Reply #87: Newt Gingrich's speech at Dec. 2010 ALEC conference [View All]

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It is a great honor and a great thrill to be here. ALEC has done many, many things that have been very important to move America towards more rational, more conservative, more affordable, and more effective government, and many of you who are alumni are now either in governorships or in the Congress and you might on occasion remind them of all the principles that they learned here at ALEC.

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Then you want to start reshaping things. And you want a replacement strategy, not a reform strategy. You can’t reform the Environmental Protection Agency. The Environmental Protection Agency has now spent 40 years recruiting people whose primary job is to destroy American business and destroy local government in favor of a centralized dictatorship of environmental extremism. Now you’re not going to fix those folks. You can’t go in and say, “Why don’t we talk with each other and have better communication.” You’ve got to fundamentally, from the ground up, design a new model of environmental protection and replace the current model, and say to them, “Glad you were around. Hope you have a good time writing your memoirs. You ain’t gonna be here.”

Everybody should remember, when I say be not afraid, everyone should remember the Judicial Reform Act of 1802. Jefferson and Madison, who knew a reasonable amount about the Constitution, passed a bill which abolished 18 out of 35 federal judges. Didn’t impeach them; just said your office no longer exists, your salary is no longer paid; you can no longer hold court. Several of the 18 tried to go to court to sue on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and the remaining 17 judges said are you nuts? If we agree to hear your case, they will abolish us next.

Now, I want you to know, I am not as bold as Thomas Jefferson. I would not try to eliminate ½ of all the current sitting federal judges. I would limit it to the Ninth Circuit as a demonstration…

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