ATP sinks Gingrich in CPAC Straw Poll
Speaker’s long record of radical environmentalism bombs with CPAC voters after ATP’s ‘Power-Grabbing Newt’ campaign
WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finished a disappointing fifth with just five percent of the vote in the annual CPAC Presidential Straw Poll after American Tradition Partnership distributed “Power-Grabbing Newts” documenting his vocal advocacy of radical environmentalism. Gingrich finished 26 points out of first place.
“American Tradition Partnership delivered a message to Newt Gingrich. Your record of radical environmentalism should stay on that love seat with Nancy Pelosi. ATP members urge Speaker Gingrich to renounce radical environmentalism and adopt a conservative message of less government and more freedom,” said ATP Executive Director Donald Ferguson, referencing an ad Gingrich filmed with Pelosi to promote former vice-president “Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection.”
“No one can side with the radical greens against people, property and prosperity without being held accountable, even if you cover up your green agenda with conservative rhetoric,” said Ferguson. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat running for a small town city council or the Republican former Speaker of the House seeking a presidential bid, American Tradition Partnership will hold you accountable. Big Green’s political puppets cannot hide from accountability, whether they are in Georgia, Iowa or New Hampshire.”
“Whether it’s fighting to protect the EPA, opposing conservative efforts to repeal job-killing green laws, calling for wealth redistribution to enforce ‘environmental compliance’ or demanding the U.S. give up national sovereignty to please global greens, Newt Gingrich may try to paint himself Republican red, but his record is radical green. No wonder he was roundly rejected after ATP informed conservatives of his real agenda,” said Ferguson.
With a coveted speaking slot, exhibiting organization and book signing, hosting three panels and a reception and screening two films, Gingrich’s presence dominated that of other presumptive presidential candidates. CPAC looked to be a launching pad for a Gingrich presidential bid. Instead, the Republican powerhouse cratered after ATP informed voters of Gingrich’s long record of supporting massive tax hikes, increased government power and international regulatory regimes to enforce what he calls “environmental compliance.”
The twenty-five quotes were pulled from Gingrich’s books, “A Contract With The Earth,” “Winning The Future” and “Real Change.” Along with the flyer of quotes, CPAC attendees were given a sticky lizard toy, dubbed a “Power-Grabbing Newt” to promote the information campaign.
Supported by grassroots activists, American Tradition Partnership is a fast-growing national conservative organization fighting the liberal agenda of environmentalism and its calls for increased government power and taxation.
The text of the flyer follows:
BIG GREEN GOVERNMENT 101
WHO SAID IT? NEWT GINGRICH OR AL GORE?
A POP QUIZ FROM AMERICAN TRADITION PARTNERSHIP (AmericanTradition.org)
Hint: These are all recent Newt Gingrich statements.
I WAS A GREEN PUPPET WHEN IT WASN’T COOL: “When I first ran for Congress I was the natural candidate of most environmental groups…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 168
CREATE GLOBAL SPENDING REGIMES: “If the United States challenged Europe and Japan to join it in financing a world biodiversity refuge system and tied foreign aid into the process of maintaining biodiversity, we could probably save a very high percentage of the earth’s biological richness…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Pages 170-171
SPREAD THE WEALTH, TO GREENS: “The United States should support substantial research into climate change, managing the response to climate change, and in developing new non-carbon energy systems.” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 171
PUT DC IN CONTROL: “The federal government should establish measurable standards for a healthy environment…” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 172
CASH FOR CLUNKERS? MORE, PLEASE: “A tax credit to subsidize energy efficient cars (including a tax credit for turning in old and heavily polluting cars) is another idea we should support.” Newt Gingrich, “Winning The Future,” Page 174
INDOCTRINATE THEM YOUNG: “As a young professor at West Georgia College, I taught in the second Earth Day in 1971 and coordinated an interdisciplinary environmental studies program.” Newt Gingrich, “Real Change,” Page 196
NEWT ENDORSES ‘CASH FOR CLUNKERS,’ AGAIN: “There ought to be a tax break for trading in old cars that use a lot of petroleum and emit a lot of pollution.” Newt Gingrich, “Real Change,” Page 204
WE MUST PROTECT THE ESA “That is why I worked so diligently as Speaker of the House to protect the Endangered Species Act, historic legislation that has been mired in controversy…The Endangered Species Act is an excellent example of the value of civility, consultation and collaboration.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages XII & 51
THE EARTH NEEDS A GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER “Government, at all levels, should be a facilitator for entrepreneurial, private-sector innovations and the formation of private-public environmental partnerships.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 13
STOP THE CONSERVATIVES FROM LIMITING GOVERNMENT POWER “For that reason, we have supported its (the Endangered Species Act’s) continuation against all challenges by private citizens, interest groups, and congressional opponents.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 53
CREATE NEW GOVERNMENT SPENDING PROGRAMS “The U.S. government operates endowments for the humanities and the arts…Perhaps, it is time we consider a new endowment for conservation and the environment.” “Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 115-116 [NOTE: As Speaker, Gingrich told conservatives he wanted to eliminate the wasteful National Endowment for the Arts. Now he cites it as an example of a government spending spree that needs to be duplicated.]
