Today Grover Norquist wrote in POLITICO’s Arena on Obamacare. “If a surgeon had performed an operation in the middle of the night without consulting the patient, or worse, consulting the patient and was told to stop … this would be malpractice. That is how Obama, Reid and Pelosi wrote and passed Obamacare…Why is it surprising that legislation so written also forgot to ask the question….is this constitutional? That is a question Obama has never asked himself about his big government ideas.”
Grover Norquist responds to an article written on Friday in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “In a letter to lawmakers, Norquist called the piece ‘misleading.’ More important, he said his verdict that, as a whole, the measure amounts to a tax increase remains in place.” Norquist informs lawmakers that “‘on January 10, we informed you that a vote in support of the tax reform council recommendation is a vote for over $1 billion in higher taxes, and thus a violation of the Pledge…That remains true today. The good parts of the reform package – reductions in marginal tax rates – are more than offset by base-broadening tax hikes.’”
Government spending is reassessed by Doug Bandow at Forbes.com. “The U.S. government is effectively bankrupt. The deficit this year will run $1.5 trillion. The national debt exceeds $14 trillion. In response, the president has proposed to freeze domestic discretionary spending, which accounts for just 7% of federal outlays….Only cutting government’s responsibilities can restore a fiscal balance. Every program must be reassessed….Calling America’s ongoing fiscal crisis a national security issue, a number of conservative activists, including leading figures like David Keene and Grover Norquist, have called for cuts in Pentagon outlays.”