Grover Norquist Killing the Republican Party

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 20, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

           Pulling the strings behind the scenes in the Republican Party lurks 55-year-old, Harvard-educated [BA, 1978; MBA, 1981] Grover Glenn Norquist, whose non-profit lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform has wreaked havoc on the U.S. economy.  Founded in 1985, only one-year into President Ronald Reagan’s second term, Norquist has managed to get 98% of House Republicans and 87% of the Senate GOP to sign his “Tax Protection Pledge,” AKA his “No Tax Pledge.”  Norquist’s influence runs deep through GOP circles, constituting the primary policy gridlock between Republicans and Democrats.  His past history includes nefarious ties to disgraced GOP lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff, whose illegal activities gave the Republican Party a lasting black eye.  Norquist, who likes to call the shots behind the scenes, was back in the news trash-talking former President George H.W. Bush.

            Saying that Bush “lied” on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopolous, Norquist displayed what the French call idee fixe, or unshakable beliefs that consume one’s reality-testing.  Norquist’s obsession with his “No Tax Pledge” has become so twisted that his frequent recitations suggest something much more than a committed anti-tax warrior. “When George Herbert Walker Bush ran for president, he promised the American people he wouldn’t raise taxes,” he told Stephanopoulos.  “He lied to them.  He broke his commitment to them and they threw him out of office four years later,” showing not only Norquist’s obsession but self-deluded fantasies of U.S. history.  H.W. Bush wasn’t tossed out because of his failure to meet Norquist’s “No Tax Pledge”: Billionaire H.Ross Perot ran as an independent, taking 20% of the Republican vote, handing the 1992 election to former President Bill Clinton.

               When Norquist talks of a president “lying,” he’s gone over the top.  H.W. Bush has said many times that the nation’s budget deficit under his former boss President Ronald Reagan quadrupled with his 10% across-the-board tax cuts.  Republicans don’t get that Norquist is part of a fanatical movement to shrink the size and scope of the federal government.  He believes the federal government has no right to impose taxes on its citizens to perform essential services, including providing for public welfare and a strong national defense.  “Read my lips:  no new taxes,” Norquist insists H.W. Bush promised during the 1988 campaign.  Whether H.W. said it or not, Norquist’s constant attacks warrant some type of dress-down by GOP officials.  “The rigidity of those pledges is something I don’t like,” H.W. Bush recently told “Parade Magazine,” baffled by Norquist’s endless barbs.

            Norquist violates Reagan’s fundamental GOP principle:  Thou shall not attack fellow Republicans.  “The circumstances change and you can’t be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist.  It’s—who the hell is Grover Norquist anyway?” asked H.W. Bush, realizing that one man has wreaked so much havoc on Washngton’s two-party system.  Whether or not all is fair in love and war, Norquist has hijacked the Republican Party, forcing 98% of the House and 87% of the Senate to fall in lockstep or get discredited by Norquist’s negative PR campaigns.  Norquist even goes after H.W.’s son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, for questioning his supreme authority.  “I don’t believe you outsource your principles and convictions to people,” said Jeb at a Congressional hearing, opposing Grover’s “No Tax Pledge,” showing uncharacteristic defiance not seen in today’s GOP.

            Norquist’s “No Tax Pledge” is the Cool-Aid lapped up by GOP presidential nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his VP pick House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).  Both buy Norquist’s pledge lock, stock and barrel, promising, should they get elected, to further cut taxes and slash the size and influence of the federal establishment.  Romney and Ryan’s economic plan involves more Reagan-style tax cuts, a federal hiring freeze and job cuts.  “Something that both Jeb Bush should have been a little bit aware of, and his father, that commitment most Republicans who run for office make is to the American people and to the people of their state,” said Norquist, in more non sequiturs.  As it stands today, Republicans must demonstrate their undying loyalty to Norquist, not to the U.S. Constitution and certainly not the American people.

            Norquist’s fanaticism has hijacked the Republicans Party, destroying the two-party system and forever gridlocking Washington.  Billionaire investor, the sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett has begged Congress in the so-called “Buffett Rule” to increase taxes on millionaires and billionaires.  Norquist says no.  Norquist says yes to budget deficits threatening the long-term health of the U.S. economy.  Grover says no to the Constitution that enables Congress to tax appropriately for the common good.  Norquist isn’t yet 65 but 10 years from now you can bet he’ll use Medicare and collect his Social Security check.  Norquist knows that most U.S. taxpayers expect the government to meet its obligations to health care and retirement benefits.  His bullying tactics, including threats to lobby against any GOP candidate that doesn’t sign his “No Tax Pledge,” constitutes coercion and intimidation.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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