Tiffany’s said that the balance on the account is currently zero and that all amounts have been paid in a timely manner. For someone with the amount of money that Gingrich has, to have spent half a million at Tiffany’s does not strike me as particularly outrageous, given that no one has claimed he spent that amount every month or even every year. The balance was at that level when his wife filed a financial report. That was a financial snapshot, one moment in time.
Chris Matthews nonetheless went berserk in his “Let Me Finish” segment last night, ranting about how that financial snapshot, that one moment in time, revealed that Gingrich is morally and personally flawed. He ranted excitedly at length about the moral degeneracy revealed by this debt.
So what does it mean when a president says he’s in hock for maybe half a million to a jewelry company? He doesn’t just have breakfast at Tiffany’s, but lunch supper and a midnight snack. There’s something fast and loose about this behavior, don’t you think? It says something about the way you spend your money. Some people give up steaks, clothes and nightclubs for a lifetime so their kids can live better. Even people with money must wonder what’s going on here. Fast and loose, that’s what it looks like, yeah.
As to how much one gives up so “your children can live better,” I’m not sure that a millionaire needs to give up very much, and as far as I can tell Gingrich only has two children from his first marriage, both in their forties. I’m not sure why Matthews thinks Newt should be starving himself and going naked for their benefit at this point.
And there is a big difference between a “current balance” on a revolving account and “being in hock.” If Matthews had a current balance on his Sears charge card, I wonder if conservatives would be running around screaming that he was “fast and loose” because he was “in hock” to Sears for the lawnmower he bought last week.
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