Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World That Works

Red America and Blue America: our nation is hopelessly and equally divided between liberals and conservatives — right? Wrong. In “Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World That Works,” Newt Gingrich explains that America has a natural, overwhelming conservative majority — a majority that has a better grasp of the challenges facing America than the Washington bureaucrats, politicians and lobbyists who don’t think of solving problems, but of managing ‘the system.’

Skeptical? Don’t be. The real division is between red-white-and-blue America (about 85 percent of the county) versus a sickly pastel pink leftist fringe (the other 15 percent). The pastel pinks have not only perpetuated the myth that the country is equally divided, they have also insisted that their positions hold moral superiority. Neither is true. And yet the Republicans have been so lacking in backbone and conviction that they have accepted these myths, but tell themselves that they can manage big government better than the Democrats — which really means managing decline and managing failure).

In reality, across the board — from the most contentious social issues (like letting God into the classroom through school prayer) to the allegedly divisive issues of war and peace, Gingrich shows that the American people speak with one voice. 94 percent want a moment of silence to allow prayer in public school. 87 percent support making English the official language of the United States. 93 percent believe al Qaeda poses a serious threat to our country, and 79 percent don’t believe it is possible to negotiate with terrorist groups. 80 percent know the Social Security system is broken. 71 percent support a flat tax. 73 percent favor drilling for oil off America’s coasts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Why, then, are the Republicans facing electoral disaster in 2008, with Democrats already making plans for when they recapture the White House?

Because, says Gingrich, neither has really tried to find creative solutions to the serious problems we face as a nation. Democrats can’t talk creatively about replacing government failure with a model that works because their power base is largely the very unionized bureaucracies that need to change — and their ideological base is the big-government, high-regulatory, high-tax model which most Americans reject. When Democrats are elected as a majority, it’s because of Republican failure. But Republicans fail all too often, having written off large segments of the country as unwinnable, as ‘blue state America,’ and therefore not of concern to them. Both parties, Gingrich argues, are failing America: neither party is qualified to lead us successfully into the twenty-first century.

In Real Change,he offers an alternative — a solid plan for empowering the 70 to 90 percent of Americans who agree on all the major issues that confront the country. Gingrich contrasts Rudolph Giuliani in New York and George W. Bush in Iraq, explaining why one succeeded and the other failed, sets out realistic plans for balancing the budget and reforming social security, offers an immigration policy that makes sense, and even outlines a program for prison and health care reform. Above all, he explains how Americans can force our elected representatives to get serious about real solutions to our problems and real change in our approach to governance — or to get out of the way.

From the wisdom of Newt Gingrich:

• How both parties lost in 2004 — as the outcome deepened for Republicans the sense of red versus blue and deep partisanship, while allowing Democrats to ignore how out of touch with America the left wing of their party is
• Why, even though both parties are out of step with the citizens they should be, the answer is not to form a third party
• The immigration reform that the vast majority of Americans want — and that our elected officials should have the courage to deliver: establishing English as our official language, controlling the borders, and more
• Why the bureaucratic-litigation model of the past simply can’t meet present challenges, let alone future ones — and the terrible human and financial costs of these obsolete, failed government systems Medicare: more restrictive of senior citizens’ rights than the British national health service — and how it can and must be reformed
• Three success stories that saved a lot of time and money and provided lots of lessons for improving government
• Unions: how they can have a legitimate role only if they truly represent the people they claim to represent ‘ America’s workers
• Two real threats to our economic future — and how destructive American policies drive business and jobs out of the United States
• The disquieting significance of the failure of the non-military components of our national security system
• The dire need for prison reform: how, as a result of the ‘warehouse’ prison model, we have created generations of hardened criminals who are comfortable in prison culture and aliens in law-abiding society
• Shocking scandals the bureaucratic, government-run health system has produced
• The great strength of markets over bureaucracies: how they empower the consumer and the creative entrepreneur
• The immense benefits to society as a whole if workers were able to save and invest, in their own personal accounts, roughly the employees’ share of the payroll tax
• Why you should blame the Democrats the next time you’re stuck in an airport waiting hours for a delayed flight
• What the Republicans must do if they have any hope to win the presidency in 2008

“Real Change” is the fruit of Gingrich’s forty-nine years of studying American politics and history, and his twenty years in Congress (with four as Speaker of the House). It is a practical blueprint for real change, addressing problems that our system-bound politicians ignore, and providing solutions that are proven to work. “We must,” he says, “embrace real change. Our very survival depends on it.”

Tags: Newt Gingrich, Real Change