich was working with President Bill Clinton to cut back on spending for programs for the poorest Americans, Gingrich made Cobb one of the most subsidized districts in the entire country.




http://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/14/gingrich-was-big-spender/