Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle That Will Decide America's Fate

by Newt Gingrich

Bestselling author Newt Gingrich proposes a bold vision of the future: America is on the cusp of a renaissance, a new birth of technological and scientific innovation that will dramatically transform the prosperity and quality of life of every American. Our biggest enemy? Special interest groups, powerful lobbyists, and government bureaucrats who are determined to squash, control, or prevent these innovations and permanently change the future of America. These are the enemies of the future powerful forces determined to prevent the enormous benefits that American ingenuity will bring.

In his groundbreaking new book, "Breakout," former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich sketches America s future, brimming with possibilities and prosperity. Despite big government regulation and taxation, despite special interest groups and lobbyists, American entrepreneurs, innovators, engineers, and scientists are still abundantly creative and productive. Gingrich describes the top technologies that promise to change the way we live and prosper, including 3D printing, driverless cars, breakthroughs in genetics and medicine, unprecedented and ever-growing Internet connectivity, and the new app store model of business development.

Will big government, whacky extremists, and powerful lobbyists stop these innovations? They will try with punitive taxes, stifling regulation, and hopelessly outdated policies. Will Americans "allow" it? Newt Gingrich sounds the rallying cry to make sure we defeat the enemies of the future.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Newt Gingrich is well-known as the architect of the “Contract with America” that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 by capturing the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in forty years. After he was elected Speaker, he disrupted the status quo by moving power out of Washington and back to the American people. Under his leadership, Congress passed welfare reform, the first balanced budget in a generation, and the first tax cut in sixteen years. In addition, the Congress restored funding to strengthen defense and intelligence capabilities, an action later lauded by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

Today Newt Gingrich is a Fox News contributor. He is a Senior Advisor at Dentons, the world’s largest law firm with more than 6,500 lawyers in 50 countries and offices in more than 125 cities. He advises the firm’s world-class Public Policy and Regulation practice. He is also a Senior Scientist at Gallup.

From May 2011 to May 2012, Newt Gingrich was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, winning the South Carolina and the Georgia primaries. The campaign was especially notable for its innovative policy agenda, its effort to bring new coalitions into the Republican fold, and for Newt’s debate performances. His $2.50 a gallon energy plan set off a nationwide discussion about the use of America’s energy resources.
But there is a lot more to Newt Gingrich than these remarkable achievements. As an author, Newt has published twenty-nine books including 14 fiction and nonfiction New York Times best-sellers.
Non-fiction books include his latest, Breakout, in addition to A Nation Like No Other, Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny, To Save America, Rediscovering God in America, 5 Principles for a Successful Life, Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less, Real Change, A Contract with the Earth, Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America, To Renew America, Lessons Learned the Hard Way, Saving Lives & Saving Money, Window of Opportunity, and The Art of Transformation. He is also the author of a series of historical fiction books including, Gettysburg, Grant Comes East, Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant the Final Victory, 1945, Pearl Harbor, Days of Infamy, To Make Men Free, To Try Men’s Souls, Valley Forge, and Victory at Yorktown. These novels are active history studies in the lessons of warfare based on fictional accounts of historical wartime battles and their aftermaths. His latest novel, Treason, is the sequel to Duplicity and is a thriller of Washington intrigue and international terrorism.

Newt and his wife, Callista, host and produce historical and public policy documentaries. Recent films include The First American, Divine Mercy: The Canonization of John Paul II, A City Upon A Hill, America at Risk, Nine Days That Changed The World, Ronald Reagan: Rendezvous with Destiny, Rediscovering God in America, Rediscovering God in America II: Our Heritage, and We Have the Power.

In his post-Speaker role, Newt has become one of the most highly sought-after public speakers, accepting invitations to speak before prestigious organizations throughout the world. Because of his own unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Newt is able to share unique and unparalleled insights on a wide range of topics. His audiences find him to be not only educational but also inspirational. For more information about Newt’s speaking engagements, please visit the Worldwide Speakers Group.

