Newt Gingrich: Veterans Day And What It Means To Be An American.

Veterans Day and What it Means to Be an American
by Newt Gingrich

This may be the perfect week to reflect on a Presidential election and the nature of America.

Veterans Day is a somber reminder of the millions of Americans who have fought for freedom and the more than one million who have died for that cause.

It is also a good time to remind ourselves that we are Americans first before we are Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals.

One of the reasons I feel this sense of being an American first is because of the example set by my father.

Robert Gingrich spent 27 years in the United States Army, serving as an infantryman in three wars to defend and protect his country. His life was an example of putting America first, and it made a deep impression on me.

That spirit of being an American first hit me last Tuesday night, watching President-elect Obama address over 250,000 people in Grant Park in Chicago.

President elect Obama’s speech was gracious and conciliatory. There was very little to object to.

Like most Americans, I was proud that this is a country where the first generation descendent of an immigrant could become President. America is a country where you can be born into any ethnic group and come from any background and have a chance to work your way to the top.

This has been a good year for opening up the American dream. Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Sarah Palin proved that young women can dream big and have an exciting future.

President-elect Obama proved that every African-American has a chance to rise.

Senator John McCain reminded all of us that America is built on the courage of heroes and the examples of selfless men and women who endure the unendurable and suffer the unimaginable for love of freedom and love of America.

There was much to learn this year if you were willing to open your eyes, ears and mind to the possibilities.

My Job as an American

A number of people have asked me to consider running for Republican National Committee Chair. They have been very flattering, and I am very honored by their support.

However my job as an American first is to develop a “tri-partisan” approach to developing solutions for the challenges we face.

I use the word “tri-partisan” to designate the concept of attracting Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to solutions that unify most Americans.

Center for Health Transformation

At the Center for Health Transformation, we are developing bold new approaches to Alzheimer’s, Diabetes and Obesity, and Cancer. We are also developing three bold new policy proposals:

1. Health-Based Health Reform emphasizes the most successful approaches to health, which lead to better outcomes at lower cost;
2. Electronic health records for every American, paid for by the billions such a system will save in fraud avoidance and detection;
3. A Science-and-Technology-Based Capital Investment Budget, which will revolutionize how we think about and pay for scientific research and development and will lead to a new generation of exciting solutions.

American Solutions

In 2008, American Solutions helped set the national energy agenda with its Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less petition drive. This led to a book of the same name and a movie, hosted by my wife Callista and me, called We Have the Power .

Furthermore, American Solutions developed the Platform of the American People, which includes more than 100 planks supported by a majority of Democrats, Republicans and independents (a tri-partisan majority).

Now, American Solutions is poised to develop a new generation of solutions and to bring Americans together for very popular new opportunities:

1. Create American jobs by repealing Sarbanes-Oxley (read my op-ed at newt.org and learn more at www.americansolutions.com here);
2. Create a 21st Century, space-based air traffic control system which would drastically reduce non-weather delays in the Northeast, expand the number of flights, and reduce the amount of jet fuel used by 10% or more (thus saving money and improving the environment);
3. Repeal the capital gains tax to rebuild the value of 401(k) plans and attract massive private investment into the American market;
4. Create a clean coal and enhanced oil recovery program that will improve the environment, create American jobs, make accessible over 100 billion barrels of oil in the United States, and ensure the next building boom is in America instead of foreign countries;
5. Develop expanded use of ethanol and other biofuels to keep the money in the United States instead of sending it to overseas dictators;
6. Work to protect the right to drill for oil and gas offshore (legal in October for the first time in 27 years);
7. Modernize state and local government to save billions while improving services;
8. Protect the right of free speech on talk radio against the effort to impose government censorship;
9. Profoundly rethink our schools so we can reform learning in America to compete with China and India and so every person has a chance to learn as much as possible.

These are the kind of positive tri-partisan solutions I believe America needs, and I promise to work with you to develop them and many more over the next few years. Click here to join American Solutions and get more involved in developing these ideas.

A Capitol Offense

When the new visitor’s center at the United States Capitol opens next month, will it accurately reflect the role of our Creator in America’s public life?

For years, “In God We Trust” has been clearly displayed from the Speaker’s chair in the House chamber. The current plan for the model of the Capitol in the Center strips “In God We Trust” from the model of the Speaker’s rostrum.

The current plan also refuses to place a Bible on the table President Lincoln used during the Second Inaugural, even though the historical purpose of the table was used to hold the Bible on which he swore the oath of allegiance.

Last week, Callista and I recorded a video asking those who care about preserving our Creator’s role in American history to spread the word about a new petition at newt.org, requesting that Congress make sure the Capitol Visitor’s Center is historically accurate. It reads:

“We the undersigned petition Congress to ensure that the new Capitol Visitor’s Center is historically correct and accurately reflects the centrality of “our Creator” in the founding of America and in its historical development.”

You can watch the video and sign the petition by clicking here.

And of course, our movie, Rediscovering God in America is available at newt.org .

Will the Democratic Leadership Make the Healthy Choice?

Yesterday, I participated in the National Journal Healthcare Experts Blog, which focused how the election changes the dynamics of healthcare policy in 2009.

Barack Obama will be working alongside a historically larger Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Thus, the success of bringing solutions to healthcare fully sits on the shoulders of how the Democratic leadership chooses to govern.

If Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid believe that the country has now embraced the ideas of the hard left, then we can expect more confrontation and gridlock. However, if they realize that the country wants positive progress then there will be ample opportunity to actually solve the problems we face in reforming health care.

At the Center for Health Transformation, we lead by example, providing solutions and asking others to share their proven successes. There is broad, tri-partisan (a red-white-and-blue) approach, and we must work together to implement real change. The Democratic leadership will find good partners if they are willing to look for them, and I urge the new president to do the same or suffer the consequences in 2012.

Your friend,



Editor's comment: While I take issue with Newt's inability to zip his pants and his arrogance, I have viewed him as a good citizen of our country who I would not mind seeing in national public office some day.