Norquist agenda is bigger than cutting taxes
Jeff Bourget | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 5 months AGO
Grover Norquist is the darling of the Conservatives. Should he be? Definitely not, a Conservative by definition is someone who wishes to preserve the best of the current system. Grover Norquist does not. Give the man credit for meaning what he says: he has repeatedly said that he wants to shrink the government to the point it can be drowned in the bathtub. Those aren't the words of a Conservative but rather a revolutionary dedicated to the destruction of the American system of government.
Can you imagine if Van Jones said he wanted to kill the Constitution and all we have come to understand about how to live together under it. I imagine there would be a lynch mob gunning for his blood immediately.
Norquist is best known for his tax protection pledge which, at present, 39 Republican Senators and 239 Republican House members have signed. Basically, it commits the signatories to oppose any raise in marginal tax rates. He has been quoted as saying that we got along with government at 8 percent of GDP and we should return to that level. We're at 18 percent now and are the lowest taxed industrial nation in the free world.
When the nation's tax rate was at 8 percent the United States had no foreign enemies. Currently, we must have a strong military to defend our shores. Even if we weren't involved overseas we have enemies that must be guarded against. Further, one of the programs Norquist wants to destroy is the FDA. Think about it, cough syrups containing morphine, mystery meat and unhealthy substances in food, unlimited trafficking in drugs, all of these are acceptable according to Norquist.
The Americans for Tax Reform, his organization which administers the pledge is a non-taxable organization and does not have to publish its funding sources. However, during Jack Abramoff's felony convictions for fraud, it came out that the ATR had been largely funded through contributions from Abramoff. According to CBS news, the ATR 's income is largely from extremely rich individuals and organizations. While Norquist claims that the ATR is basically paid for by grassroots contributions, the Nation magazine has traced large donations from the tobacco companies in the 1990s and Bill Moyers has found that the Koch brothers are currently footing the bill.
Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, said the ATR's stance was, "no new taxes, even if your country goes to hell." This sort of logic led to the deficit doubling under George W. Bush. We had two unfunded wars and enacted a major new Medicare program on credit. Much of President Obama's deficits have been traceable to Republicans in the House refusing to undo the Bush tax cuts.
Grover Norquist has been described as a "libertarian Republican." The two are incompatible. Consider the current Republican efforts to stop marriage equality; control, and even end, abortion; and strangle immigration reform. A Libertarian would say the state has no interest in marriage contracts; abortion is a personal choice; and if they're here we can use the hands to work.
What should we do about Grover Norquist? If you've taken the Oath of Induction to the United States military the answer is clear. You have sworn to protect the Constitution from "all enemies, foreign and domestic." Norquist wishes to destroy the Constitution, vote anybody who supports his platform out of office. Civilians ought to give long thought to the dangers inherent in an extreme Libertarian state. Right or Left there's something objectionable in his program. We must vote in people who will raise taxes when necessary and defend the programs that have been created in the 20th Century to protect us from foreign enemies, domestic cheats, and the inevitable unexpected.
Jeff Bourget is a Coeur d'Alene resident.
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