source: internet weekly
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Previous Posts about Grover Norquist:
Surprised Poopy Heads Try to Rebrand GOP
Poppy Bush Asks "Who the Hell is Grover Norquist, Anyway?"
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The Rs are holding.
The fantasy is that the Republicans would cave on marginal tax rates — they’re non-negotiable.
. . . The entire Republican leadership has been elected on that commitment in the House and the Senate.
. . . President Obama “will eventually have to extend the tax cuts as is.
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Grover Norquist in a speech to the conservative Think Tank, Center for the National Interest
Listening to these confident assertions, the simple conclusion would be that Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, had been on a long trip in a remote location. More likely, the answer involves the substantial amount of trauma inflicted on Norquist’s worldview in the election.
. . . He assured the old guard at the center-right think tank (25 of the 26 at the horseshoe table were men) that the Democratic wins this month did not mean a rejection of his Pledge. It’s “a little tough to see a strong mandate here,” Norquist argued. “The president won a mandate not to be Romney for the next four years, because Romney gives people cancer and is a bad person and is mean to dogs.” Further, he argued, Obama “dropped, what, 8 million votes from the time before, the margin he got was shrinking, he was the incumbent, he ran a better campaign and we had a candidate who had myriad flaws.”
Also, the dog ate Norquist’s homework.
. . . But didn’t exit polls show that voters want higher taxes on the wealthy?
“You can get ‘If there were unicorns, what color would you like?’ answers from voters,” Norquist reasoned.
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Dana Milbank on Washington Post
Grover Norquist: Washington Enemy No. 1
No one is caving," Grover Norquist says emphatically and repeatedly when we meet this week in his office in the nation's capital. By "no one" he means congressional Republicans, and by "caving" he means surrendering to Barack Obama's call for tax increases. Republicans are facing an avalanche of pressure from the White House, the media and even many on Wall Street to abandon their antitax principles to avoid a "fiscal cliff."
. . . Are Republicans defecting from the taxpayer protection pledge? Sounding exasperated, he says, yes, a few are having "impure thoughts. But the media keeps interviewing the same five or so Republicans in Congress who want to cut a deal."
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Norquist quotes from Stephen Moore on Wall Street Journal
What can Grover (Norquist) do to you? He can't murder you. He can't burn your house.
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Republican Senator Alan Simpson
To show our seriousness, we've put revenue on the table as long as it's accompanied by significant spending cuts.
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Speaker of the House John Boehner R-OH
We're prepared to put revenue on the table provided we fix the real problems.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell R-KY
The yin and the yang of this is that we know there has to be revenues.
I haven't met a wealthy Republican or Democrat in Tennessee that's not willing to contribute more as long as they know we solve the problem.
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Senator Bob Corker, R-Tennessee
I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge.
. . . if we do it his way, then we'll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that.
. . . But I don't worry about that because I care too much about my country. (I'm) willing to do the right thing and let the political consequences take care of themselves.
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Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia
The Senator's reference to me is odd. His promise is to the people of Georgia.
. . . Sen. Chambliss mentions his fear of losing a primary if he breaks his word to Georgians and votes to raise their taxes. History reminds us that when President George H.W. Bush raised taxes in a deal that promised (and did not deliver) spending cuts he was defeated not in the primary, but in the general.
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Grover Norquist via The Hill
If you are a worthless Republican politician and you want some good press from the liberal media, all you have to do now days is say you are considering abandoning your pledge not to raise taxes. You will be haled (sp) as “heroic,” “courageous,” and “pragmatic.”
. . . To call Chambliss an idiot is to insult people of lower intelligence. Chambliss is a poster child for every thing that is wrong with the political class in Washington.
. . . Chambliss made a pledge to the citizens of his state. Pledges are meant to be honored. If you cannot honor your pledge, then you are simply as much of a lowlife as a used car salesman or a United States Senator.
If you give your word and you break your word, then you are a liar.
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Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation
Some of Norquist's signers lost their seats. Some newly elected Republicans say they see no reason to sign a formal pledge on taxes. And at least six House members who once signed say they no longer consider themselves bound by it.
. . . when I asked him this week about his critics in the Senate, he was dismissive in return. None of them "are considered thought leaders on economic issues," he said. That's not a good sign. Describing senators from your own party as dim bulbs isn't normally how lobbyists win friends and influence people.
. . . an increasing number of prominent Republicans are dismissing Norquist as a pest.
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Doyle McManus on L.A. Times
So Grover Norquist wants no tax increases. That's his right, and he deserves points for being intellectually consistent. But that doesn't mean members of Congress have to follow his (or anyone else's) rigid rules. Being a lawmaker is a grown-up job. Members of Congress should act like it.
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Susan Milligan on U.S. News
The Norquist era has come and gone—and thank Heaven for that.
Whether you support tax increases for some or detest the very notion of anything short of a decrease in taxes, we elect leaders to think for themselves and to serve the needs of their constituents. Unless you are an elected official from a district that Grover Norquist calls home, Mr. Norquist, and his Americans For Tax Reform, are not a constituency—they are a special interest lobby.
The time has come for a little GOP courage....
. . . The clock on Grover Norquist’s fifteen minutes of fame has expired—and the sooner Republican incumbents and candidates figure this out, the sooner they will be able to impress the voters with their willingness to think for themselves and for their constituencies rather than turning control over to a lobbyist.
How can that possibly be a bad thing?
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Rick Unger in Forbes
What is this? Fifth grade? Let's be blood brothers and like sheep follow Norquist or be banished from the Kingdom forever. OMG! Finally they are waking up to the hostage taker and ego-maniac Norquist!
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comment by Constance on Wall Street Journal
Mock, jeer, taunt or ridicule Norquist all you want, liberals, as we move ever closer to the edge of the Fiscal Cliff. But, when we all fall off of it, you bloodsuckers who depend on the rich to subsidize your government handouts will hit the bottom hardest! We will see how many of you will be rescued by your messiah, Obama, as you scream in long, agonizing pain and stretch your arms (if they aren’t broken) up for help. Based on last four years, chances are that you won’t be!
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Chief of Fraud on Washington Post
we petition the obama administration:
NO elected or appointed government official shall sign any pledge, take any oath, to special interests
To stop special interests Congress needs to have hearings, and consider the following:
No President, Congressman, or any other elected or appointed government official shall sign any pledge, take any oath, or make any commitment of any kind to any person, party or entity, in regards to their call of employment and duties thereof, save those prescribed by that of the Government of The United States of America.
Created: Nov 20, 2012
Issues: Budget and Taxes
Learn about Petition Thresholds
Signatures needed by December 20, 2012 to reach goal of 25,000
24,957
Total signatures on this petition
43
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Petition at WhiteHouse.Gov