Widely recognized for his commitment to a better system of health for all Americans, his leadership in the U.S. Congress helped save Medicare from bankruptcy, prompted FDA reform to help the seriously ill and initiated a new focus on research, prevention, and wellness. His contributions have been so great that the American Diabetes Association awarded him their highest non-medical award and the March of Dimes named him their 1995 Citizen of the Year.
To foster a modern health system that provide

Reviews

[Łukasz Gąsior · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked up from lost and found.

This is a book about progress and technology by a person who does not understand progress or technology. It is especially funny reading it a few years down the line, since you get to see how many of the snake oil salesmen Gingrich was pushing have failed to produce the results they were promising. Which - let's be honest - anybody with half a brain could see coming. Even the best case scenarios - self driving cars and commercial space travel - are great illustrations of the massive gap between what millionaire "innovators" promised and what they actually accomplished over the years between the book's publication and now. The book is littered with gems like "If you think Facebook is neat, wait five to ten years. So many open problems will be solved." As we all know, Facebook has done great, there are no negative aspects to it whatsoever, and so many problems have been solved.

"Breakout" is full of misrepresentations of policy, and ideas which seem good until you spend 90 seconds thinking about the mechanics of their implementation. A good example would be the concept of online school, with programs tailored to individual students, so that everybody can learn at their own pace. It's all rainbows, and unicorns, and lower costs, and higher test scores, and in the whole chapter with all this glory there's just one sentence (no need to delve into it much more): "The technology won't always be limited to students who have a parent at home". And there we have it, folks! Gingrich has a new idea that solves all the issues with school for the low, low price of one parent quitting their job. Turns out the breakout ideas aren't good for Americans so much as for guys with a lot of available resources. Like congressmen, for example. Most of the presented issues have similar "solutions".

Unsurprisingly, the book contains virtually no references to actual scientific papers or studies. The sources are either news articles, often online, or government reports, when Gingrich thinks he found a "gotcha". The best - (unintentionally funny) thing about the book, though, are the desperate attempts of the conservative author to paint himself as progressive. As if his political agenda wasn't basically bringing the 1950s back.

And it's not even interesting.

[Malin Friess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gingrich believes that America is on the edge of a breakout and here is why:

1) Personalized Health Care- Genetic mapping, 3-D printers that can print whole new organs (liver or kidney), and biomarkers that hourly test blood sugar, pulse, HR-- and relay them to your smart phone and to your Doctor will revolutinize medicine. Gingrich thinks we can cure cancer, alzheimer's, and diabetes in 15 years. He recommends all NIH spending be devoted to the majors (cancer, genetics) and drop all NIH funding to minors (dentistry, minorities health care issues, etc).
2) Self Driving Cars--Google as you know has already created these vehicles. They are much safer (could safe 40,000 lives per year), could make traffic jams a thing of the past (even at peak travel cars only cover 5% of the highway--self driving cars can space more efficiently), and people could have fewer cars (imagine your one vehicle drops dad off at work..comes home, takes the kids to school, and then runs Mom to work..or better yet. We all share zip cars and use our smart phones to call service and a car is at our front door in minutes).
3) Fracking could make America the world's largest oil producer. Dependence on Middle East Oil would be a thing of the past. Over 100,000 jobs created.
4) Better education using things like the You-Tube Khan curriculum that is specific to a child's needs. Flip classrooms--students do the lesson at home--and do homework at school.
5) Gingrich want's contests/rewards/internet games that spur on innovation. 15 billion for first to put a man on mars. Its great for taxpayers as their is no payout unless their is success. NASA once a pride of innovation has been destroyed by Government. Look to Richard Branson and the private sector to put men in space in 2014 for 200k.
6) Prison Reform--all prisoners are required to do highschool/college online--non-violent criminals should be out of jail and be tracked with GPS.

