"Face the Nation" transcript: December 18, 2011

Schieffer: Did you, while all this was going on, know that there was something going on? We just had six executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who were just indicted but a civil lawsuit, fraud suit was filed against them for misinforming people about this. Did you at the time suspect that there was something wrong here?

Gingrich: I think that civil suit tells you what was going on and why it was wrong. Nobody is walking in and telling me, look, this is how dumb we're being. This is the size of the risk we're engaged in. Do I think that there's a purpose to try and help poor people get into housing? Yes. I started out I think in 1994 with Habitat for Humanity. We actually got one of the companies to help try to get every member of congress to build one Habitat house. My motto was to help the poor earn their housing, not to try to give them housing they couldn't afford. And I kept trying to find a way to use conservative principles to help poor people acquire housing which I think is still a worthy goal.

Schieffer: Let's talk about another big issue in the campaign. That is immigration. Mitt Romney has taken such a hard line, it seems to me, on immigration that some within the Republican Party are saying, he is simply running off Hispanic voters. Do you agree with that?

Gingrich: I'm not going on comment on Governor Romney. I will say that I do not believe that the American people are going to tolerate going after somebody who has been here 25 years, who has a family, has children and grandchildren, belongs to a local church. What I proposed is very standard things. Control the border by January 1, 2014. Make English the official language of government. Go to a much better visa program that's much... that makes it more desirable to visit the U.S. Legally. Go to a better deportation program to move people out who shouldn't be here. Have a guest worker program outsourced to American Express, Visa or MasterCard so that you know that fraud is very unlikely. And have much steeper penalties for employers who hire people illegally. In that context what I've said which I think most people think is common sense which is there is a group of people who have been here a long time. We've talked about creating a citizenry view board in the World War II selective service model.

Schieffer: Could you.

Gingrich: One last thing. If somebody has been here a long time and has an American family willing to sponsor them, they should be subject to review to get a residency permit not citizenship but a residency permit. I disagree with some of my friends. I do not believe the American people are going to send police out to round up folks who have been here 25 years.

Schieffer: That's the question I'm coming to. There are 11 million of these people. I mean, what are you going to do with them? You can't build that many prisons to put them in. You can't get that many buses to haul them back.

Gingrich: Seven or eight or nine million would go home and get a guest worker permit and come back under the law. The last two million are people who have been here a very long time. They are really part of the community. They're not citizens but they're part of the community. The folks, you and I may well know some of these folks. And 25 years ago, they did something wrong but they've been very good neighbors. They belong to the local church. As I said one of the requirements would be they have to have an American family sponsor them to be eligible for review by the Citizen Review Board. I think it's a responsible position that recognizes the humanity of the problem but firmly establishes the rule of law.

Schieffer: The last American troop left Iraq today. Overnight. I just wonder at the end of this long war, do you have any thoughts on that?

Gingrich: Well, I said in December of 2003 both on Meet the Press and on Newsweek that he had gone off a cliff. Ambassador Bremer had given us an assignment we couldn't do. I think we're going to find through our great sadness we've lost several thousand young Americans and had many thousands more wounded undertaking a project we couldn't do. Last week when Maliki visited the president one of the people in his entourage was a commander in the Iranian revolutionary guard. I mean people do not understand how much the Iranians have penetrated Iraq and that the vacuum we've created will lead to I think a very, very unstable and very unpleasant environment in Iraq.

Schieffer: We have just a short time left. Let me just ask you, did you think six months ago that you would be where you are today?

Gingrich: You know, when I came on the show at one point and it was, as we were sliding down, and I thought I could fight my way back up to being in the top three or four. But I think positive ideas and positive solutions, the contract we laid out at Newt.org has attracted people. I think they like the idea of somebody who is determined to be positive.

Schieffer: Mr. Speaker, thank you again for coming this morning. I'll be back with some final thoughts in just a minute.

Schieffer's commentary:

A modest proposal: Let's have TWO Congresses

After watching Congress flounder around for an entire year and manage to accomplish nothing, I've come up with my own reform plan. Just create a second Congress.

How do you do that? Hey, it's a campaign year, you can promise anything!

Here's a broad outline about how it would work: members of this Congress would be elected for one year - and barred from ever running again.

Since no one would have to worry reelection, they could dive into all the heavy lifting - entitlement reform, deficit reduction, tax policy, and rebuilding our roads and bridges and schools.

It's not exactly a new idea - I sort of modeled on the first Congress. Getting reelected was the last thing on those guys' minds. They were worried about being HANGED if it didn't work out. So they put all their chips on the line and went for it.

