ATR president Grover Norquist asks in Human Events: “Will Taxes Doom Obama In 2012?”  He concludes, “…the 'deal' is a truce, not a peace treaty.  Every part of the 'deal' lasts exactly two years.  All the moving parts of the “deal” will be front and center in the 2012 election.  Nothing has been solved.  Every conflict of vision, of policy, of ideology, has been deferred.  Two years… He put the Democrats weakest issue—taxes—front and center in 2012.  And he has made all the tax cuts temporary so as to minimize their help in bringing down unemployment… Evidently he is now getting strategic advice from the folks who thought up Harriet Miers.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Weisman notes, “Tax Proposal Wins Norquist Seal of Approval… With so many Republicans signing Americans for Tax Reform’s ‘no new taxes’ pledge, the judgment of ATR President Grover Norquist matters for the fate of the tax deal cut between Republican congressional leaders and President Barack Obama… And the judgment is, the deal does not raise taxes… ‘We’ve been supportive of it,’ said Ryan Ellis, head of tax policy for Americans for Tax Reform.”

“Estate tax proposal draws fire from conservatives who want full repeal,” is the headline of Russell Berman’s piece in The Hill, “Americans for Tax Reform, the group run by conservative activist Grover Norquist, is supporting the overall Obama-GOP agreement and does not consider the estate-tax provision a tax hike… ‘It’s not a tax increase relative to 2011 in current law,’ Ellis said. He added that like most conservatives, Americans for Tax Reform supports ending the estate tax permanently. Of the broader tax package Republicans are signing onto, Ellis said Americans for Tax Reform is ‘very supportive of it.’… ‘It is not perfect, but it is pretty damn good, and we like it,’ Ellis said.”

Posted by Will Upton on Thursday, December 9, 2010 3:34 PM EST

To follow Will Upton's RSS feed click here. To follow them on Twitter, their handle is @wupton