Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas In the never-ending quest to identify isolate & demonize those who are undermining a budget compromise that cuts spending but more importantly at least for President Obama raises taxes the left lays almost all of the blame on the mild-mannered and soft-spoken president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) Grover Norquist. They reason that if only Grover would
relax his intractable economy-destroying" stance opposing any net tax increase Republicans would negotiate (i.e. agree to tax hikes) and the country would be saved.
Baloney! Republicans oppose tax increases because they fear voters not Grover.
For 30 years Republicans have widely embraced the principles of smaller government lower taxes and controlled spending. They readily acknowledge they foolishly abandoned their controlled-spending principle after George W. Bush became president in 2001.
The result is that voters stripped congressional Republicans of their majority in 2006 and the presidency in 2008 based in part on a solemn and now utterly broken promise from Democrats to be fiscally prudent. Since then Republicans have repeatedly promised to live up to their small-government rhetoric if voters would only give them another chance.
Well the voters did in 2010. And Republicans apparently have no intention of breaking their promise to the voters again. Grovers not inconsiderable contribution is helping the rest of us
keep score of the promise breakers.
By contrast Democrats are refusing to learn the same lesson.
Having abandoned any pretense of fiscal prudence and being voted out in 2010 because of it they only want to blame … Grover Norquist.
Todays PolicyByte was written by IPI Resident Scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.
