Hello John,   
      
    RW>> Didn't he also own a big piece of a company that manufactured   
    RW>> electrical wire way back when he was Mr. Speaker?   
      
   JM>No.   
      
   Without being more specific, who can say what Newt owned or did not own?   
      
    RW>> I thought I read   
    RW>> somewhere back then that there were some conflict of interest issues   
    RW>> re that company adn some government contracts.   
      
   JM>You didn't.   
      
   There were a few questionable book deals...   
      
   JM>In the 1970's, Newt Gingrich, an assistant professor who taught   
   JM>environmental studies and an unsuccessful Congressional candidate,   
   JM>criticized a local manufacturing company.   
   JM>   
   JM>The company, Southwire, was a powerful force. It was also, Mr.   
   JM>Gingrich asserted, a polluter.   
   JM>   
   JM>But by the time he finally won a seat to the House in 1978, Mr.   
   JM>Gingrich had reconciled his differences with Southwire. The Richards   
   JM>family, its owners, became his strong allies and helped to bolster   
   JM>his struggling personal and political finances in his formative   
   JM>years, campaign aides, contributors and public records indicate.   
      
   Who owns Newt?  Let's take a look -   
      
   Georgia's Richards family, owners of Southwire Corporate   
   ($1.3 billion per year); Rupert Murdoch ($4.5 billion)   
      
   The Richardses lent and donated money and office space to Gingrich from   
   his earliest days in politics.  They have given over $100,000, and   
   Gingrich was the first recipient of donations from Southwire's PAC.  By   
   coincidence, Gincgrich has changed from an environmentalist critic of   
   Southwire to a staunch anti-environementalist during that time.  People   
   with ties to Southwire were instrumental in two earlier lucrative book   
   deals of Gingrich's in 1977 and 1984; the latter was investigated for   
   ethical violations. -- Sources   
      
   http://www.realchange.org/gingrich.htm   
      
   There is also a very nice article in the NY Times showing the   
   relationship between Southwire and Newt Gingrich...   
      
   --Lee   
      
   --- MesNews/1.06.00.00-gb   
    * Origin: news://felten.yi.org (2:203/2)