WASHINGTON, DC – As America and the rest of the world struggle to figure out what to do with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the crisis in the Ukraine, Newt Gingrich has the answer: bankrupt him. “A povery-stricken Putin is not a very dangerous Putin, the former Speaker of the House and author of Contract with America told a packed house of the Conservative Political Action Committee’s (CPAC) Annual Conference in Washington on March 8.

“We are once again the largest natural gas producer in the world,” Gingrich said, “and if this president [Barack Obama] had any sense of seriousness about Russia, he would have already issued an executive order allowing natural gas to be shipped to Europe, he would already be opening offshore and federal properties for exploration, and he would explain to Putin that we are going to drive down the price of oil enough that Russia will once again be bankrupted, as it was in the Cold War by Ronald Reagan.”

Putin’s power, Gingrich explained, is largely derived from the high price of oil. By increasing our own output, he said, the United States can create jobs, improve our economy,  and weaken Russia, all without firing a shot.

That’s what intelligent, sound strategy is all about, he said.

Gingrich also implored that the United States ought to take advantage of the technological explosion and use it to its advantage, which can virtually eliminate our economic problems, improve health care, education, and overall quality of life, without even having to worry about where the money comes from.

Displaying his own smart phone and asking if anyone in the audience still keeps an actual map in the car, Gingrich explained how smartphones are the key to 21st century life, and even electrocardiograms can be performed by apps. “Most of these apps are free,” Gingrich said, though the government is trying to regulate them. He urged young Americans across college campuses to rally against such government intrusion, and advised Republicans to unite around that issue.