It seems like forever now, that unelected Republican Operator has been dictating the terms by which the GOP is allowed to operate, by making them sign (in political blood) his innocuous looking pledge.
You break-a his pledge, and Grover breaks your 'primary legs ambitions.'
Taxpayer Protection Pledge
I, _____, pledge to the taxpayers of the __ district
of the state of___, and to the American people that I will:
ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax
rates for individuals and/or businesses; and
TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and
credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.
AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM
722 12th Street, WASHINGTON, DC 20005
PHONE (202) 785-0266 FAX (202) 330-5224
The trouble is Grover has just broken the pledge (the "any and all" clause).
And Grover has 'granted permission' for all his subjects to break his pledge too.
Norquist gives Republicans a break on taxes
by Susan Crabtree, The Washington Times -- Jan 3, 2013
[...]
Mr. Norquist, who runs Americans for Tax Reform and its influential no-new-taxes pledge, says Republicans had little choice but to support the fiscal cliff compromise and allow taxes to increase.
In fact, after several Republicans said last month for the first time that they would ignore his no-new-taxes pledge, he gave Republicans a green light to vote on an even bigger compromise. He said he doesn’t consider letting tax rates rise to be a violation of their pledge because the tax cuts were set to expire if Congress didn’t act.
Winning Mr. Norquist’s blessing was a major victory for Republican leaders, but critics blasted Mr. Norquist for flip-flopping.
[...]
Nice tap-dancing there Grover ...
there goes the 'Just say No' coalition.
Is Grover's unelected grip on this country's finances finally over?
This California Rep definitely thinks so:
RIP Grover Norquist tax pledge
by Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), thehill.com -- 01/03/2013
If the fiscal cliff debate told us anything it should be that Grover Norquist’s tax pledge is dead – now and forever more.
After having far too long a life, Norquist’s pledge died a slow death on January 1st, 2013 when 89 House Republicans joined a majority of GOP Senators to help pass the first major tax increases on the wealthiest Americans in two decades -- effectively rendering the pledge irrelevant.
[...]
His rationale? Since the country had already gone over the fiscal cliff and therefore taxes were going to increase anyway, voting for the compromise legislation which raised tax rates on incomes above $400,000 per year wasn’t really a tax increase because tax cuts for 97% of Americans making under that amount were also a part of the deal.
Make no mistake -- everyone who voted for the agreement understood that it was a vote for tax increases on the wealthiest Americans.
Is Grover Norquist finally on the road to irrelevance? -- or will he live to dictate terms to the GOP again, another day?
And what makes him so darn scary anyways, besides his take-it-or-leave-it Pledge ... to him ... (the United Stooges of America) ?