APNewsBreak: Gingrich announcing 2012 bid on Wed.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press


ATLANTA – A spokesman for Newt Gingrich says the former House speaker is running for president.

Rick Tyler told The Associated Press that Gingrich will make it official Wednesday with announcements on Facebook and Twitter. He will give an interview to Fox News later that night.

Gingrich is set to address the Georgia Republican Party Convention on Friday in Macon, Ga.

"That will be his first speech as a presidential candidate," Tyler said.

Gingrich has made no secret of his White House ambitions. He's been raising money and assembling a campaign team for months. Last week The AP reported that the Gingrich camp had quietly opened a campaign headquarters in Atlanta.

Getting into the race marks a comeback attempt by the former Georgia congressman who stepped down from the House after four tumultuous years as speaker.

He had led the GOP to its first majority in the House in 40 years, spearheading the Republican revolution.

A spending fight between Gingrich and President Bill Clinton led to a shutdown of part of the federal government in 1995 and 1996. He left Congress in 1999. In recent years he's stayed in the public eye, speaking on issues from health care to foreign affairs.

Since leaving office he has set up a lucrative network of nonprofit and business ventures. He's also churned out a steady stream of books and made frequent speaking engagements.

In recent months the 67-year-old Gingrich has lambasted President Barack Obama's federal health law and has criticized the Democrat's foreign policy as "clueless."

He's traveled frequently to the early primary and caucus states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

The twice-divorced Gingrich has also been working to make inroads with social conservatives critical to the GOP primary base, highlighting his conversion to Catholicism after marrying his third wife, Callista,

Although he's lived in northern Virginia for more than a decade, Gingrich has also been playing up his Georgia roots. Born in Pennsylvania, he taught college in Georgia and was a longtime congressman from suburban Atlanta, helping build the Republican Party in the state dominated at the time by Democrats.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I like Gingrich, but unfortunately I don't think he can win the republican primary.

[Muddy]

I'm afraid I don't care for anybody on any ticket...

[PorkChopSandwiches]

How many times is this crusty fuck going to keep trying :lol:

[Muddy]

He's older than McCain isn't he?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

How many times is this crusty fuck going to keep trying :lol:

I think this is the first time he's officially gonna run for President :-k

[PorkChopSandwiches]

I think this is the first time he's officially gonna run for President :-k

Really? Maybe he just keeps thinking about it every time, I dont think he has a chance.

[Muddy]

He's a political cherub..

[PorkChopSandwiches]

:lol:

[RBP]

He's a political cherub..

I don't get that. :idk:


I like Gingrich also. I will cautiously support him and see what stupid shit comes out of his mouth.

[Muddy]

I don't get that. :idk:


I like Gingrich also. I will cautiously support him and see what stupid shit comes out of his mouth.


He just reminds me of one of those fat little cherubs...

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/10700/10711/cherub_10711_lg.gif

[RBP]

lol ok

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I don't get that. :idk:


I like Gingrich also. I will cautiously support him and see what stupid shit comes out of his mouth.

I'm not worried about him saying something dumb as I think he is very smart, I'm just worried that he's not 'conservative' enough to win the primary. He's not a bible thumping, gay bashing, militant pro-lifer like the right-wing wackos like in the primaries.

[DemonGeminiX]

This has barely started and I'm sick of it all already.

I think I'm getting tired of politics.

:|

[Teh One Who Knocks]

This has barely started and I'm sick of it all already.

I think I'm getting tired of politics.

:|

There's still almost 18 months to go ;)

:empathy:

[DemonGeminiX]

:-k

I could always ignore it all.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I'll PM you updates every morning :tup:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

tweet the deets

[DemonGeminiX]

I'll PM you updates every morning :tup:

:nono:

You're not helping me achieve my goal of apathetic indifference.

[FBD]

I think he'd serve the country's interests well, but...

I hope he doesnt wind up being the best candidate, because that'd just be a bit sad.

[Arkady Renko]

if you don't like any of the candidates, you can have our chancellor s far as I'm concerned.

[FBD]

we probably dont want him either :dance:

[Deepsepia]

I'm afraid I don't care for anybody on any ticket...

