Romney rips Gingrich in Nevada ad
(CNN) - Mitt Romney's campaign took its ongoing attack of rival Newt Gingrich to Nevada Wednesday, slamming the former House speaker for his role advising mortgage giant Freddie Mac in the next battleground in the GOP primary.
The 30-second spot, called "Nevada Families," is similar to an ad that began running Monday in Florida. Both Nevada and Florida have been hit particularly hard by the national housing crisis, with foreclosure rates well above the national average.
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The ad takes the Nevada's housing situation head on, saying Gingrich profited from the state's hardships.
"While Nevada families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in," a narrator says.
The ad then points to Gingrich's work with Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant many Republicans cite as a critical player in the housing collapse.
Contracts released earlier this week show Gingrich's firm earned $25,000 per month for consulting for Freddie Mac, beginning in 1999. An early contract specifically barred the firm from lobbying members of Congress, though a later document omitted specific language preventing lobbying.
The ad also takes on ethics charges levied against Gingrich during his time in the House of Representatives, saying he was "sanctioned for ethics violations" and "resigned from Congress in disgrace."
The House Ethics Committee reprimanded Gingrich in 2007 for characterizing a college course he taught as tax-exempt, when in actuality the course was run for political reasons. Gingrich has maintained on the campaign trail the $300,000 penalty he paid following the House ethics investigation was considered reimbursement, and not a fine.
The ad closes with a photo of Gingrich and Obama, and a narrator asserting: ""If Newt wins, this guy would be very happy."
Nevada is the next battleground in the GOP nominating contest, following Florida's primary on Tuesday. Nevadans hold their caucuses February 4.
Also see:
Live blog: 2012 State of the Union
New Freddie Mac contract prohibits 'lobbying activities'
I'm sick of Mitt and his Super PAC, thinking they can buy the election, while they offer absolutely nothing for the middle class, seniors, women, students, minorities, gays, and just about everybody else. Seriously – a vote for Mitt is a vote against yourself unless you are in the richest 1%.
@westward: I agree 100%. No way I'm voting for any republican.
Gimgrich should run the debate clip from October when Mitt declared ALL houses in trouble should be allowed to FORECLOSE and NO help for homeowners should be given for any reason. Mitt stood and lied and flip-flopped his belief on this idea when he got in front of the FL voters. None of the Republicans can be trusted. So full of hate and not one solution that is sane or workable- except for their rich and corporate bribers.
Hey westward, you tired of it because all you do is sit and expect to be given food stamp to your hands!!
Gingrich / Chtulhu 2012!! Don't settle for the lesser of 2 evils, vote for the greatest!!
Westward, you should read Romney's economic and tax plans. For example he proposes eliminating the capital gains taxes on all middle income people – no tax on savings or dividends. If you spend some time reading and learning about his proposals with an open mind you may decide that he has a lot to offer the middle class.
Both Mitt and Newt are negligent , both did nothing and would do nothing .
Fred Dalton Thompson (born Freddie Dalton Thompson; August 19, 1942), is an ..... spokesman for American Advisors Group (AAG), a reverse mortgage lender.This sleazy ad has been on cable news all day. Former presidential candidate and country bear Fred Thompson is another GOP carpet bagger
With interest rates so low it seems like more seniors may start looking at reverse mortgages as a way to get more money for their living ...
@middleclassmom – Do you realize that lower or no tax on savings, dividends, and capital gains disproportionately helps you if those are your primary sources of income? It would just be a continuation of the policy changes that have redistributed wealth to the already wealthy that has been going on for 30 years. Of course, if anyone suggests policies to unwind any of that redistribution, people on the right scream "class warfare", not "fairness", which would be more appropriate.
Mitt Romney in panic mode Nevada for Romney we knew that if he is going after Newt In Nevada something smell bad
Entire Republican party is idiotic. Both the biggest idiots. king idiots. true.
What difference does it make???? Romney claimed IN NEVADA that we should just let the banks foreclose. Every ONE of these clowns care nothing about the struggles that ALL working American families endure!
The best thing that happened to GingRICH and Romney where to become politicians. They gotten so rich off of TAX PAYERS money. 160 Million American we can not afford to elect 1 these 2 CROOKS as our President. MEXICAN AMERICANS for OBAMA 2012
Romney is truly not telling the truth with these housing related attacks.
IT is time he is called out on them. They are bare faced lies.
Looks like R-Money is gonna ride his phony FF pony manure into the ground. First, FF was not the cause of the housing collapse, it was R-Money's predatory buddies on Wall Street that did that. Second, he's ripping Newt for making $25,000 a month. For R-Money and his corrupt elitist pals, $25,000 a month is called lunch money.
Please Candidates, Stop fighting each other. The real enemy is BHO. Tell your success stories and point the finger where the real problem lies.