Newt Gingrich: Republicans Rip Obamacare, but Have ‘Zero Answer’ for Alternatives

[brooklynite]

Source: ABC

BOSTON – Suggesting the Republican Party should be a party of ideas rather than just attacks, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told a gathering of GOP operatives that lawmakers who criticize Obamacare but offer no alternatives will be left with “zero answer” for constituents who ask for a policy solution to the president’s health care reform law.

“I would bet for most of you, you go home in the next two weeks while your members of Congress are home and you look at them in the eye and you say, ‘What is your positive replacement for Obamacare?’ and they will have zero answer,” Gingrich told state party chairs, activists, and operatives at the Republican National Committee summer meeting. “We are caught up right now in a culture – and you see it every single day – where as long as we are negative, as long as we are vicious, as long as we can tear down our opponent, we don’t have to worry, so we don’t.

“This is a very deep problem,” he added. “I’m being totally candid with you.”

Gingrich’s message at a luncheon on the first day of the RNC meeting was to stay positive and deliver alternatives to Democratic policy instead of just attacks. He said he will “probably spend the rest of my public life trying to drive this message both in the party, but also, in a broader way, in to the American community.”

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/08/newt-gingrich-republicans-rip-obamacare-but-have-zero-answer-for-alternatives/

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Even a cuckoo clock is right twice a day...

[hobbit709]

1. The only ideas they have are rehashed FAILS.

[DetlefK]

4. The problem isn't a lack of viable ideas. The ACA used to be Romney's idea.

The republican problem is that they think, the whole world is nothing but discussion, opinion and messaging. They judge ideas not for their worth in practical terms, but for their worth in promoting a particular ideology (a society ruled by rich, white, christian males).

For example:
If a respectable scientist announced that he has found a chemical that would make abortion impossible or eradicate the genetic trait that causes the homosexual mutation.
It just takes $100 billion and 20 years of additional research to turn that chemical into a pill or food-additive.
Would republicans be willing to pay $100 billion for that?

[pampango]

8. The ACA is patterned after what the Democratic (85%) Massachusetts legislature passed,

not what romney initially proposed.

He vetoed 8 major changes that Democrats made. The legislature overrode all of his vetoes. He did not get what he wanted.

the rest of your post is well stated.

[LiberalLovinLug]

20. Of course he didn't hesitate to give himself credit for it

when it turned out to be popular later.

[DissidentVoice]

22. And to distance himself from it

...during his '12 campaign.

[LiberalLovinLug]

24. Actually he bragged about it leading up to the campaign

This is the maddening hypocrisy and the even more maddening aspect of the MSM in not calling the GOP out on it.

This GOP nominee ENDORSED what Congress eventually passed as the ACA,... that is a medical insurance system that is wholly private and blocks out any "public option".

This video is a shot over the bow of the Obama camp about the future fight against ANY government (ie. public option) involvement in a new medical insurance system. The GOP counted on Obama being the socialist they portrayed him as and fully expected him to, at the very least, fight for the public option.

Much to their surprise (along with millions of Democrats/liberals/progressives) he caved in on the public option almost immediately and outlawed the participation of doctors in favour of single payer in the discussion.

But the GOP has the self-bestowed magical ability to disregard any positions they previously held and move the goal posts further to the right and pretend they never said what they said.

[DissidentVoice]

25. I wish Mr. Obama WERE the "socialist" the GOP portrays him as!

He should have just pushed for single-payer...unless he's incredibly naive (which I doubt), he had to have known that the Republicans would (and did) oppose anything he put forward, so it was useless to try to get them on board.

I ground my teeth when he caved to Max "GOP-lite" Baucus on the public option.

[DWinNJ]

9. If it only cost $1 billion

If it only cost $1 billion, but funding for it was proposed by a Democrat, would it get funded?

[Paulie]

11. Only if they could cut assistance to poor children

They need to maximize the suffering of the born at the same time.

[wandy]

2. Strange days are on us. Newt Gingrich says something sane! nt

[trusty elf]

3. They simply have nothing positive to offer.

[IMG][/IMG]

[mtasselin]

5. this

This comes from the guy who brought us the dysfunctional government that we have. It was in 1994 when the republicans took over congress that he and his fellow republican congressman became the vicious and uncooperative then with many phoney scandals with the Clinton Administration. It will be a great day in America when the news media calls him out for doing this.

[Crow73]

6. They don't need

an answer.
Why?
Facts
They don't use them.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. Says the coiner of idiotic term "Food Stamp President"

and other bullshit like "Kenyan neo-colonial wordview" needs to STFU because no one in his loon base are ever going to take what is vomited out his mouth, seriously. They are going to do what he does, not what he says to do.

[Berlum]

10. Well d'oh Newtie (R - Chickenhawk, of course)

[Enthusiast]

12. I was going to say, "Broken clock?"

Cuckoo clock is more appropriate.

[tanyev]

13. Newt's gone so far around the bend that he's starting to sound sane.

Full circle.

[madrchsod]

14. gingrich supported hillary`s and romney's healthcare plans

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/12/gingrich-praised-romney-health-care-plan-in-2006/1

http://thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/reminder-newt-gingrich-teamed-up-with-hillary-clinton-wanted-government-mandated-health-care/

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/February/23/GOP-1993-health-reform-bill.aspx

obama care is nothing more than an idea that has been around since nixon. the republicans are pissed off because a black democratic president got the program started.

it`s amazing how easily people can be manipulated because of their racism and lack of history

[Nuclear Unicorn]

15. The GOP doesn't want an answer. This is government imposed corporate profit with

government secured risk. And now that the government can tell corporations to provide women's health care services with nothing more than a bureaucratic rule they are one election away from denying women health care services with a bureaucratic rule.

We got roped.

[NeonDog]

16. As was already noted when he ran, with the clown posse, for President...

[TwilightGardener]

17. That's because the R's think everything is fine. There IS no problem. Just hold bake sales, beg

for charity online (Redstate guy), and see how much of your hourly wages can be socked away for one surgery or emergency that costs more than your yearly earnings. Hope to stay healthy, and pray. See? Problem solved.

[DissidentVoice]

23. I think of that every time...

...I see a notice on a local bulletin board saying that a person (men, women and children) have to raise money for a life-saving operation and they're uninsured.

That's the Republican Party's idea of "taking care of your community."

[JoePhilly]

18. He thinks no one would get sick on his Moon colony.

That's his idea.

[greatauntoftriplets]

19. Sorry but this is analysis and not LBN.

Please feel free to re-post it in General Discussion (once it's back online) or in Politics 2013.

[question everything]

21. This is what a night shift moderator claimed, when locked this story the first time

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014565911

I think that this is news, based on Republicans constantly voting to repeal Obamacare and, as the President noted, now they don't even pretend to have something better.

[Rain Mcloud]

26. Yet again Gingrich is lying,but what would you expect?

here is the Obstructican health care plan:

[brooklynite]

27. No, no, no...Gingrich SUPPORTED a health insurance mandate...

Newt Gingrich Supported an Individual Mandate as Recently as May 2009

...until it became inconvenient for his Presidential campaign.