Bruce Bartlett remembers how, as Speaker, Newt "did everything in his power to dismantle Congressional institutions that employed people with the knowledge, training and experience to know a harebrained idea when they saw it":
In short, Mr. Gingrich’s unprovoked attack on the C.B.O. is part of a pattern. He disdains the expertise of anyone other than himself and is willing to undercut any institution that stands in his way. Unfortunately, we are still living with the consequences of his foolish actions as speaker. … It is essential that Congress not cripple what is left of its in-house expertise. Gutting the G.A.O. and abolishing the C.B.O. would be acts of nihilism. Any politician recommending such things is unfit for office.
And can we therefore put to rest any notion that Gingrich is a conservative in any meaningful way? He's one of the most radical of radicals to ever seek the office as the nominee of a major party.
The Dish 