AUDIO: Gingrich Plays Up Jobs Ideas To Harvard Crowd

GOP Presidential hopeful and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) told a Harvard University audience Friday that President Obama’s deficit spending is endangering economic recovery. The best way to jumpstart the economy, Gingrich said, is to create jobs.

“When you create jobs, you get people off of Medicaid, off of public housing, off of unemployment, off of welfare,” he said. “So, you’re reducing government spending without pain.”

(Click here to listen to Gingrich slam Obama’s spending policies)

Discussing the budget crisis facing the country, Gingrich was less than complementary about the so-called “Super committee,” calling the group “stupid,” and added that a major fault of that panel is that none of the members have consulted anyone who has balanced a budget.

Gingrich also covered national security and foreign policy issues.

Commenting on President Obama’s decision to send 2,500 Marines to Australia, he said the move is largely symbolic and will only irritate the Chinese.

“I’m not against him doing it. I think it’s a good thing, but it’s not central to our relationship with China,” Gingrich said.

A member of the crowd asked Gingrich if he would support the Kyoto Accords and the UN Treaty on landmines. Gingrich said he opposed both treaties saying, “You couldn’t find a single member of the Senate that supported the treaty because it was so poorly written.

On another foreign policy issue, Gingrich said that the U.S. is right to withhold dues from UNESCO because of the organization’s decision to recognize the Palestinian Authority.

(Click here to listen to Gingrich bash a pair of President Obama’s foreign policy decisions)

Gingrich now heads back to Iowa to attend a family forum in anticipation of the January 3 Iowa caucuses. A new Rasmussen poll out today showed Gingrich leading the rest of the Republican field by 13 points in the Hawkeye State.