Newt Pays Some Loot

Newt Pays Some Loot

Friday, May 16th 1996 -- Some Republicans are beside themselves with glee because House Speaker Newt Gingrich handed over his personal check for $50,000 yesterday and announced to the House Ethics Committee that he would now borrow only $150,000 from former senator Bob Dole instead of the original $300,000 as announced last month.

He probably won't have to do even that.

The House fined Gingrich for bringing discredit on the House of Representatives by failing to follow legal prescripts that insure tax-exempt funds are not used for political purposes and for providing less than truthful information to the House Ethics Committee.

In other words, he lied.

It seems the Speaker read the public mood correctly this time. The Speaker also plans to make two addition payments next year of $50,000 each on June 1st and November 30th, 1998 respectively. He also plans to pay the full $300,000 fine before January 3rd, 1999. It appears that this last payment may come from the Dole loan proceeds.

What possessed the Gingrich to originally accept the $300,000 loan from Dole -- termed a "sweetheart deal" by Common Cause -- is a matter of cynical conjecture. But like a true political fox, he backtracked with lightning speed.

The important story, however, is that this move underscores the fact that Gingrich is planning to stay the course and fight for recovery of his once-powerful role in the Republican controlled House.

If the Speaker had chosen to fight Democrats and other critics of the Dole loan, he would only have extended the period of sniping and infighting surrounding the matter. Now, it seems, a little money goes a long way -- toward assuaging critics and putting the issue to rest.

But does it?

The bickering over his fine payments were only an aftershock or the earthquake that beset Gingrich last year. The Speaker remains the single most disrespected national public figure in America, and is chief of a Congress which only 32% of Americans think is doing a good job. The average Jane and Joe will not "bind" with Gingrich because he had to shell out 50 big ones yesterday. They assume he's rich, and will only get richer as time passes. Most will
wonder where he got yesterday's $50,000 in the first place.

The Speaker will never regain the respect he once garnered. Even as he treads water in a sea of negative public opinion, several of his colleagues discuss his possible replacement and continue to circle his carcass -- deservedly or not.