Romney PAC treads questionable ground with attack ads on Gingrich

Today I have seen attack ads on former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich aired ad nauseam in the NE Florida area by a pro-Romney PAC. The ads are nothing new—attack ads began prior to the Iowa Caucus.

The first ads I saw implied that Gingrich contributed to the downfall of Fannie Mae. That is not true. Nor were other claims true, as a former congressman explained. The congressman pointedly said Gingrich did not lobby or try to influence the subcommittee overseeing Fannie Mae. As a matter of fact, Gingrich “was supportive..at efforts of reforming a whole slew of programs.”

As a credibility gauge, consider that congressman is actually supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Today the attack ad I saw mentioned the climate change ad Newt was part of. The former speaker has since expressed regrets over buying into scientific claims that other Republicans also bought into.

As a matter of fact, some Republicans actually signed HR 2454, the Cap and Trade bill that got no further than the House when Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) was over the Energy Committee. Red State ran a list of those GOP congressman, dubbing them ‘quisling Republicans.’

Among other global warmists who were Republicans but not in Congress was Romney.

The Club for Growth pointed out:

On climate change, Romney In 2004 unveiled a comprehensive “Climate Protection Plan” that pledged to reduce greenhouse emissions by 25% by 2012.  It would achieve this by doing several things, including an “aggressive” implementation of the California Low Emission Vehicle program, which has standards that are typically more stringent than the EPA’s.  It would also subsidize the upgrade of inefficient oil burners owned by low-income citizens.  Romney said the plan would show Massachusetts’ commitment to implementing the regional climate change plan adopted by several New England states.

Less than two years later, Romney reversed course.  When he pulled his state out of the New England pact, the late conservative columnist Robert Novak called it the “ungreening of Mitt Romney.”

Thing is, it didn’t take Gingrich two years to rethink his position. He testified before Waxman’s committee in April, 2009, and Gingrich was a major stumbling block in the progress of that bill. Americans can thank him and others for halting an escalation of electric rates that would have skyrocketed even more than the president has hoped and wished for and gotten by way of his Environmental Protection Agency.

So if you want to thump a drum about climate change, it’s big enough for more than one.

The ad also contains references to ethics violations. The Washington Post sums those up, but it’s useful to note that multiple violations had to do with repeats on a single rule.

It’s also useful to note that Gingrich is a choir boy compared to Democrats who have committed serious violations and gone unpunished.

Rep. Charles Rangel violated tax laws and then Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) permitted him to keep his committee position—writing tax laws. Pelosi barely said a word when Rep. Tim Mahoney (Fla.) got caught up in allegations he paid a mistress who also worked on his congressional staff. John Murtha went to his grave without paying a price for numerous very serious transgressions—those are documented in the FBI vault and media finally noted Murtha’s shady dealings after he died. Pelosi never said a word.

Suffice it to say yes, Newt erred on rules,  but he paid the price. Others did far far worse and paid a far smaller price.

Gingrich incurred the wrath of big spending Republicans when he balked at the tax increase former President George H. W. Bush guaranteed us he would not agree to but ended up agreeing to after we elected him.

If you think that won’t tank your chances in an election, think again. Voters do not like broken promises.

Those of us who lived through those times and remember them know that a great deal of the hostility towards Gingrich rested on pure politics and the Clintons' media machine.

Has Gingrich changed his mind about some things? Yes.

So has Romney.

Thing is, Romney has never repudiated two matters that anyone who considers herself a conservative should ask about. One is climate change. The other is a mandate in the state health insurance bill he signed as governor.

Aside from that, Romney has  not addressed the need for real tax reform. The more we give the government the larger it gets. That, in my opinion, is a serious weakness in his platform. That omission is one reason the governor received the next to the lowest score on taxes from the Tax Foundation, a notch above his fellow candidate Sen. Rick Santorum (Penn.) who got a D+.

At least Gingrich has had the sense to endorse a flat tax.

On Wednesday afternoon I watched as Fox News’ Megyn Kelly went into defend-Romney mode again. That seems to be an obsession with her.

I defend our candidates too, all of them, Romney included.

My opponents are the liberals who are ruining this country right now. When a Republican candidate resorts to negative campaigning or says he has no influence over the PAC doing the negative campaigning on his behalf, I respect his right to adopt that position.

That candidate and his supporters should also respect the rights of the other candidates to retaliate.

We’ll all be in defense mode after August. Whoever gets the GOP nomination, it won’t matter. Democrats are going to unleash a negative campaign the likes of which we’ve not seen in our lifetimes. These European styled socialists will not hand over power without one hell of a fight. If we nominated the Pope, they’d attack him for his social platform.

You’d think we’d all be saving our ammo for the real opponent.

Romney’s PAC should take note because if he is our nominee, he will need every single one of us to corral support and get out the vote.

The same goes for the Speaker who, by the way, wasn’t the first to launch a missile.

(Commentary by Kay Day/Jan. 18, 2012)