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Republican uber-activist Grover Norquist has been able to wield influence in Republican politics pretty easily in recent years. As we discussed a month ago, Republican candidates, especially those running for Congress, are well aware of the expectation that they sign "the pledge" -- a promise to Norquist that they will not support raising any tax on anyone by any amount for any reason at any time.
It's been remarkably successful for quite a while, but in 2012, Norquist's influence appears to be waning. High-profile Republicans -- including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) -- have questioned the pledge, and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has openly feuded with the conservative activist. Candidates who were supposed to sign the pledge aren't.
It led Norquist to go to Capitol Hill yesterday, echoing Cartman, insisting that congressional Republicans respect his authority.
[Norquist] came to the ornate House Ways and Means Committee room Thursday to school House Republicans on the no-new-taxes pledge 236 members of the conference have signed.
The dramatic appearance comes just as Congress is preparing for the biggest tax overhaul in 26 years and as a limited but growing number of leading and rank-and-file Republicans have disavowed the pledge.
And how many of the 242 House Republicans showed up for Norquist's in-person reminder? According to The Hill, "at most 20 members" showed up. That's probably not the turnout he was hoping for.
The good news for Norquist is that he's single-handedly come up with a simple obstacle that makes most policymaking in Washington impossible. The bad news for Norquist is, while his far-right party largely appears to be sticking with him, his influence isn't as strong as it was.
As Brian Beutler explained this morning, "more and more Republicans are publicly breaking ranks."
Indeed, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) commented on this yesterday: "I understand that Mr. Norquist is going to come up here and he'll have a conversation about [the pledge]. I've been around the political process for a long time. I've never voted to raise taxes. But we've got a big job to do. I'm not interested in raising taxes. But they can discuss whether loophole closings are tax increases -- I hope they resolve it all actually."
For those keeping score, that paragraph featured Boehner conspicuously using the word "but" twice.
Put it this way: if Norquist wasn't at least a little concerned, he wouldn't have been on the Hill yesterday, personally lobbying lawmakers to do what he demands they do.
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Poor little, small charactered Grover, get over yourself! You do realize that politicians are public servants, the fact that they show more allegiance to your pledge than to the "Oath of Office" that they take to serve the people is tantamount to TREASON! Yet another reason to vote them all out in November!
Go home Grover and shut up!
Zora, I put your statement on Facebook - it's beautiful! So well said! More people like us should be calling the republicans what they are, traitors to the people who elected them & put them in office! They owe NO ALLEGIANCE to 'King' Norquist, with his inflated ego, and hates people who actually WORK for a living!
More people like us should be calling the republicans what they are, traitors to the people who elected them & put them in office! They owe NO ALLEGIANCE to 'King' Norquist, with his inflated ego, and hates people who actually WORK for a living!
(repeated for Facebook)
Maybe Norquist the Nag is one of the queens that Scott Brown has met with in his brief, but very well connected, career.
Norquist the Nag......I gotta steal that one, thanks.
"I've never voted to raise taxes."
Uhhh....Can I get a fact check in aisle one, please?
Boehner: "[Republicans] can discuss whether loophole closings are tax increases..."
Let's not get too excited. Republicans seek to raise taxes on the poor and middle class, so they can afford larger tax cuts and subsidies for their wealthy benefactors.
Why does Norquist have any authority to lose in the first place? The guy is a nothing, a little dork!
You can say that again! I call him "Mr. Nobody", an @!$%# who came out of nowhere, and somehow persuaded a bunch of moron republican congressmen that he was "IMPORTANT", and that they should sign his stupid pledge! Like sheep being led to slaughter, they willingly obeyed! We get the best government money can buy! They've been bought!
People need to remember that Norquist doesn't have power because he's a genius with the power to win over lesser minds with the sheer power of his brilliance or a J. Edgar Hoover with a cabinet full of compromising photos and wiretap transcripts. He has power because he represents powerful corporate interest. His organization is the mouthpiece for the largest corporations and corporate tradegroups in America. His job is to allow those corporations to give the Republicans their marching orders without leaving their own fingerprints on the messaging.
There's nothing magical or special about Norquist. If Norquist disappeared tomorrow, his replacement at Americans for Tax Reform would wield the same power.
Do you believe him to be The king of the Hellenists or another mere pawn,he also looks somewhat like a turtle. I will have to research turtle, I know the turtle has been sited to have lived during pre-historic times. Even given how slow he still is a little, smart green machine.