Gingrich believes we are poised to Breakout..but it can be stopped by what he calls the prison guards (extreme environmentalists, teachers unions, those that want to keep the status quo).

I think Gingrich has visionary ideas. He may not be the best GOP candidate, but he was by far a better debater than Romney or Santorum. 5 stars. Its good to see that GOP can be for something and not just against (Obamacare, Entitlements, etc).

[Book Shark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle that will Decide America’s Fate by Newt Gingrich

"Breakout" is a solid, readable book that contends that we are in a political battle between the past and present. A conservative, somewhat upbeat look at the future, a man that needs very little introduction, Newt Gingrich, takes the reader on a ride into the future and the forces that are holding us back. As a progressive pragmatist I have many disagreements with Gingrich, but there is also a lot to like. This stimulating 274-page book includes the following thirteen chapters: 1. The Great Opportunity, 2. Breakout in Learning, 3. Breakout in Health, 4. Breakout in American Energy, 5. The Green Prison Guards, 6. Breakout in Transportation, 7. Breakout in Space, 8. Breakdown in Government, 9. Breakout in Government, 10. Breakout from Poverty, 11. Breakout in Achieving Cures, 12. Breakout from Disabilities to Capabilities, and 13. Breakout Champions.

Positives:
1. Well-researched, well-written, accessible and upbeat prose. Like him or not, Gingrich is an accomplished author and well-read man.
2. Very interesting topic. Frontiers of the future and what is holding us back. “The fight will be to modernize our institutions, our laws, and our regulations so we can see a genuine breakout in our lifetimes.”
3. Very well laid out book. He breaks each chapter by breakout and proceeds to use his well-crafted “Pioneers” and “Prison Guards” analogy throughout the book. He covers a lot of topics of public interest.
4. A conservative that embraces science and technology? As a member of the science and technology brethren, I’m all ears. “Astonishing progress in medicine, transportation, learning, energy production, and other areas has set the stage for one of the most spectacular leaps in human wellbeing in history.”
5. Provides a nice brief history of breakouts past and a taste of things to come.
6. An interesting discussion on modern education. Khan Academy, virtual charter schools, Udacity…”Historically, we conflated being an expert with being an expert on how to teach.”
7. Scientific breakthroughs in medicine. “Americans could soon enjoy longer and healthier lives with personalized medicine and regenerative technology. But the prison guards could delay those benefits by decades. Tens of millions of Americans don’t have that long to wait.”
8. The barriers to U.S. oil and gas development.
9. I haven’t had a chance to look into the claim that the HBO documentary Gasland was based on a lot of misinformation. If that’s true, shame on the left for perpetuating such lies. The only way to make progress is to have discussions based on the facts and NOT misinformation; this goes for the left and the right!
10. Self-driven future, let’s make it happen!
11. I really liked the idea of the prize model. “There is a way forward for America’s space program. Despite the prison guards’ effort to preserve the status quo, we have begun to see exciting progress outside of NASA. Genuine pioneers are opening space to the private sector, taking risks—both financial and physical—in pursuit of the high frontier. They’ve done it with encouragement not from NASA but from prizes.”
12. One of the most compelling arguments is the one where unnecessary rule strangle innovation. Agreed we need to do better. “The Code of Federal Regulations exploded from 19,000 pages in 1949 to almost 170,000 pages in 2011, an eightfold increase. Do Americans really need eight times more controlling today than when I was a child? In the past decade alone, the CFR grew by more than 20 percent. Between 1993 and 2012, the government added eighty-one thousand pages of new rules to the Federal Register. The regulations that came from the Dodd-Frank Act would fill twenty-eight copies of War and Peace, and rules issued by bureaucrats took “13,789 pages and over 15 million words,…which is equal to 42 words of regulations for every single word of the already-hefty law, spanning 848 pages itself,” according to one analysis. It’s completely out of control.”
13. Identifying the groups of breakdown. “There is a breakdown in simple competence. There is a breakdown in common sense and defined purpose. And there is a breakdown in the rule of law.”
14. Kudos to Mr. Gingrich for every once in a while acknowledging where President Obama’s administration is actually moving in the right direction from his POV. “To its credit, the Obama administration has been moving in the right direction on this issue: the federal government does have a number of initiatives to open up federal data, but the sets published on data.gov often serve little purpose, like maps of clean energy companies, charts of electricity prices, satellite images, and census data.”
15. I really liked the concept of using technology to break out of outmoded bureaucracy. Great stuff! “With enough capabilities, citizen-created apps could begin to manage government better than the bureaucracies do themselves—not a high hurdle by any stretch.”
16. The best chapter of the book, “Breakout from Poverty”. “Real economic growth does more to help the poor than any social program.” Agreed, but there is that element of fairness that’s missing. Some of the facts are troubling, “The poverty rate among minorities is alarming. Thirty-eight percent of African American children live in poverty. Thirty-five percent of Latino children live in poverty. Native Americans living isolated on reservations with a different set of communal rules are another group with exceptionally high levels of poverty and unemployment.” You could basically right a whole book on this chapter, great stuff.
17. The four revolutions in science that can help cure many diseases.
18. Focusing on how to overcome physical challenges. Highlights abuses in the in welfare system that undermines the system. “Welfare reform had the unanticipated consequence of giving states the incentive to move people from welfare (where the states pay part of the cost) to disability (where the federal government picks up the cost). Clever entrepreneurs have even established companies to help states move people from their welfare rolls to the federal government’s disability rolls.”
19. The eight key principles that distinguish pioneers of the future.
20. Well sourced and it links!

Negatives:
1. This is definitely a one-sided upbeat conservative affair. Gingrich focuses on the good of his side and doesn’t really present the best arguments against his case.
2. Rarely gets into controversial topics. As an example, what is Gingrich’s stance on teaching evolution in the science classroom? Are conservatives opposed to accepting/teaching the best scientific explanation for how life evolved over time?
3. Is critical of Obamacare but does not present ideas on how to improve it? He states that it threatens premium increases…so what is the Republican-controlled Congress doing to curtail said increases?
4. On one side presents compelling evidence that we have enough energy for the foreseeable future and new techniques to retrieve it but on the other side loses the argument by not accepting the scientific consensus behind climate change. Let’s be HONEST about the discussion. Yes we have energy, and yes it would probably have a positive economic boom if we are able to retrieve it in a safe and responsible way. Climate change to the best of our current knowledge is real so let’s deal with it responsibly.
5. One of the great strengths of this book is the sales pitch on overregulation, and it’s a compelling one and one that resonates with me. On the other hand, we also learned a valuable lesson when the foxes are free to roam the henhouse as the 2008 financial debacle can attest. Banks to big to fail…in fact did and lack of oversight and greed did us all in.
6. I would be careful before criticizing funding on scientific studies that may come across as a waste of money. Many times the public is misinformed on studies that may lead to practical findings. Genetic studies like the fruit fly research Sarah Palin ignorantly criticized have a lot of value. So yes, I’m sure there is fat and waste but let’s also be fair and acknowledge productive and wise use of funding.
7. I totally agree with the following quote, “Real economic growth does more to help the poor than any social program.” My gripe is that corporations who have grown to epic proportions have not done as good a job of sharing such a growth with their employees. The economic inequality in our country is growing not getting better. I don’t have the time and enthusiasm to go over the details again but it’s a troubling fact that Gingrich ignores.
8. Single mothers are in fact disproportionately poor as stated in the book yet one of the best resources to help reduce this vicious cycle of poverty is access to planned parenthood centers! It’s time for conservatives to respect the reproductive rights of women. Abortions should be safe, accessible and yes rare. For all the talk of trying to get government out of peoples lives conservatives have a tough time with this issue.
9. No formal bibliography.

