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Live Blogging from Solutions Day

By Bluey Posted in 2008 — Comments (16) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I'm with Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters waiting for Newt Gingrich to take the stage (watch it here) at Solutions Day. Right now a number of presenters (including Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Gov. Sonny Perdue) are talking about finding solutions to America's problems. I'll be updating often, so stay tuned for more.

Updates on the jump ...

UPDATE -- 7:22 p.m.: Newt just took the stage. The room is packed. Many people are standing in the back.

UPDATE -- 7:25 p.m.: In what will probably be the biggest applause line of the night, Newt just told the audience that English should be the official language of the United States. The crowd erupted. He loves that line!

UPDATE -- 7:27 p.m.: Newt is talking about his trip to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference last week. He says the economic policies advanced by Gov. Jennifer Granholm will only drive away people from Michigan.

UPDATE -- 7:28 p.m.: He's less than 10 minutes into the speech and he's already talking about his popular YouTube video about FedEx vs. the federal bureaucracy. This is the third time I've heard him mention it today. There's good reason it has more than 1 million views.

UPDATE -- 7:31 p.m.: The speech has shifted to taxes and the economy. Newt is talking about reforming the capital-gains tax and getting rid of Sarbanes-Oxley.

UPDATE -- 7:33 p.m.: Change comes from the bottom up, Newt says. "We need to have citizens who demand change." He cites the 513,000 elected people in the United States -- from school boards to the U.S. presidency -- who can make a difference.

UPDATE -- 7:34 p.m.: Praise from Rudy Giuliani and his efforts to clean up New York City.

UPDATE -- 7:36 p.m.: Newt says 85% of Americans believe English should be the official U.S. language -- an issue that's not red or blue. He calls it a "red, white and blue" issue.

UPDATE -- 7:37 p.m.: Kellyanne Conway of the polling company is now on the stage. She's going to talk about some of the surveys she's done of Americans.

UPDATE -- 7:40 p.m.: Conway is sharing some polling data with us. Americans recognize the need for change, she says. About 65% said the federal government needs to be transformed on a large scale.

UPDATE -- 7:42 p.m.: We don't live in a red vs. blue country, Conway says. Rather, Americans recognize they share the same values. For example, 92% of Americans support long-term solutions instead of short-term fixes.

UPDATE -- 7:47 p.m.: Americans agree on five big issues -- 1) immigration (no one should get away with breaking the law), 2) national security and defense (we must defend our allies and defeat our enemies), 3) saving Social Security for future generations, 4) healthy economy and healthy environment (using innovation and new technology rather than regulation and litigation), and finally 5) religion in the public square (deletion of God from our society).

UPDATE -- 7:48 p.m.: Conway's last point about religion drew a standing ovation. "Give it up for God," she says. This is Georgia, after all, so I'm not surprised. You'd never get that type of reaction in the North.

UPDATE -- 7:53 p.m.: Newt is back on the stage. He just rips Columbia University for inviting Iranian ruler Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on its campus this week.

UPDATE -- 7:54 p.m.: Let's bring partisans together to talk, Newt suggests. He says the current political system is built to divide, not unite.

UPDATE -- 7:55 p.m.: We're now watching a video about the Solutions Lab -- an idea of Newt's to utilize technology to advance public-policy solutions.

UPDATE -- 7:59 p.m.: Solutions Lab sounds cool, but I'll have to explore it more. It sounds pretty easy. If you have an idea, all you have to do is submit. A discussion will ensue and your project just might come to fruition.

UPDATE -- 8:00 p.m.: Newt just offered praise for two Democrats who are using innovation to implement solutions -- Mayor Adrien Fenty of Washington, D.C., and Corey Booker of Newark, N.J.

UPDATE -- 8:03 p.m.: Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, another Democrat, just took the stage. He's talking about his organization, Strong American Schools, and his Ed in '08 initiative. Romer listed some stats about how American education compares to the rest of the world. It's amazing how far behind we are.

UPDATE -- 8:06 p.m.: Did you know that 1.2 million students drop out of school every year? Romer also says about 40% of students entering California colleges take remedial math and reading classes -- yes, 40%!

UPDATE -- 8:08 p.m.: Two million teachers will turn over in the next 10 years, Romer says. Replacing them with highly skilled and competent people will be crucial. "Korea recruits teachers from the top of their class," Romer says. "We recruit ours from the bottom." He blames it on the pay structure.

UPDATE -- 8:13 p.m.: There are 35 workshops set up for Saturday's Solutions Day. You can find out more here.

UPDATE -- 8:15 p.m.: This is my favorite part of the speech -- Newt is talking about Mount Vernon. He references the outstanding movie that plays in the welcome center about how Gen. George Washington crossed the Delaware River at Trenton, N.J., on Dec. 25, 1776. This is such an amazing story of Washington's leadership and heroism -- as well as the tired and wounded soldiers who followed him. Newt did a great job telling it. That makes me want to read "1776" again.

UPDATE -- 8:18 p.m.: The point of Newt's story about Washington is that Americans today cannot make excuses. We must find solutions to our problems.

UPDATE -- 8:22 p.m.: Newt invited his two grandchildren to the stage along with two of their friends. With his armes around them, he says, "This is what it's all about."

UPDATE -- 8:25 p.m.: The speech just wrapped up -- five minutes early. That's unusual for a politician. Then again, Newt isn't any ordinary politician.