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(h/t ThinkProgess ) It’s brilliant. Newt Gingrich, disgraced former Speaker of the House, elder statesman and alleged great brain of the GOP and rumored Republican presidential candidate for 2012 has come up with the most novel approach to whether to extend the Bush tax cuts: ask the rich (or as he calls them “business owners”) how long they want them extended. Wow. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this earlier? Of course, those millionaires would be completely altruistic in choosing to make their tax cuts permanent, right? And of course, the wealthy elite know exactly what’s best, but those on the other end of the scale? Well, there, it’s important for the government to step in and dictate a cut in their benefits. ThinkProgress : Yet, while Gingrich is perfectly happy to let the nation’s foxes decide what to do with the henhouse, he takes a very different view of how Congress should treat the most vulnerable Americans. In practically the same breath that he proposes giving a massive tax cut to Paris Hilton , he also suggests that “we change the entire [unemployment benefits] program into a worker training program and not give anybody money for doing nothing.” [..] Gingrich’s proposal, to cut off unemployment benefits while giving a massive windfall to the most fortunate, is a recipe for skyrocketing unemployment. The economy grows by nearly two dollars for every dollar spent on unemployment benefits “because recipients typically spend all of their benefit payments quickly.” The money “ ripples through the economy into supermarkets, gasoline stations, utilities, convenience stores.” Flush with the revenue provided by these new consumers, those businesses are then able to hire additional workers and diminish the ranks of the unemployed. In other words, history and FACTS (those pesky little things) have shown that Gingrich’s proposal is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what should be done, not that Chris Wallace would ever point that out. And yet, this is the Very. Serious. Contribution. of someone hoping to run the country in two years. We are in Very. Serious. Trouble.