Angel
To me Norquist is more gnome-like than turtle. Mitch McConnell now there's a turtle!
Thank you, Steve! (I put it on Facebook)
What exactly is Norquists' job title now? Who is he working for, and who is his employer? Also, I'm getting angry about the way they keep saying or assuming that money is going to be the deciding factor in this election. That couldn't be farther from the truth. The deciding factor in this race will be, Who the Best man is to lead this Country forward on the steady path of progression it is on now. The moral fiber of the candidate will also determine the outcome. The man who is more passionate about his convictions and who gets down on his knees and prays will win. No amount of money can buy the hearts and minds of a generation of people who are struggling to survive. Money turns into dust in the wind. The American Spirit lives on and never dies.
I love the smell of flaming innocence in the morning.
Perhaps not -- but it most certainly can mislead them into attacking their allies and supporting their oppressors.
Angel your statement is more than a little niave. In fact it is almost dangerous.
Actually Norquist has power because Tea Party candidates have had success running against "moderate" Republicans. While the Federal income tax burden is carried by only half the country, taxes are a big deal. When it becomes class warfare the base is motivated.
Well, since the warfare is by the GOP on the middle class, maybe they don't want them motivated.
The GOP is the middle class. Democrats are the fatcat party, with Wall St at the lead.
Income taxes account for 20% of the budget , I pay 28% of my income to taxes , while your leader romney pays 12% , so save your gullible claims for your fellow gop suckers scooter ...You people want to volunteer to continue paying twice the rate as romney , I'm sure we can arrange that...
Unfortunately I know Dear Leader Grover and over the years have attended some of his weekly gatherings. He had power before the Tea Party and he has had a pretty good run primarily because he did not choose to truly try to exercise that power for most of his run. He let the prospect of his doing so do it for him. But Grover's power is slipping now primarily because some of the leading righties, like JEB!?! are saying "no" where once they were silent or compliant and in attempting to exercise the power he is showing it is not as powerful as the myth proclaimed it.
It is about time.
And now maybe he will shave..
Shooter, the GOP is the middle class in the same way that you are Jesus Christ - not at all.
So, which of the people who aren't paying income tax do you think should be hit by it? Retirees whose income is tax free, either because its too low, all Social Security, or income from tax free instruments? People making minimum wage? The unemployed?
The reason so many people fell off the tax rolls is because so much of the national income has been redirected upward over the last three decades.
What part of this graph, posted on this site yesterday, is it that you're having trouble comprehending?
http://www.motherjones.com/files/outofbalance.jpg
How can even you, with the infinite capacity for self-deception you've displayed every where you've posted over the years, look at it and conclude that the problem is that the bottom 40% aren't paying enough taxes?
Thanks for the graph link. Sobering.
I beleive our Government officials are very rich people ,all of them, some more than most. I don't care how much money you have. What I do care about is how well you treat others. And throwing Gramma and Grampa under the bus along with The Middle Class and the poor is just immorally wrong. I don't care how rich you are, if you aren't helping the less fortunate you are a loser on all points. At least in my Book, The New Testament.
I cannot think of a more offensive or more outrageous political figure than Mr. Norquist, the spiritual leader of the modern Republican Party. The GOP is held hostage by this small-brained troublemaker with America's destruction as his main motivation. Seeking to collect the fair share of taxes owed to the American people from billionaires fleeing the United States for the sole purpose of getting off without paying their proper due and enriching themselves is a policy this Congress must enforce. We are seeing hard-working middle class Americans paying more taxes than multi-billionaires. This is destroying America. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Karl Rove...
Frank Luntz...
Said in a Cartman voice?
We've seen some of GOP lawmakers question the no-tax pledge, but talk is cheap. When they start voting for tax increases and to eliminate tax expenditures and subsidies, then it will start to get real.
He does seem unhinged in his peculiarly and very un-American efforts to disempower our legislatures with this loyalty oath to him.
Not disempowering the legislatures, disempowering the constituents those legislators work for.
I don't agree with the Norquist philosophy, but I respect what he has been able to accomplish. I certainly respect him more than the politicians who take the pledge in the first place. The pledge is a shield to keep them from taking courageous stands.
Rhetorical question: why would anyone in our government pledge allegiance to anything or anyone other than our flag and the American public in the first place? Seems treasonous if you ask me.
Grover, take your ball and go home to Sesame Street. You and your buddies may have money to buy everyone off with, but the American people will always win in the end.
