GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich signed onto the Cut, Cap and Balance pledge today, joining other presidential candidates Herman Cain, Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.
The pledge urges Congress to oppose raising the debt ceiling limit unless three conditions are met: cuts to federal spending to reduce the debt, caps on federal spending and passage of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. (Cain signs a book deal)
“Balanced budgets are achieved by those who are committed,” Gingrich said in a press release. “Fiscal discipline requires lawmakers to be smart not cheap and requires a different type of thinking than we see in Washington. I am proposing bold solutions because we have big problems. I pledge to be a President who will rein in deficits, the debt and out of control spending. It can be done, I know because we’ve done it before.”
Gingrich was Speaker of the House when Congress balanced the budget during the Clinton administration.
The GOP presidential candidates who have not signed so far are: former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.
Thirty members of the House of Representatives and 12 Senators have also signed the pledge.