Like most of the anti-Romney contenders thus far, Newt Gingrich's sudden rise in the polls could be short lived just like that of Bachmann, Perry, Cain, etc. You see Gingrich's past, a past that is filled with questionable and odious events, seems like it is about to catch up with him yet again. This time the pitfall is his hypocritical and new found stance on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how that relates to his past track record as an advocate of expanding home ownership. According to a new article appearing in the Huffington Post: "Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich has been one of the most influential conservative voices advocating the use of home ownership efforts to alleviate poverty. Although his work as a highly lucrative consultant for Freddie Mac may have been more political pomp than policy circumstance, Gingrich's political clout was part of the mortgage giant's push to grant bipartisan legitimacy to its epic housing gamble. The former House speaker's long record of pushing to expand home ownership casts significant doubt on his recent claim that he encouraged Freddie Mac to change its policies during the Bush era, when the mortgage giant shelled out roughly $30,000 a month for Gingrich's work...Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac was lucrative. His consulting firm was paid between $1.6 million and $1.8 million over eight years to advise the mortgage giant, according to Bloomberg -- a long time for an ex-lawmaker to work with a single client. And those ties have become extremely sensitive as the former House speaker's polling numbers have improved. Many GOP primary voters loathe Fannie and Freddie, and Gingrich and his fellow Republican presidential contenders have attempted to blame the two mortgage giants -- which played a destructive role in the housing bubble -- for unrelated financial misdeeds on Wall Street that crashed the banking sector."
 
Despite Gingrich's attempts to displace responsibility for having once supported expanding home ownership via Freddie and Fannie, his own words offer evidence enough to portray his current stance as nothing less than hypocritical political maneuvering. Quoting Gingrich from his book "To Renew America": "We want to ensure that, from day one, people who work hard can see their work pay off. Part of this process involves giving people control over their own housing. Poor people ought to be given a chance to buy the property they live in." Thus Newt Gingrich at this time was totally in agreement with George Bush's effort to expand the political base of American conservatives via the "Ownership Society" initiative. To wit: "Bush and Republican political strategists hoped to use home ownership to convert more middle-class and low-income voters into consistent Republicans. Owning a home, after all, comes with a host of tax liabilities -- most notably property taxes and capital gains, if the home is sold. Making more voters wary of such tax rates would likely help enlist them in the conservative cause."
 
So there you have it, Newt Gingrich has been able to rehabilitate his presidential hopes in the downdraft that has now befallen Herman Cain as it has several others but its probably all for naught. As his poll numbers rise, so does the scrutiny placed on the ever controversial Gingrich who has a track record of established charges against him that won't go away no matter what spin he or his lieutenants attempt. To this past list I believe we will soon be adding his Freddie Mac connection and with that, we'll more likely than not, see Gingrich's fortune fade for a second time within the 2012 presidential election cycle.