Politics

Gingrich dismantles Robert Reich’s rant on income inequality: ‘This is baloney’

Brendan Bordelon Contributor
Font Size:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich heatedly disputed Robert Reich’s contention that the “War on Poverty’s” initial success was spoiled by decades of Republican “intransigence,” telling the former labor secretary his argument was “baloney.”

Gingrich and Reich appeared on ABC News’ “This Week” to discuss TIME magazine’s choice of Pope Francis as Person of the Year. Reich, a well-known proponent of wide-scale income redistribution, changed the topic to inequality in the United States today. ABC News host Jonathann Karl asked Gingrinch whether the Republican Party should be worried about poverty in America.

“Absolutely,” he responded. “How can you justify the level of wealth in those big towers in New York City and the level of poverty in those alleys? And without talking about government, surely a society that cared, that believed every person was endowed by their Creator with the right to pursue happiness, would come up with a better solution than 22,000 children that are homeless.

“I think that the Republican Party has an obligation to rethink some of its indifference to the very poor,” he continued, “and I think the Democrats have an obligation to ask themselves after 50 years of the ‘War on Poverty,’ isn’t it clear that government isn’t a very good –”

That was as far as Gingrich got before his fellow panelists exploded with outrage. After a brief tussle, Reich was tapped to explain why poverty is all Republicans’ fault:

REICH: The “War on Poverty” — which next year we are going to celebrate the 50th anniversary, in addition to the Civil Rights Act — the “War on Poverty” was successful for a time. What has happened, however, over the last 30 years, is that much of the — much of the ardor, much of the concern, much of what propelled that “War on Poverty” has dissipated.

KARL: But why after five years of President Barack Obama, do we see the problem worse?

REICH: Well the problem is worse. I think it has something to do, perhaps, with the intransigence of the Speaker’s party. Because every time there was a jobs bill, every time there was an effort to expand low-income housing —

GINGRICH: Robert —

REICH: Every time there was an effort to provide better opportunities for young people — we’re talking about equal opportunity.

GINGRICH: Every major —

REICH: Equal opportunity is at the basis —

GINGRICH: This is baloney.

REICH: What is baloney?

GINGRICH: Here’s the baloney: Every major city which is a center of poverty is run by Democrats. Every major city. Their policies have failed. They are not willing to admit it. And the fact is it’s the poor who suffer from bad —

[Crosstalk]

REICH: First of all, Bloomberg is not a Democrat. Secondly, what’s happening in America —

KARL: There’s been a Democrat in New York for 20 years!

Reich was eventually allowed to finish his lecture, admonishing Gingrich as he did so. “Newt, I’m surprised you are not taking responsibility for this,” he said without a trace of irony.

One thing Reich isn’t taking responsibility for is his own contribution to inequality during his widely regretted  stint in the White House. Working as the Clinton Administration’s Labor Secretary from 1993 to 1997, Reich oversaw a substantial hike in the federal minimum wage and implementation of the Family Leave Act. Despite these apparent War-On-Poverty victories, according to inequality.org‘s chart of after-tax income by income group, U.S. inequality during his tenure grew at the fastest rate ever seen up until that time.

Reich left office prior to the late-Clinton-era boom that lifted all wage groups and saw the last balanced budgets in American history. He later slammed his former colleagues in the memoir “Locked In the Cabinet,” which was universally criticized and had to be substantially re-edited in later editions due to Reich’s multiple distortions and outright falsehoods.

[h/t Evan McMurray]

Follow Brendan on Twitter

Brendan Bordelon

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel