Gingrich Begins Campaign With Eyes On S.C.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former U.S. House Speaker and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is calling on Congress to defund the National Labor Relations Board if it continues to pursue a complaint against Boeing Co. Gingrich’s remarks at a conference Friday in Washington came a day after he formally entered the 2012 GOP presidential race. The complaint says Boeing illegally retaliated for a 2008 strike by adding a non-union assembly line in South Carolina for 787 passenger jets. Most of that work is now done in Washington state by union workers. A week ago, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said candidates will have to take a stand on the NLRB’s complaint. Gingrich said bureaucrats are destroying jobs on behalf of an ideology and interest group. (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)