Grover Norquist was interviewed by Peter Suderman at Reason. “Norquist: The way we could screw up the pending Republican—solidifying a Reagan Republican House and electing a Republican Senate, meaning a majority Senate in 2012—the way to screw that up is to lose focus on spending and get distracted on chasing the deficit. Because then Democrats have an equally valid solution, which is to raise taxes. Whereas if the focus is spending, there are only two ways to fix that: spend less, or have pro-growth policies. Democrats don’t want to spend less. Democrats have no pro-growth policies. Republicans have a whole bunch of things that would be good for the economy: Take the trial lawyers and drop them in the ocean. Have less regulation. Spend less. Cut corporate rates. All sorts of things. So that the same size government is less oppressive and less expensive. And Republicans have $6 trillion worth of spending restraint that they’re willing to put forward in the House.But if you focus on the deficit, then tax increases are on the table. And then all of a sudden, you get into class warfare.”
The ongoing quarrel between Grover Norquist and Sen. Tom Coburn was highlighted on NPR’s All Things Considered. “The fight between the feisty Coburn and the pugnacious Norquist got going last month. Initially, it was over Coburn's drive to end $5 billion a year in tax breaks for companies that blend ethanol with gasoline. Norquist agreed with Coburn that the subsidy was wasteful. But he said Coburn should also cut $5 billion in taxes elsewhere so that money would not go to the Treasury.”