In summary, to my surprise I liked this book. I am nowhere near Gingrich on the political spectrum but a lot of his ideas are sound, reasonable and actually resonated with me. His sensible and upbeat tone will win readers over. My complaints have to do with relying on sources of questionable integrity. The Heritage Foundation for one was on the wrong side of history regarding smoking and is now on the wrong side of the climate change debate. It would be nice to have a conservative think tank that accepts and respects scientific consensus. That aside, the book is accessible and worth your time. I recommend it.

Further recommendations: “A Nation of Moochers” by Charles J. Sykes, “The Solution Revolution” by William D. Eggers & Paul MacMillan, “White House Burning” by Simon Johnson & James Kwak, “Price of Inequality” by Joseph Stiglitz, “No They Can’t” by John Stossel, “Energy for Future Presidents” by Richard A. Mullen, “Winner Take All” by Dambisa Moyo, “The Post American World” by Fareed Zakaria, “Age of Greed” by Jeff Madrick, "That Used to be Us” by Thomas L. Friedman, “War on the Middle Class” by Lou Dobbs, “Screwed” by Thom Hartmann, “Merchants of Doubt” by Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway, “Science Under Siege” edited by Kendrick Frazier, “Bad Pharma” by Ben Goldacre, and “The Science of War” by Michael E. O’Hanlon,

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is typical of a Gingrich work on politics: big ideals, lofty goals, a bit of wonkyness, and some conservative rhetoric, wrapped in his fascination with technology. All well and good. These are critical problems and he points fingers to where the blame does lie, to way over-expanded government and all the bureaucratic anchors that stifle solutions. I got the usual feeling about him reading this, however, that the technocrat part of his personality is stronger than the limited-government conservative part. He seems to favor specific technical solutions over letting the ingenuity of the American market lead the way, as they did for nearly all of the innovations that he introduced the book with.
Smaller, less bureaucratic, and much less intrusive government focused on its constitutional prerogatives would have much less power to cause the problems that result in the interference he rightly decries. It is good to call out those responsible, and in this he performs a great service. But trust the people to solve their own problems for their own ends, and who knows what the future will hold. In all, a very enlightening and compelling work.

[Anne Fabing · Rating 1 out of 5]

Much like Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich hypothesizes and fear mongers the future of a possible Utopia held out of reach because of environmentalists, Obamacare, lawyers, teachers unions and the like. Often contradicting himself, Newt on one hand extols the virtues of science and innovation, then condemns those who stifle progress with "laws" and "rules", completely ignoring how those "laws" and "rules" protect society from overzealous, greedy and out of control corporations. Its obvious from this book that he, like most conservatives, believe the corporations should rule the country so that the laws benefit them at the expense of the rights of the average man.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Newt's to begin with, I knew this book would not disappoint. It is yet another in a series of solution-finding books Newt has written, and this one is one of the best. What I like about it is that he illustrates some of the fantastic solutions that are emerging in America today for some of our most pressing problems, and the reveals the absurdities of those who are, as Newt says, "prison guards of the past". If you're a citizen or a legislator interested in improving the country, this book is well worth a read.

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The former House Speaker addresses what he sees as the enormous tension between America's innovative culture (in areas from technology to government services) and its increasingly bureaucratic government. He's long on the "what" and "how", but weak on the "what we can do", left as a flaccid final chapter more or less urging people to "do something". I think there is a good idea here that needs call to action by both parties as these "breakouts" could benefit everyone in some way.

[Ken Mattes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice analysis of current systems and potential reasons why "positive change" is so difficult.
Old vs. new approaches to current issues, revolving around control structure vs. implementation structure and true empowerment to the human spirit.
Worth the time to get this perspective whether you are politically inclined or not.

[BLACK CAT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different breakthroughs in different fields (and their obstacles to market) and how they can enhance our present and future.

[Ben Silver · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read. Would have been even better if Newt left out the political whining.

[J.T. Shim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended by DM. Posted review on LI.