Grover Norquist is a lobbyist who runs Americans for Tax Reform, the group that transformed the Republican Party into anti-tax zealots. Some say Norquist is one of the most powerful men in America. We think he might be crazy.
Norquist, interviewed by CBS yesterday, said the reason Mitt Romney lost the election was that President Obama called him a "poopyhead."
This is the same person who once famously said,
I'm not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.One wonders if the "poopyhead" comment is Norquist's signal that this whole anti-tax, anti-government crusade is one big joke. Or if it's evidence supporting our theory that he's batshit crazy.
Whatever he is, he's not the person who should be running our country. Micahel D'Antuono writes in the GlobalGrind blog,
...real power is money and when it comes to matters of the budget, the President has little more than veto power. It's the Congress who controls the purse strings and unfortunately this lobbyist controls 95% of the Republicans in Congress.
So who is this Svengali-like lobbyist? His name is Grover Norquist and ... he is the promoter of the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge," which was signed by 95% of all Republican Congressmen and all but one of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates. The pledge basically demands the pledgers oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates ... the fact that 95% of our Republican leaders signed a pledge to follow a lobbyist is a little unnerving.
...This pledge leaves no room for compromise and is greatly responsible for the unprecedented gridlock. As we all know, the President want's to let the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthy. If the Republicans were to agree to that, it would certainly help reduce the budget deficit but would go against their pledge. They have a choice; compromise with the President, or keep their pledge to Grover. Their decision will inevitably tell us who has more clout with them, the President of The United States or a lobbyist.President George H.W. Bush put it more succinctly:
The rigidity of those pledges is something I don't like. The circumstances change and you can't be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist. It's—who the hell is Grover Norquist, anyway?