SPEND ‘SIGNIFICANT’ TAX MONEY IN THE U.S., AND AROUND THE WORLD “Significant resources should be set aside to protect hallowed sites such as the Galapagos Islands, the Virguna Volcanoes in Central Africa, and Georgia’s Okenfenokee Swamp, to name a few.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 117
MILITANT ENVIRONMENTALISM…LITERALLY? “John Muir, for most of his adult life, experienced nature in spiritual overtones…He even favored using the armed forces to enforce environmental law…However, with the inexorable advance of the urban realm, the defense of forested land assumes a greater urgency as we strive to sustain the highest-quality standards for our nation’s air, water, and land.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 127
HOORAY FOR RECORD-BREAKING SPENDING HIKES! “Our national parks and wildlife reserves require more vigorous protection. With an eye toward strengthening his environmental legacy in the 2007 federal budget, President Bush requested the largest increase for national park funding in our nation’s history. We should expect nothing less than excellence from our national park system.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 130-131
ENVIRONMENTALISM, OUR GLOBAL RELIGION OF PEACE “Far from becoming a new source of global discord, environmentalism, which binds nations to a common concern, will be the best thing that’s ever happened to international relations.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Pages 149-150
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE IS THE SOLUTION “We will need to organize a series of high-level global conferences that focus on specific [environmental] problems…” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 158
GOVERNMENT IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF INNOVATION “…the type of arduous research that produces real breakthroughs can only be funded by astute governments.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 167
NEWT WANTS TO BRING BACK CARTER ENERGY POLICIES “America used to be that kind of government [that spent millions of tax dollars on “energy research” welfare programs,] but our commitments have wavered in recent years so government incentives for energy research will be issues in future political campaigns.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 1
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NEWT LOVES THE UN’S KYOTO TREATY GLOBAL APPROACH “Mobilizing other countries to join us will not be as easy as it may appear. Many of the countries that signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol are lagging behind on their commitments.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 168
STOP CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION TO THE ESA “The act [Endangered Species Act] has been, by any measure, a very successful guardian of wildlife and habitat and any attempt to weaken it should be resisted.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 170
NEWT INVENTS A NEW DISEASE ONLY ENVIRONMENTALISM CAN CURE “…our children, according to Louv, run the risk of acquiring ‘nature deficit disorder,’ a malady that he describes as a contributing factor to a recognized mental health construct, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Nature deficit disorder, not yet acknowledged by scientists or clinicians, is a working hypothesis that Louv believes helps to explain the onset of ADHD, and he proposes that exposure to nature should be offered as a therapy for children who have difficulty attending to stimuli and learning in conventional classrooms. His call for research in this domain is compelling.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 182
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SHOULD REDISTRIBUTE INCOME TO ‘STIMULATE’ GREEN COMPLIANCE “Local governments operate much closer to the origin of environmental problems, and they have begun to provide tax incentives and large cash rewards for environmental compliance…While the motivation is driven by the application of tax dollars, the effect is rewarding rather than punitive…” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 194
DON’T CUT GOVERNMENT, JUST MAKE IT NICER “…our government, at all levels, must be modernized to successfully partner, let alone compete, with the private sector.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 196
MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE IS A FACT “We agree that there is plenty of evidence that global climate change is occurring…While humanity is certainly causing its fair share of the change, scientists are still not able to precisely pinpoint the extent of the change, or the margin of error in their estimates.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 200
GIVING TAX DOLLARS TO LIBERALS IS OUR ONLY HOPE “In spite of the demonstrated liberal leanings in academia, we have nothing but respect for the nation’s scientists. They represent America’s best hope to protect the environment. We support a dramatic increase in science and technology research and development because we desperately need to understand global climate change and other environmental phenomena.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 201
MOTHER EARTH NEEDS ALL YOUR INCOME “Needless to say, an appropriate and significant investment of public and private funding to renew the earth will pay dividends.” Newt Gingrich, “A Contract With The Earth,” Page 202
Massive tax hikes? Massive new government spending? Federal and global regulation?
Real conservatives, like American Tradition Partnership, disagree.
Tell “Power-Grabbing Newt” what you think of his radical liberal agenda.
Get your own “Power-Grabbing Newt.” Visit ATP, Table 802, in the Exhibit Hall.
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