We Need Gingrich As President

Our nation is being suffocated with debt and its citizens crushed by the repetition of failed policies. America must end the insanity coming out of Washington and begin the road to recovery by defeating President Obama on Nov. 6, 2012.

The most important election of our lifetime is now less than a year away. As Iowans, we have the great responsibility in choosing the next president of the United States. We have the unique and privileged opportunity to speak with presidential candidates personally. I have been fortunate enough to meet with the entire slate of 2012 Republican candidates on more than one occasion. This election cycle in particular, Republicans should all be proud of the tremendous depth our candidates display as they compete for our party's nomination.

We have seen the consequences of electing politicians who lack experience and leadership. To return America back to prosperity, we need a leader with experience implementing bold solutions. We need a leader who has shown that they know how to get America working again.  That leader is Newt Gingrich.

Unlike the current administration, Newt is not blind to the difficulties facing our nation in this perilous time. The 21st Century Contract with America shows a deep understanding of the scale and scope of the problems facing America. Under Gingrich's leadership as speaker, Congress passed the first balanced budget in a generation. In four years, Gingrich oversaw the creation of a stable economic environment that created 11 million jobs, while reforming welfare programs, restoring funding to strengthen our defense capabilities, expanding NIH research programs, and repaying over $400 billion in federal debt.

Putting Americans back to work needs to be the administration's highest priority. 

While our current administration disagrees, a Gingrich administration will ensure that America's focus on job-creation never waivers. Instead of baseless rhetoric and empty promises, Newt has practical and innovative ideas to solve some of our toughest problems. Nothing will help our deficit or protect our future more soundly than transitioning Americans from a government-dependent economy to an independently productive economy.

Newt himself is the torchbearer for the growth agenda in the 2012 elections. He will not divide America and try to bring all of us down to the same level. He will set our sights on an America that encourages all people to rise and rewards all who do rise. Toward that end, Newt Gingrich is offering the most exciting, Reaganesque, pro-growth plan of any candidate. Moreover, should not the principal question of 2012 be: Can America afford anything less than the strongest strategy for growth in today’s precarious global economy?

We know what President Reagan’s program enabled the American people to accomplish: 17 million new jobs, 92 straight months of above-average growth and $15 trillion in new wealth, producing a $4,000 increase in real median family income, better than before or after the Reagan years. While the deficit rose early on, by the end of his term, thanks to powerful growth in the economy, it had fallen to 2.9% of GDP, a fraction of today’s deficit.

Just imagine what America could accomplish with the Gingrich Plan: with real spending restraints, real regulatory reform and a strong dollar, a 12.5% corporate tax rate, equaling Ireland’s near-lowest in the world, 100% expensing, an optional 15% flat tax, zero tax on capital gains and inheritances, an all-out drive for American energy and the choice of personal Social Security accounts for young people. Logic compels us to believe that with these bold solutions, Americans will once again surpass expectations and shock the world.

The journey to restore America must begin with limiting government, as well as empowering and ennobling every individual. We not only empower but we ennoble when we honor the dignity, worth and potential of every person, born and unborn. We are not subjects of any elites, we are citizens, each born with a purpose and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. This is what Newt Gingrich believes. This is the idea he has fought for throughout his public life. This is why he has stood in the line of fire, again and again, on behalf of Ronald Reagan and the conservative cause. More than any other candidate, Newt Gingrich has won decisive victories, and can again, for individuals and families, and for a freer, stronger, more prosperous America at home and in the world.