Gingrich a lobbyist?

One thing that all politicians want to avoid if they are ever going to be running for President of the United States is the idea that they are lobbyists or ever were lobbyists.  What is it about being a lobbyist that creates such a stir in the political realm?  Well it is the idea that people can pay them to support their ideas, and people fear that even as they are running and if they become president that these companies can continue to pay them and they will implement companies ideas for their own personal benefit.  This is a problem because then it is no longer a democracy but instead it is companies and only the richest of those that start to influence and run the United States which is what we don't want.
So the question is was Newt a lobbyist and if he was is he still?  Gingrich will adamantly deny that he ever had any hand in being a lobbyist.  However he did start a group called Center for Health Transformation.  And in this Center he allows health care ideas and companies to come in and pay him as he supports their ideas.  He says that they are just ideas that he is in support of already and that he is simply a consultant to these companies but things look a little suspicious.  Especially when companies are paying Newt over seventy thousand dollars a year plus stock options if he will point them in the right direction.
Will this hurt his chances in the election?  It depends on how the American people view this type of performance.  It seems that much of politics is giving favors to others so I am sure that other of the candidates have done similar things, it just depends on how far in it Newt is.  Further investigation will let us know, but for now I would be skeptical of anyone who seems to be getting paid off by big companies.

Leaders taking a hit.

Lately the big leaders of the republican party nomination have been taking hard hits not only from each other but also from the Obama administration.  To start out there is Herman Cain and the scandals that have come out against him.  Then there is the question as to what Romney really believes and if he will stick with his views throughout the presidency.  Thirdly perry took a hard hit from the name of his ranch in Texas.
To start out there have been many women that have come forward and said that Herman Cain had either made a pass at them sexually or actually tried to have sex with them.  Cain denied these and said that these were just people trying to get him to look bad and drop out, but he wasn't taking it.  However just this week a women came out and said that her and Herman have been having a thirteen year affair!  Cain denied this, however just two hours after he denied this his lawyer came out and said that whatever Cain did in his personal life that didn't relate to politics and if the women agreed as well, then it was no ones business.  Basically confirming the affair.  Now rumor has it that Cain will be dropping out of the race.
Romney has also been taking hits, especially from the Obama campaign saying that he is a flip-flopper and that he will not stay consistent in his policies.  However Romney says that he did change his mind on a few things however he is now made his decisions and will stick to them.
Another big scandal was when people found out that Rick Perry's ranch in texas was named "nigger head ranch".  However he has been able to recover somewhat and push it under the rug.
With so many of the main runners taking hits, others are gaining in the polls especially Newt Gingrich who was otherwise unheard of early on, but hasn't really had too many controversies.  Hopefully we can see the republican party unite and choose the best candidate for the party and for the presidency.

Things looking up for Gingrich

The latest shows now that Newt Gingrich not only is contending with Mitt Romney for the top position in the polls but has actually pulled well ahead of Mitt in many of the polls.  Why is this?  The people in New Hampshire where the first primary election will be held say that America needs the forward thinking and innovative thinking that the Speaker of the House brings to the table.  I personally believe that people like the way that Newt Gingrich is always very forthright and bold with his answers.  He is never afraid to answer a question and rarely does he seem to beat around the bush.  He is one who definatly speaks his mind and has opinions.  Also he does have a good idea and is aware of all the latest that is happening in and around Washington being that he was Speaker of the House for quite some time.
So is he the one that we want for our next President?  Personally I don't think so.  He is bold and has new ideas, but a lot of his ideas are pretty far out there and I think that America could get into some serious trouble and especially some serious debt if he were president of the United States.  He really wants to build up our Army, he has no problem of invading and going to war with many countries and he is in favor of heavy, heavy tax cuts.  I think that right now America needs a more moderate President who is willing to make changes but nothing that will cause us to go further into debt.  This is why I believe that Newt Gingrich is not the answer.