You'll like Mitch Daniels . . . Chris Chistie is trying to get Daniels to run. As Governor of Indiana, Daniels has done a very good job, in a state that's been hit pretty hard by the Recession. I like Governors much more than Congressmen-- they actually have to run something, and you can make a judgment about how good they are at it. Daniels is very good, and he's been able to do some very tough stuff without causing a political firestorm, which is real talent.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

You'll like Mitch Daniels . . . Chris Chistie is trying to get Daniels to run. As Governor of Indiana, Daniels has done a very good job, in a state that's been hit pretty hard by the Recession. I like Governors much more than Congressmen-- they actually have to run something, and you can make a judgment about how good they are at it. Daniels is very good, and he's been able to do some very tough stuff without causing a political firestorm, which is real talent.

I like Chris Chistie

[Deepsepia]

I like Chris Chistie

Daniels is quite similar in what he's getting done, but he's been in office longer. Indiana will appeal to conservatives -- fewest state workers per capita, if memory serves. Daniels really "runs" the Government effectively



INDIANAPOLIS | When the going gets tough, the tough get creative.

Indiana already has the fewest state employees per capita of any state in the country. So when Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered state agencies to reduce their budgets by 20 percent to help put a dent in Indiana's $1 billion budget deficit, agency leaders had no choice but to look beyond personnel savings to meet reduction targets.

An analysis by The Times of 476 pages of budget-reduction data requested by Senate Democratic Leader Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, found state agencies will do just about anything to save a buck.

Nearly all state agencies report that over the past two years they have left open positions unfilled, frozen salaries, delayed new equipment purchases, eliminated out-of-state travel and most in-state travel and encouraged employees to take voluntary unpaid time off.

They've also moved into smaller offices, eliminated business cards, switched to electronic newsletters and taken away take-home vehicles.

At the Department of Correction, Commissioner Edwin G. Buss said he's not bothered by the budget cuts. Instead, he looks at them as an opportunity to find "a better way of doing business," he said.

Buss eliminated small electric dishwashing machines at state prisons to save money on equipment purchases, maintenance and electricity -- and now convicts do the dishes by hand. Prisoners who've completed their terms are released only two days a week, and prisoners requesting special meat preparation for religious reasons are served an enriched vegetarian meal instead.

Prison labor has also replaced paid employees in other agencies. The Indiana War Memorial and White River State Park, both in Indianapolis, now use prisoners to maintain their grounds and facilities.

Those agencies aren't alone in thinking outside the box to save some bucks.

The Indiana Department of Labor has gotten rid of its stationery with a pre-printed color letterhead. It now uses less expensive paper and prints the letterhead directly from a computer file. It's also using less expensive materials in the plaques it awards to businesses in the Voluntary Protection Program, which recognizes workplaces exceeding federal and state safety standards.

The exact amount saved by each agency is being totaled by the state auditor as he works to close the books on the 2010 fiscal year, which ended June 30.

The Indiana Department of Transportation has eliminated many overhead illuminated road signs, relying on reflective letters to get the message across. The savings in labor, maintenance and electricity multiplied by thousands of signs really does add up, Commissioner Michael B. Cline said.

At the State Personnel Department, the budget cuts have been the impetus to finally complete a long-desired agency reorganization. Gone are the human resources managers in each state agency, replaced by a centralized human resources staff that relies on technology to minimize employment paperwork.

The centralization effort has saved $14.9 million by eliminating or reassigning 301 state employees.

"This integration of HR services ensures more consistent application of state personnel policy and state and federal employment law while reducing costs and improving efficiency," said Daniel L. Hackler, state personnel director.

Even state agencies supported by nonstate funds have been willing to do their part.

The Indiana Gaming Commission, funded by casino wagering taxes, has returned 10 percent of its budget to the state for the past two years. Employees at the Indiana Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which is 98 percent supported by federal funds, haven't gotten a pay raise for two years.

State Superintendent Tony Bennett, who has cut the budget of the Indiana Department of Education by 25 percent, said state agencies and workers need to accept this frugality as the new normal.

"We simply cannot ask for another penny from Indiana's hard-working taxpayers," Bennett said. "Instead, we must learn to adjust to this new norm without ever sacrificing service or success."

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I like Chris Chistie

He swears he won't run :(

[Muddy]

You'll like Mitch Daniels . . . Chris Chistie is trying to get Daniels to run. As Governor of Indiana, Daniels has done a very good job, in a state that's been hit pretty hard by the Recession. I like Governors much more than Congressmen-- they actually have to run something, and you can make a judgment about how good they are at it. Daniels is very good, and he's been able to do some very tough stuff without causing a political firestorm, which is real talent.

I'll check him out... Thanks for the heads up...

[Southern Belle]

I like Gingrich too.

[Arkady Renko]

we probably dont want him either :dance:

it's a her, actually, but it's hard to tell the difference in her case.