One Man Vs. the Common Good

[marmar]

from OnTheCommons.org:




One Man Vs. the Common Good
More than anyone, Grover Norquist instigated today's budget crisis

By Jay Walljasper


“I don’t think there’s any conceivable way, under current circumstances, that any Republican would vote for any kind of tax increase whatsoever.”
—Bruce Bartlett, former economic adviser to President Reagan


This interesting sentence appears in the April 2011 issue of the Christian Science Monitor, in an excellent article called Budget Stalemate: Why America Won’t Raise Taxes by Liz Marlantes.

The source of the word “any” in this context is an unelected powerhouse named Grover Norquist who runs an organization with the moderate sending name, “Americans for Tax Reform.” Since 1986, Norquist has asked every incumbent and every candidate for office to sign a document called “The Taxpayer Protection Pledge.” The pledge says, “I promise to the people of my state that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.” Again, we see the emphasis “oppose and vote against” or “any and all” because to do one and not the other is not sufficient.

In 1986, Norquist was able to get 100 members of the House and 20 Senators to sign it. Today 40 out of 47 Republicans in the Senate have signed it, along with one Democrat and one Independent, and 235 out of 242 Republicans in the House have signed it, along with two Democrats. (Here’s the full list of Congressional signers and the actual pledge.)

People sign this because it comes with money and help with campaigning, and not signing – or signing and then not following through – is met with swift punishment. The goal of having bi-partisan dialogue on how to create fair and just tax policy that pulls our country out of this recession and helps everyone have a better quality of life is stopped at the starting gate when so many people have basically said, “Let’s talk, but I have already decided what I am going to do.” .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://onthecommons.org/one-man-vs-common-good