First off, my natural conservative free market instincts incline me to be against the bailout proposal.  However, I’ve been hesitant to make a solid stand on it because I’ve tried to talk to many who are smarter than I who also have the same political leanings, but are adament that a deal such as the one that failed yesterday is necessary for our economic health in America.

Regardless of which side anyone’s on, if this story about Newt Gingrich is true it’s a shame:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was working aggressively behind the scenes to defeat the Wall Street rescue plan minutes before he himself released a public statement in support of the package, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported on Tuesday.

Gingrich was whipping up votes for the opposition, Mitchell said, apparently without the knowledge of the current GOP leader, John Boehner, who was responsible for recruiting enough support from his caucus to help ensure the bill’s passage. Ultimately, the GOP was only able to rally roughly a third of its members.

If Newt really went behind the back of the current Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, especially as someone who’s not even serving in the chamber anymore, and in addition to this did one thing in private than claimed the opposite position in public, he should know better and be ashamed of himself.  Not a classy move.