Foreign Policy

On November 12, 2011 a republican debate was held on foreign policy.  The candidates were asked specific questions based on what was going on in the world today and what there stance would be on these issues.  A few of these issues were as follows: (1) Torture, (2) Iran gaining nuclear power, (3) Pakistan.  Starting with torture the candidates were asked their position on whether or not they would allow torture to get vital information out of men they capture on the battlefield.  Torture is illegal right now and the latest update was that of water boarding which was made illegal just recently by President Obama.  I was suprised to learn that most of the candidates said they would implement water boarding as a means to get the information they needed and were not afraid to use torture.  This suprised me because I think that if it is a national illegal procedure why are we saying that we would make it legal for us.  The candidate that I was most impressed with on this specific topic was Ron Paul because he stood up for what he believed in and went against all the other candidates saying he did not believe in torture and that it was wrong.
Another huge issue was Iran gaining a nuclear war head.  Many of the candidates agreed this was a bad idea and that it was our job to stop them from gaining a nuclear war head.  Except once again Ron Paul as well as Jon Huntsman.  I really agreed with Huntsman on this issue who said that we should focus on building our economy here at home and becoming a stronger nation and a smarter nation then spending money trying to control and nation build.
The last issue discussed was that of what to do with Pakistan.  Do we build alliances further or do we cut all ties?  Should we keep troops in the middle east or bring them home?  Again I agreed with Governor Huntsman who said bring most of our troops home.  Keep some there to help the people but in the most part bring people home and lets start looking inside our own nation.  How can we help the people here in America who are going hungry and are not getting enough?  We must become strong ourselves before we can lift others up.

Whats with the Polls?

Over the past few weeks we have seen the republican candidates rise and fall in the polls.  One candidate seems to keep a constant steady incline and stay at the top and that is Mitt Romney.  However no matter what happens it seems that the people want some type of competition so they will continually vote another candidate up towards the top to challenge Romney after each debate.  The first person to really challenge Romney was Rick Perry, the governor of Texas.  However after many poor performances in the debates and then a disaterous slip on November 9 when he couldn't remember one of the parts of government he would remove if he became president, Perry plummeted in the polls.  The next candidate to really do well and challenge Mitt was Herman Cain the CEO of Godfathers Pizza.  Herman Cain seemed to be bold, exciting, and coming up with new ideas to help the economy.  However his too good to be true economic plan and other of his plans ended up being dismantled as people began to look into them further and notice that really they would not be able to help the government.  Also Cain has recently been accused of many scandals that have really taken a toll on his reputation.
So with Cain falling it looked like there would be no one to step up and challenge Romney.  However once again someone began to take the torch, and the candidate now who is really giving Romney a run for his money in the polls is speaker of the house Newt Gingrich.  He seems to be well aware of all that is going on in Washington and he wants to radically change things from the way Obama has been running America.
So why is it that no matter what happens it seems that Romney will always be at the top but there will always be a competitior as well?  I can't help but think that some of it may have to do with religious bias.

Economy

With the dust starting to settle from all of the republican debates that have happened over the past few weeks we are starting to see what the main focuses are and what the people of America want.  One of the major key points is who will best help the economy and how?  Herman Cain has come up with a flat tax plan of 9-9-9.  He says it will be a nine percent income tax, a nine percent sales tax, and a nine percent business tax.  While he is pushing hard for this plan almost all the other candidates agree that this is a plan that will not work.  They say that in the end the middle and lower classes will be paying much more in taxes then less.  The nine percent sales tax gives the federal government another way to tax the American people therefore many are starting to disagree with Cain on his way of thinking about taxes.
However Economy is not based purely on taxes.  Other issues that have been brought up are; creating jobs by allowing companys to come and drill for oil and other energy solutions here in America.  This is what Governor Perry is pushing for.  Saying that if we allow America to become energy independent we will create more jobs for more people.
Mitt Romney agrees with Perry but has even taken it a step further in saying that we need to create more technical jobs as well as more energy jobs.  We need more manufacturing jobs and businesses created.  These are all great ideas.  But will these candidates actually follow through?  This is what we hope to here in the upcoming debate.thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/.../live-blogging-the-republican-debate-in- orlando