Quote of the Day Honorable Mention #61

“Death & Taxes” Edition
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Kai Vincent Turley Good, at Tulsa Today:

“In an energetic appeal for support, Newt Gingrich stood before 4000 onlookers at the Oral Roberts University Mabee Center and proclaimed a message reminiscent of his 1994 ‘Contract with America’ campaign... While explaining his plan to rebuild the shattered economy, he announced that, if elected, he would abolish the ‘death tax.’ Meaning, he would offer legislation repealing the estate tax... In 2013, an estate will be subject to a 50% tax on any property in excess of one million dollars. Take, for example, a family that has fifty-thousand dollars in savings and owns a small electrical business valued at 1.7 million dollars. If the business is owned in the father’s name, upon his death, the family will owe three-hundred and fifty thousand dollars in estate taxes. Only having fifty-thousand dollars in savings, the family will be forced to liquidate their business. This removes their income and forces both the family and the employees into unemployment. The government is no longer receiving tax revenue from their business and paying more people unemployment checks. In short, everyone loses.”

Kevin Liptak and Shawna Shepherd, at CNN:

“Gingrich was the first Republican White House hopeful to criticize the president for apologizing after Muslim holy books containing extremist language were burned by NATO soldiers.”

Christian Whiton, at The Daily Caller:

“The standard operating procedure for liberals when gas prices spike is to say that a turnaround in prices and an increase in supply would take many years. Mr. Obama dutifully repeated this myth [Thursday] afternoon. But as presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has pointed out, Mr. Obama could turn the tide on this beginning today by increasing production... Among the current GOP candidates for president, only former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has focused on this issue and said he could lower prices to $2.50 a gallon. More important than Gingrich’s words is his proven ability to challenge the liberal elite and the Washington establishment that stands in the way of reform... Only Gingrich will plausibly take on the radical environmentalists and the bureaucrats at the EPA and the ever-growing list of other bureaucracies in Washington that care little about higher gas prices — or that actually want them high.”

Justin Runquist, at The Oregonian:

“Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich impressed local Republican lawmakers at the Capitol Friday with his goal to create a new energy plan for the U.S.”

Ginger Gibson, at Politico:

“Gingrich’s suddenly intense focus on gas prices and energy — he taped a 30-minute TV ad on the issue to air in Super Tuesday states — isn’t an issue that was crafted based on polling data or focus groups or political consultants... Gingrich shifted his focus to gas prices while he was fundraising in California last week and saw the rising prices... He frequently talks about gas prices on the stump, but at an event just outside of Los Angeles, he found the response to his riff on the issue was getting better... ‘I want to do a 30-minute speech on energy,’ he told the head of a production company that has been filming him on the trail, a campaign official recalled. ‘I’ll meet you in an hour, and I want it to be at a desk.’ ... There was no script and no teleprompter, and the his advisers had no idea what Gingrich would say... The campaign will begin airing the speech in its entirety in states with upcoming primaries. It airs first in the Spokane, Wash., media market on Saturday. It will also run in Tulsa, Okla., Nashville and Macon, Ga., before Super Tuesday on March 6. Gingrich thinks energy and gas prices will win over voters because they cut across a number of issues.”

Donna Brazile, Democratic political analyst:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Newt found his way back to be the frontrunner.”

Noah Rothman, at Ology:

“Romney may not be able to overcome a third rise by Gingrich... If he does turn the tables on Romney on next Tuesday, particularly if Romney fails to win Michigan, his campaign may begin to implode. This scenario is only possible because of Gingrich's own political talents and his unique ability to speak to the heart of the conservative base at this auspicious moment in political history. If he can pull it off, it would be a miracle. But then, as President Bill Clinton would tell you, Newt Gingrich has worked the occasional miracle before.”

Joe Trippi, Democratic consultant:

“Do not underestimate the very real possibility of Newt coming back from the dead one more time.”

Emily Wilkins, at The Houston Chronicle:

“While plenty of Texans have put forward big bucks for presidential candidates and their Super PACs, smaller donations gave each of the four leading Republican candidates several hundred thousand dollars in January, according to the Federal Election Commission... The most financial support went toward Newt Gingrich who raised $373,792 last month, bringing his total to $1,040,216 for the state over all... January was a good month for his campaign – he won the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21 and on Jan. 22 his campaign received a January high of $403,164 in donations. Another spike was a total of $105,104 donated on Jan. 19 – the day Gov. Rick Perry left the race and endorsed Gingrich. It was the first day that month the Gingrich campaign received more than $100,000.”

JTA, at The Jerusalem Post:

“Newt Gingrich will address the AIPAC policy conference. The former US House of Representatives speaker... is the first in the GOP field to announce his participation in the March 4-6 conference.”

WSB-TV, in Atlanta:

“A new poll conducted for Channel 2 Action News shows Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich with a double-digit lead in Georgia. The Landmark/Rosetta Stone poll of 1,300 voters was conducted on Feb. 23, less than two weeks before the state presidential primary. Gingrich increased his lead slightly since a poll conducted earlier in February, receiving 38 percent of the vote. Rick Santorum received 25 percent, Mitt Romney 19 percent and Ron Paul 4 percent in the poll... Poll results show Gingrich picked up voters outside metro Atlanta since the last Landmark/Rosetta Stone poll.”

The Associated Press:

“Newt Gingrich is planning several campaign appearances in Georgia... Gingrich's campaign announced the two-day bus tour in Georgia would include stops in Dalton, Rome and Carrollton on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Gingrich is scheduled to visit the State Capitol in Atlanta and appear at events in Covington and Gainesville.”

Jill Stanek:

“Conservatives are ripping Politico’s Alexander Burns for incorrectly identifying the object of Newt Gingrich’s criticism as Barack Obama’s opposition to a partial birth abortion ban rather than the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Read this Newsbusters piece and this Red State piece. I’m also heartened by the volume of commenters who called Burns out… who correctly identified and explained Obama’s BAIPA flak.”

Geoff Pender, at The Biloxi Sun Herald:

“Newt Gingrich has changed his plans for a one-day trip to Mississippi and now plans two trips, one on March 8 and one on March 12 before the state’s March 13 primary.”

Stephen Moore, at The Wall Street Jounal:

“Overlooked because of the buzz about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's new 20% income tax cut plan was the latest splash out of rival Newt Gingrich's economic policy shop. Mr. Gingrich has announced he will use dynamic, not static, scoring to demonstrate his plan's potential to jumpstart growth. The former House speaker arguably has the boldest tax plan, which includes a 15% optional flat tax. He would also allow young workers to take a share of their payroll tax dollars and divert the funds into a personal IRA. These plans have come under attack from liberal groups like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and even from some of Mr. Gingrich's fellow Republicans. On Thursday Mr. Gingrich showed that using this dynamic scoring -- which takes into account the extra economic steroid effect of the plan -- there would be six million new jobs in two years. The new economic numbers, from former Reagan economists Peter Ferrara and Gary Robbins, also show that the Gingrich policies would balance the budget within the first term of his presidency.”

- JP