Gingrich on Tiffany's bill: "We have a reasonably good income - we don't do elaborate things"

From HuffingtonPost.com: Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich defended the large debt he owed to the luxury jewelry store Tiffany & Co. in 2005 and 2006, saying he can spend his money as he pleases.

"We're private citizens," Gingrich said in an interview with Bob Schieffer on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "I work very hard. We have a reasonably good income. I currently owe nothing except I owe one mortgage on a house that's a rental property in Wisconsin. Everything else is totally paid for. My home is paid for, my cars are paid for, we don't have a separate house. We don't do elaborate things."

Politico's Jake Sherman reported last week that financial disclosure forms filed with the U.S. House of Representatives show that in 2005 and 2006, Gingrich carried as much as $500,000 in debt on a "revolving charge account" with the jewelry store.

"It's a normal way of doing business," he said in defense of what he called a "standard, low-interest account."

"I mean, you're running for president," insisted Schieffer. "You're going to be the guy in charge of the Treasury Department. It just sticks out like a sore thumb."

Ummm... he has a "reasonably good income?  He owes $500,000 on jewelry and he says he makes a REASONABLY good income?  That's about ten times what the average American makes.

While trying to cast others as "elitists" it's kind of hard to avoid looking fairly "elite" when you spend that kind of money on "gifts" and think you have a "reasonably good" income.

Talk about out of touch.