Grover Norquist, Enemy of Taxes, Might Be Democrats' Best Friend
If Republicans follow the lead of the no-tax firebrand Grover Norquist, they are headed for an extended period as the "out" party.
Norquist is president of the Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington-based operation. That name really means an organization that is dedicated to attack any lawmaker who votes for or advocates a tax increase no matter the need.
In the week Barack Obama becomes the nation's 44th president, Norquist may seem a trivial subject for examination. But read on for a political connection.
This no-tax bully is already listing his favorite conservatives to lead the party back to success in 2012.
In an interview with National Journal magazine, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana was mentioned first by Norquist. The young son of Indian immigrants, Jindal has an interesting résumé, but will the old timers in the party look to him?
Next, Norquist comes up with the incredible name of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is about as unpopular at home as George W. Bush is in the nation. Polls in the Lone Star State show that Perry would be a big loser to GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison next year if they face off in a primary. Hutchison is popular at home and may beat Perry as a primary opponent.
Norquist then tosses in a mention of Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. However, they seem to be an afterthought.
In the interview, Norquist even trashes fellow Republican George Bush for not working hard enough to make tax cuts permanent. He claims Bush was too busy being "Mayor of Baghdad." Guess he figures tax cuts for the wealthy were more important than the war in Iraq.
For many years, Norquist has had a place at the table in top-level meetings of GOP strategists, including Karl Rove. Wonder what Rove thinks about Norquist after he waits until Bush leaves office to rip him on tax cuts and other issues such as the bailout response to the stock market downward spiral?
As for President Obama, Norquist dismisses his tax-cut plan for the middle class as a subsidy "coming out of the left wing, Democratic political operation out of Chicago." Some Republicans will assuredly embrace that sort of political hardball. It is vintage Norquist.
Perhaps Norquist should offer himself as a candidate for president because he is such an expert on taxes, the economy, and certainly other issues as well.
Democrats can only hope Republicans will listen to Norquist for the party's rebirth in four years. It is a sure loser.
Reader Comments
Norquist
Gloat while you have the chance, Mr. Mashek. It won't last long.
I love Liberals. They always want someone to pay taxes, except themselves of course. Maybe you should try to talk the Treasury Secretary into paying his taxes if you all like taxes so much. Oh, that's right, he didn't know they were due even though the IMF gave him the money to pay them and he signed documents saying he would pay. The new head of the IRS didn't know that when you get a 1099 you have to pay self-employment taxes. They are due on January 15, April 15, June 15, and September 15, Mr. Secretary.
But surely you don't me to tell you. You are brilliant. Or do you need me to tell you?
If Mr. Norquist hates paying taxes so mmuch, why doesn't he take advantage of his taxpayer-purchased freedom and move to the no-tax, small-government paradise that is Somalia.
Radical types like Norquist believe in a society run on a basis of a Darwinistic survival-of-the-fittest competition for resources. Let's see how he fares in an environment with no public security, police, or infrastructure of any kind. Let him try it out over there at first, rather than bring those conditions here, as he and his ditto-sheep followers would have us do. I'd wager that he wouldn't last a week, and--we'd be well rid of him.
Grover Nordquist
Whoever wrote about Nordquist, saying "Get Lost" needs a big slap on his back! Right on!
Yes, people need to be re-educated about the benefits of taxes. We've been sold a bill of goods that taxes are always bad! I even heard a woman call a radio talk show to complain about taxes. The MC asked her what she/her husband do for work. They ran a bridge repair company.
"Bridge repair is supported with tax dollars! Didn't you know that?" was the MC's reply. The woman apparently didn't know! She was complaining about something that put dinner on her table each day! Amazing! Too many people have no idea what tax dollar buy! It's time they were educated, so that they don't continue to vote against their own self-interest!
And we need to have better oversight to be sure that tax dollars are spent more responsibly. Giving billions in bail-outs to banks who have acted irresponsibly with no strings attached is madness! Thank you, Secretary Paulson! The irony is that the first Bush Bail-out may make it harder for Obama to get his more responsible program through! (One must wonder if that wasn't part of the point! I don't think they are above it!)
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