Hmmmm. What if Norquits overlords cut off the stream of money to those who don't sign? They won't be in office as long as the ones who did with all the campaign funds gone.
That is kind of what is going on with Obama. Wall St. all but cut him off.
They may temporarily, but, come November they will all go flocking to President Obama, praying for his business and the business of the Honest Hard working Americans in which they will have to ultimately work for again, not themselves. That is the only way Wall St. is going to survive is to do it fairly, and without cheating The American population. Americans have seen the light. We either shop or we don't shop that is the question? The 99% are still here we are still occupying, we will always be right here where they left us. Just because the reporters and the journalists, and the news stations are not showing us anymore. We are still here, we are still living in our cars, we are still washing our clothes in the parks. We are still begging for food from behind the restaurants, we are still here. Some of us are very sick not knowing where to turn. And some of us are praying for a Second coming of some kind. Some of us are dancing in the streets, and some of us are dying. We will wait right here. Alot of us have been waiting a very long time. See you in the next world, I guess.
Any pledge a politician makes is worthless, just like campaign promises. They sound good but most times do not mean anything. They can not get fired because they did not fulfill their pledge. Yeah, maybe they can be voted out, but with the attention span of the general public, the "violation" of not going through on a pledge or promise would have to happen roughly 15 minutes before the voter walks into the voting booth. Norquist and folks like him are to me, like consultants or advisors. You can listen to their recommendations, but there is no real repercussions if you don't follow said recommendations.
I am sure the people Norquist lobbies for have many superpacs behind him. THAT is what makes him powerful. There are very real repercussions if they want to get reelected.
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Talk is cheap indeed , I have full confidence that the gop who are having second thoughts in public,about not raising taxes, are complete loyalist to norq behind closed doors
One person should not have this much power.
"Respect my authoritah!"
hmmm--
its original form it read:
In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added. At
this time it read:
In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President
Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the
31-word pledge we say today. Bellamy's daughter objected to this alteration.
Today it reads:
Brilliant, I'd like to ratify this new (lemon scented) pledge!
What the curtains? What does my flag mean , I have a flag outside of my house and it has some pretty springtime flowers and butterflies on it. If they only knew where the word Republic actually originated they would be surprised, wouldn't they be. Why does man always hold such things sacred, when they are not. If they deem such things sacred then, why are they always amending it or translating it into their own special meanings. The flag could have actually meant a white flag. We surrender!
Norquist should be homeless (he looks the part with that scruff). That the GOP tied itself to his ridiculous (unsustainable in reality) pledge is their own fault. As you sow.. Have any of them ever read their ridiculous (unsustainable in reality) morality tome??
The fact that all the Republicans were in lock-step with anyone, let alone someone not even in federal government over policy matters, should be a wake-up call for voters this fall. This has all the makings of a dictatorial path the likes this country as not seen since 1930's Germany. Not to worry with Democrats who are like herding cats when trying to come together on legistation.
The "global" economy will bring a predictable end to the "NATION STATE!"
A "global oligarchy" of the 1% will control all of the world resources, with a global MARKET ECONOMY, that will exploit all of the world resources in a manner that will be totalitarian in nature so as to control the 99% of the people on the planet, and will rape the planet and all of the planet's resources in the quickest possible time so as to increase their rate of profit.
The only possible alternative to a world wide controlled market economy that enriches 1% of the world's population at the expense of the 99% of the world population, is for the 99% of the world population to overthrow the 1% of the capitalist planned global economy for the few, and replace it with a global planned economy for everyone on the planet earth!
The needs of all of the people in the world can be satisfied because of our present day advances in technology.
Controlled scarcity of what is needed to survive and thrive in a world that has the means to produce and distribute to everyone on the planet, all that is needed to survive and thrive. is insanity of the highest order! The craziness of the continuous destruction of our planet's resources, by the 1%, of the worlds population, must be challenged by those that desire to have our planet survive into the future!
When are people who vote Republican going to realize they are electing politicians to office that take the pledge to an un-elected rich guy more seriously than the oath of office they take to represent those who put them in office? They care more about Norquist then they do about the US Constitution or their constituents. They need to stop voting for people who don't put them first. Vote Democrat in 2012!
If Congress had implemented the Bowles-Simpson plan when it was first proposed then the tax code would already be simpler, fairer, and better suited to support economic growth. http://bit.ly/noTDPF
A Bowles-Simpson type “grand bargain,” which leaves no sacred cows untouched, is the best way to get our economy back on track.