Grover Norquist Tax
Pledge and Government Revenue
Grover Norquist wrote his Taxpayer pledge in order to cut
government size in half---but when he argues for cutting tax rates and
broadening the base, he argues that it would bring in MORE money for government!!!!!
Why would he propose something where the goal is to cut government in half but
argues that its goal is to GIVE GOVERNMENT MORE MONEY!!!!!! Unless of course he is lying and he knows it.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The primary policy goal of Americans for Tax
Reform is to reduce government revenues as a percentage of the GDP.[18][19] ATR states that it
"opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle."[20] Americans for Tax Reform
has supported Taxpayer Bill of
Rights (TABOR) legislation[21] and transparency
initiatives,[22] while opposing
cap-and-trade legislation[23]and efforts to regulate health care.[24]
On a side note---THANKS!!!
In 2010, Norquist, whose wife is a Muslim and
who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, emerged as an outspoken
Republican foe of politicizing the mosque-in-Manhattan issue, calling it a
"distraction".[36]
Huh interesting----THANKS!!!
He has also "announced his plan to assemble
a center-right coalition to discuss pulling out of Afghanistan to save hundreds of
billions of dollars."[37]
Norquist favors dramatically reducing the size
of the government.[12] He has been noted for
his widely quoted quip: "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."[50] Journalist William Greider quotes him saying his goal is
to bring America back to what it was "up until Teddy Roosevelt, when the socialists took
over. The income tax, the death tax, regulation, all that."[51] When asked by journalist
Steven Kroft about the goal of chopping government "in half and then
shrink it again to where we were at the turn of the [20th] century" before
Social Security and Medicare, Norquist replied, "We functioned in this
country with government at eight percent of GDP for a long time and quite
well."[4]
Some smaller government advocates argue that
Norquist's "obsession with tax revenue" is actually counterproductive
with respect to minimizing the size of government, however.[52]Although the Americans for Tax
Reform mission statement is "The government's power to control one's life
derives from its power to tax. We believe that power should be minimized",[53] critics at the Cato Institute have argued that
"holding the line on taxes constrains only one of the four tools (taxes,
tax deductions, spending without taxation, and regulation) used by government to alter economic outcomes."[52] Norquist's perceived
failure to call as enthusiastically for corresponding and equally drastic
spending cuts has led to criticism from many moderates that he is simply
arguing for a false prosperity that is the result of deficit spending created
by tax cuts that are not matched by corresponding spending cuts, and that he
and other far right conservatives want future generations to pay for present
prosperity with their financial futures.
