Newt Gingrich could easily have been a character in a Charles Dickens novel instead instead he's a front runner for the republican nomination for president.
Dickens, considered by many to be the greatest novelists of his time, was fascinated by cruelty to children in the work place and by those who exploited that cruelty to become rich. Child labor laws have pretty much eliminated the use of kids under 14 for hard labor but Newt would like to change that.
A few years ago. Gingrich said that children of welfare mothers should be put in orphanages, like Boys Town, and many priests agreed.
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Now he thinks 9 year olds at the poorer schools should be allowed to work as janitors. He would hire a "master janitor " (minimum wage) and the kids would mop the floors and clean the toilets. The children would get a few nickels and it would teach them "the dignity of work."
Major brands like Nike and others must be salivating at the proposal. They could relocate their manufacturing back to the U.S. Our kids work the assembly lines and the companies would save on shipping costs. Win win. But why only poor kids, rich children need dignity too! Proposal: every wall street firm would hire a "master crook.
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He would teach the rich kids how to design worthless derivatives and how to bet against the U.S. economy. Kids with a conscience would be sent away and used as speed-bumps. Ol' Newt was flying high then he used the word "humane" when describing how he would treat illegal immigrants who have been here for many years. BAM ! There went the Dickens comparison and there goes the republican nomination.
