Bought and paid in full, our Congress is:
Republican leaders in the Senate and House will not agree to tax increases in the guise of reform measures, according to a prominent conservative advocate for lower taxes.
Conservatives have grown increasingly worried that Republicans in Congress may accept a tax hike as part of a broader deal to reduce discretionary and entitlement spending.
But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) have pledged to Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist they will not support any deficit reduction package that increases taxes.
So if we aren’t allowed to increase taxes, and the military budget is off limits, it is pretty safe to say the Republicans can have a heaping serving of STFU when it comes to the deficit. Of course, I’ll have to check Sullivan, but I’m sure Bush’s former Budget Director, Mitch Daniels, true fiscal conservative, will have a way around this.
arguingwithsignposts
I would really like to punch Grover Fucking Norquist in the neck, but that would be uncivil. Tell me again why Jane Hamsher cuddles up to him?
Omnes Omnibus
Well, if we elect a Republican as President in 2012, then deficits won’t matter so it’s all okay.
mr. whipple
This country is insane.
Admiral_Komack
Watch it!
You’re talking about Jane Hamsher’s squeeze, Grover Norquist!
She’ll get pissed!
She have a picture of you in blackface before the day is out!
OHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOO!
Judas Escargot (aka "your liberal-interventionist pal, who's fun to be with")
Grover Norquist: Yet another spoiled rich boy (daddy was VP of Polaroid) eager to destroy civil society for the rest of us.
On behalf of people who have to actually work for a living, I say this: Fuck you, Grover Norquist.
Rick Massimo
Can someone explain to me why it’s OK for every Republican in Washington to have signed a pledge of absolute fealty, promising never, ever, under any circumstances, to raise taxes, to Grover Norquist, whom no one has ever voted for and whose stated wish is not “to kill government, but to make it small enough that he can drown it in the bathtub”?
Call me crazy, but I think if every Democrat in Washington promised that they would pass a 15% tax increase on the rich, and signed a pledge to that effect to an unelected person whose stated goal was to “tax the rich not untl they were dead but until they were bleeding pretty seriously,” it would be A Thing.
Culture of Truth
Dennis SGMM
Here in (not) Sunny California the Republicans in our state legislature are resisting Governor Brown’s effort to call a special election for June and put tax rates and spending cuts on the ballot. Brown’s plan is simple: allow the voters to decide whether or not to extend some tax increases due to be sunsetted and to raise other taxes. So far, the lege and Brown have managed $14Bn in cuts which is great (If you’re not someone who relies on one of our state services or you don’t have an entire day to spend at one of the remaining DMV offices) save for the fact that our state’s projected deficit is $23Bn. The alternative to Brown’s proposal is either even more Draconian cuts or more accounting gimmicks to pretend that the deficit problem is solved.
What’s most telling about this is the fact that the Republicans don’t even want it to come to a vote of the people lest their “No new taxes!” and “Shrink the government!” mantras be discredited.
John PM
Since tax increases and the military budget are off the table, perhaps the US government could have a fundraising drive similar to PBS (“For a $200,000 donation you get this lovely Congressional totebag, perfect for carrying around your favorite representative), or maybe a bake sale, with a little something extra in the brownies, if you know what I mean.
Bulworth
@Omnes Omnibus: But what will Pete Peterson do then?
Socraticsilence
There have to be some non-military spending programs we can offer to slash without destroying our party– stuff the Republicans like– how about elimination of the Dairy Council (I would say cut the fat from farm subsidies because my Senator Jon Tester you know, the one actual working farmer in the Senate said they need to be significantly altered in order to exclude Big Farm, but hey what does he know– god, knows the minute he suggests it he’d be dead even though it would actually help the average American Farmer and might even create more farms/jobs because you know we wouldn’t be subsidizing the death of any and all family farms in favor of Mega-farms run by multinationals)
singfoom
Wow. Color me unsurprised. Republicans vow not to raise taxes, despite the consequences.
Once we cut taxes so that no one pays taxes, tax revenues will go through the roof because of our unlimited prosperity.
Can we please get a mainstream new media organization to start calling these clowns out?
Ah, the terror they live in of an informed (with facts) electorate.
karen marie
They forgot the asterisk — *Except penalty taxes for women who choose to terminate a pregnancy.
MikeTheZ
@Rick Massimo: IOKIYAR
Alternatively, because fuck you, that’s why.
Also, too.
Bizono
How is this news to anyone? This has been the GOP position for at least a decade. Norquist’s tax pledge has been in place since the mid 90s, and most Congressional Republicans have been sticking to it.
I have a son who is 19 months old and a daughter that is due in mid May, and I’ve been giving a lot of thought about where to raise them. Are some states less insane/more suitable for raising a family than Pennsylvania? Looking for a place with a decent job market, schools, and secondary education, and clean air and drinking water, that can weather the next 20 years of this bullshit until the greedy, stupid fuckers who keep electing these imbiciles become unable to cast votes?
jayjaybear
@Bizono: I hear Sweden’s nice.
satby
@Bizono: Big expatriate colony in Costa Rica too. Seriously, I’ve been considering it myself.
daveNYC
@Bizono: I’d almost say NY, but the government at the state level is pretty messed up. Kind of similar to CA in some ways.
J
You can need all you need to know about Grover Norquist from his favorite jokes, one about ‘date rape’ in which he and his allies are cast in the part ofthe rapists, the other about drowning government in the bathtub. There is a bloody minded fanaticism here which should lead him to be excluded from polite society. ‘Evil’ isn’t too strong a word for him and his ideas.
terraformer
@Bizono:
Allow me to suggest Minnesota. Sure, the winters are long and cold, but we do have heat. And fresh water in abundance. And really good schools (paid for by high taxes!). And Al Franken…
Howlin Wolfe
@Bulworth: Collect his fee?
danimal
The Washington consensus is absolutely, positively insane. To be serious about the deficit, you must:
*cut Medicare/Medicaid in unspecified ways, without an organized, methodical approach lest ‘death panels’ emerge
*ignore the cost saving impacts of ACA
*
support revenue increases on the taxes of the wealthy*
reduce war-making and ‘defense’ spending significantly*reduce non-defense, non-entitlement expenditures in a huge way, even though this category of spending has not increased much in comparison to defense and entitlements
*grandfather in current retiree benefits so the young pay increased taxes AND receive fewer benefits
*
implement a carbon tax or cap & trade program that captures the costs of spewing carbon into the atmosphere*
provide a budget score on liberal legislation to evaluate if their proposals are fiscally prudent.Am I missing anything?
danimal
NOTE: the last item, about providing a score for liberal legislation, absolutely infuriates me. Where is the Concord Coalition when it comes to revenue increases and program efficiencies? If budget balance was their true cause, they would act accordingly. They don’t.
Bill Murray
Mitch Daniels’ record suggests he would just sell off US assets to make the budget look balanced for a year or two, then hide the problems for a couple more years. Then, Norquist’s dream comes true.
Xenocrates
Norquist’s plan is simple: dissolve AFSCME and any other Federal unions. That will solve ALL our problems…yeah, right.
Jebediah, a Bruce
@Rick Massimo:
Yes, it would be A Thing, and we would all grow old and die waiting for usual suspects to start yammering about how Both Sides Do It. You can only say “both sides do it!” when it ISN’T true.
Doug W
@Bizono: Don’t come to Maine if you want your child to have an education. We have some good schools, but they are far and few between, and the Mainers enrolled in them are not the cream of the crop (they go out of state)…