The speakers for Day 1 of the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans included luminaries such as Mike Huckabee, Michael Williams, and Ted Cruz, along with our own Erick Erickson. I’ll confine my remarks to the presidential candidates.

Newt Gingrich

Newt has a vision and a plan that appeal to this fiscal conservative. President Gingrich would hit the ground running in his first week with a series of executive orders designed to roll back the Leftist domination of the last 80 years. In particular, he proposes to eliminate all of the “czars” and to fight the tyranny of the judicial branch by eliminating federal judgeships.

Newt understands that the only way out of our country’s fiscal abyss is to unleash the incredible potential of the American economy. His plan:

• No tax increases
• Set the tax rate on capital gains to zero
• 12.5% corporate tax rate
• 100% expensing for new capital equipment
• Permanently abolish the death tax

Newt would also move to repeal Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank, two measures which unnecessarily hobble our economy. He’d replace the EPA with the Environmental Solutions Agency, dedicated to finding workable solutions rather than erecting roadblocks.

It would work. But it’s what Newt didn’t say that troubles me, and would keep me from enthusiastically supporting him as a candidate.

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The speakers for Day 1 of the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans included luminaries such as Mike Huckabee, Michael Williams, and Ted Cruz, along with our own Erick Erickson. I’ll confine my remarks to the presidential candidates.

Newt Gingrich

Newt has a vision and a plan that appeal to this fiscal conservative. President Gingrich would hit the ground running in his first week with a series of executive orders designed to roll back the Leftist domination of the last 80 years. In particular, he proposes to eliminate all of the “czars” and to fight the tyranny of the judicial branch by eliminating federal judgeships.

Newt understands that the only way out of our country’s fiscal abyss is to unleash the incredible potential of the American economy. His plan:

• No tax increases
• Set the tax rate on capital gains to zero
• 12.5% corporate tax rate
• 100% expensing for new capital equipment
• Permanently abolish the death tax

Newt would also move to repeal Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank, two measures which unnecessarily hobble our economy. He’d replace the EPA with the Environmental Solutions Agency, dedicated to finding workable solutions rather than erecting roadblocks.

It would work. But it’s what Newt didn’t say that troubles me, and would keep me from enthusiastically supporting him as a candidate.

Read More →