With my new Congress doing the work, what would we do with the old Congress? Well, they'd still be there. We'd just strip them of all power and no longer pay them.

With nothing to do, they could devote themselves full-time to what they do best - plotting against one another, dunning people for money, cranking out press releases, issuing declarations, dreaming up excuses, threatening to shut down the government every month or so, and otherwise finding ways to avoid doing anything that actually mattered to anyone but them.

Since it would no longer cost us anything, instead of feeling disgust, we might be actually moved to look kindly on them. We might even say, "Now THAT'S entertainment!"

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[jgrenville]

The author of this article, may very much like to read a study just completed on the true story of Jackson and the Bank. The myth is ended. The controllers of Jackson were those of Aaron Burr, Jeremy Bentham, and other agents of the British Empire. John Quincy Adams and Nicholas Biddle were the nation builders and patriots. "How Andrew Jackson Destroyed the United States." larouchepac dot com/andrewjackson

[scrappdaddy]

I just read an interesting article by Max Boot. It was on this very issue and talked about the unnecessary rulings of our judicial systems Gingrich speaks about during the first part of the interview. I wonder if there is a move to get rid of these types of judicial proceedings altogether. Max Boot is whats called a chicken hawk. He writes about the necessity of wars and specifically the way war can shape policy and influence nations around the world. Max has written several books on this subject and is for the deployment of our military to engage in these "good fights" having never served in the military himself. That's the chicken hawk in him. Willing to send our men and women to fight having not gone himself or willing to send his kids. Max is so good at writing these books, that he was offered and accepted a job with the Council on Foreign Relations. Max has a bright future ahead of him. Members of this organization include: Dick Cheney John Kerry Bill Clinton Al Gore Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush Gerald Ford Richard Nixon John, David & Nelson Rockefeller Condolezza Rice Paul Wolfowitz Alan Greenspan Colon Powell Henry Kissinger and, Barack Obama Hillary Clinton John Edwards Chris Dodd Bill Richardson Mitt Romney Rudy Giuliani John McCain Fred Thompson Newt Gingrich among many others.

[scrappdaddy]

You know, I watched this guy Schieffer, try to rip apart Ron Paul a couple weeks ago. He was argumentative, interrupted, and demeaning. He never let Ron Paul finish an answer on one single topic he questioned him. Without exception, Schieffer cut him off and stopped him from finishing his answers. So I am watching this now, with Gingrich, and it is like looking at a teen aged girl in love with a boy. It is unbelievable. Where are the teeth that were so predominately displayed during the Paul interview? I thought Schieffer was actually going to bite him, I know I heard him growl at least twice (no kidding, listen for yourself). This guy (Gingrich) is the biggest target in the history of candidates! He has so much to answer foe. 87 ethics violations. $300,000 fine from ethics committee. First speaker in our history to have such in place. FORCED to resign! This guy wears red and white bulls-eyes on his clothes, and yet he is lobbed softballs my nephew could hit out of the park and he's not big enough to lift a bat. What is this country coming to when we, as citizen's, aren't screaming from the rooftops for real journalism. This "target" is being propped up as a front runner and not being held accountable for his past. I don't care about the wife thing(s). As a man it shows he lacks moral character (that has, in the past, bled into his professional life). But are people really considering this guy for President? Why? Because he's smart? Because he talks well? Because he knows some history? Obama has left himself wide open for not getting re-elected in 2012 and people are actually considering one of the worst people who's ever held office. This is a sad day in America.

[lahop2it]

I absolutely agree with Newt. I'm so happy that someone is taking up this problem. Our courts have run wild over our beliefs and have imposed their beliefs on us as absolute; many times crushing the rights of others to be able to worship openly. We have become a society of "political correctness," and the court has forgotten and suppressed our 1st Amendment rights. I decided I was no longer going to use politically correct language several years ago, and I dare someone to arrest me for it. Not one other candidate in recent history has proposed the idea of limiting the courts. I commend Newt, and I will openly campaign for him!

[LeonElledge]

Bob:
The concept Newt is speaking of is valid. The courts were, according to the founders, created to rule on laws and if they were seen in conflict with the constitution, to void them. It is the duty of congress to provide clairification. They have neglected to do so and left the court to rule alone.
As to your one year term plan: Perry has you beat. Part time jobs are better. then they would have time to go home and learn what people think. Of course we would need to make them subject to any laws or regulations the rest of us face.
Overall, I have to commend you on one of the best shows of the season. I must admit that I base that on how much the giuest is allowed to talk, not on how much time you are speaking once a question is asked. Merry Christmas !