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News
Newt Gingrich stumps for Ethan Hastert : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisNewt Gingrich stumps for Ethan Hastert
| Former U.S. House Speaker addresses GOP faithful at banquet
| by Tony Scott
| 12/17/2009
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Ethan Hastert's congressional campaign got a big boost last Friday from former Republican U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Hastert, an Elburn resident and attorney, is the youngest son of former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R- Plano.
Hastert is running in the 14th Congressional District race for the Republican primary election set for Feb. 2. State Sen. Randy Hultgren, R- Winfield, is his opponent on the primary ballot. The winner of that primary will face incumbent Rep. Bill Foster, D-Batavia, in the November 2010 general election.
Gingrich, revered by many Republicans for his engineering of a GOP takeover of Congress during the mid-term elections of 1994, was the keynote speaker at a $100-a-plate breakfast fundraiser last Friday at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles.
During his speech to more than 300 local Republicans at the breakfast, Gingrich criticized the Democratically-led Congress for excessive spending, while also suggesting that the Republican Party reach out to conservative Democrats and independents to gain support.
Gingrich suggested that the Republican Party lost its way during the six years of the George W. Bush administration when the GOP held a solid majority of Congress, the first time since the early 1950s.
"This was the first time - except for two years under Eisenhower - we ever had the Republicans in charge of the House, Senate and White House, and I think that they, frankly, misunderstood how the system works," he said. "I think Bush should have vetoed bad bills, I think Congress should have investigated bad bureaucracy, and I think that because they tried to be together as a single team, they misunderstood what is the natural tension of the Constitution. Congress needs a president who says no to dumb spending, and a president needs a Congress that takes apart dumb bureaucracy."
Gingrich said that if the Republicans win a majority in the House and Senate in next year's elections, they should repeal any health care initiatives approved by the current Congress.
"I think there are parts of government that are so bad you can't fix them; I think you need to replace them," he said. "And I think if the Democrats pass a national health bill deeply opposed by the overwhelming majority of Americans, we ought to have a commitment to replace it. The most recent polling numbers show as few as 30 percent of the country favors the Senate bill. Well, why should the country tolerate a group of out-of-touch politicians abusing their power to impose on the rest of us an ideological left-wing bill?"
In addition to attacking the stimulus bills approved by Congress, Gingrich also criticized the recent climate change talks in Copenhagen attended by President Obama.
"They want bigger government, they want higher taxes, they want more regulation," Gingrich said of the Democrats. "The President is about to make promises in Copenhagen that are absolutely opposed by the American people and have not been authorized by the Congress."
He added, "I think all these represent more expenses, more deficits, higher taxes, bigger bureaucracy, and that kills jobs. It's exactly the opposite of what we need right now."
Gingrich said he supports Ethan Hastert because he said he is running for Congress for the right reasons.
"I think the republic, more than the Republican Party, will be better off with Ethan Hastert because I think he represents... he has a three-year-old child and I think he understands absolutely that unless we change things that child is going to grow up to have a huge crushing burden of taxes and debt in a much weaker economy in a world where the United States is no longer the leading power," Gingrich said. "I think Ethan's dedication to this comes out of being a father and being a concern for his family and the future of that family, and I think that's the best possible motivation."
Hastert also focused on the deficit as one of the primary reasons why he's running for Congress.
"I think this is an opportunity for not only Republicans but individuals who are concerned about the direction of our country: the amount of spending and borrowing, and the inevitable taxation to come, that we are going to end up passing on to the next generation," he said. "When my son becomes old enough to start paying income taxes, without even any new spending, we're going to have to double his income taxes just to pay the interest on that debt. So it's vitally important that we get our budget under control, do things to grow the economy, and put the power back in the individuals' hands, not the government."
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