What Newt’s Reading | January 9, 2020

What Newt’s Reading After losing the Georgia runoff elections, Republicans need to learn some key lessons and get back to work, organizing better and crafting a positive message. Blaming each other won’t help. -Newt Republicans Should Learn and Win Again By Jackie Gingrich Cushman Townhall In Georgia, Republican incumbents lost all statewide runoff races on the ballot this week to Democratic challengers. As a result, the GOP lost control of the US Senate. There are several lessons to take away from this experience. For example, self-funding doesn’t always work, as Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) showed. Here are a few more: Candidates need to be themselves. Organization is critical. Stand for something positive. For each of these bits of wisdom, Republicans performed poorly, such as focusing only on what would happen if Democrats won and not providing voters any hope or optimism. Rather than learn these lessons, however, many Republicans will blame other Republicans or voter fraud. But blaming others will not lead to future wins. Republicans need to get to work, organizing and crafting a positive message. Nancy Pelosi has warned you without a Republican Senate to serve as a check on her chamber, the 117th Congress is prepared to follow the fiscal blowout of 2020 with another historic surge in federal spending and debt. -Newt The Pelosi Rules By James Freeman Wall Street Journal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) explained that, without a Republican Senate to check the House Democrats, Congress will expand federal spending, increasing the federal deficit. New House rules aim to eliminate previous congressional restraints to curb spending. Indeed, Pelosi has endorsed a new budgeting rule championed by progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). The gist of the new rule is to make various left-wing priorities eligible for “emergency” spending. Pelosi was just re-elected HouseSpeaker, and her new term comes with new House rules — and without a Senate to check Democrats in the House, new consequences. In October 2015, a consultant working on behalf of the Chinese energy conglomerate CEFC made an intriguing pitch to Hunter Biden. They wanted to explore investing up to $100 million with an asset management firm with links to him. -Newt Mystery Chinese Firm Approached Hunter Biden with an Offer of Charity — and a More Lucrative Pitch By Chuck Ross Daily Caller Emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop show that he was approached by a consultant working on behalf of a Chinese energy company, CEFC China Energy, in October 2015. The energy conglomerate is also linked to Chinese military intelligence. The consultant said that CEFC wanted to make a contribution to a nonprofit organization that Biden chaired and to invest up to $100 million with an asset management firm with links to Biden. Ultimately, CEFC paid Hunter Biden approximately $6 million for various legal and consulting fees, which were flagged by American regulators, according to a Senate report. Sen. Josh Hawley said late Monday that "Antifa scumbags" arrived at his Washington, DC home and threatened his wife and newborn daughter while he was in his home state of Missouri. -Newt Hawley Says ‘Antifa Scumbags’ Threatened His Family at Their Home in DC By Edmund DeMarche Fox News Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said Monday that “Antifa scumbags” attacked his Washington, DC residence and threatened both his wife and daughter. The incident may have been in response to Hawley’s announcement that he would object to the Electoral College certification on Wednesday. Hawley said the group of Antifa members screamed threats, vandalized his property, and attempted to open his front door. According to reports, the group involved was ShutDown DC, which called the visit to Hawley’s home an “hour-long vigil” to protest Hawley and the Republican Party. Newt's Latest Podcasts: On Sale Now: