Grover Norquist & His Protection Racket

Like so many Americans, I watch 60 Minutes on CBS every Sunday Night.  I find the program to be interesting, informative and generally without bias.  Last Sunday Night's report featuring Steve Kroft's interview with Grover Norquist was indeed interesting, informative and without bias.  I have been aware of Mr. Norquist's Americans For Tax Reform organization for years as well as his anti-tax pledge program.  The pledge reads, "a promise that they will never, under any circumstances, vote to raise taxes on anyone". 

Watching the program and listening to Steve Kroft's questioning was all fine and good until the very end of the program when the look on Grover Norquist's face told the whole story.  He smiled directly at the camera and smiled the smile that only cats smile after eating the canary.  At this point I became angry and decided that this one man has indeed created the very protection racket that Steve Kroft asked him about during the interview.  CBS reported that there have been 279 signatories to the anti-tax pledge, all republicans.  The six republican members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction had all signed the anti-tax pledge. 

Mr. Norquist, who has not been elected to any office today or at any time, clearly has significant control over the representatives that sit in elected office.  He made it crystal clear throughout his interview that his organization would make a point to let the people of a representative's district know that their elected official had voted yes to a raise, any raise, in taxes.  Classic protection racket stuff.  Later in the 60 Minutes piece, Steve Kroft spoke with former United States Senator Alan Simpson .  Simpson, always outspoken and incredibly candid, made it clear that many republicans have "buyer's remorse" about signing the anti-tax pledge. 

Grover Norquist is the "keeper of the pledge" and is the one man holding all of the signatories accountable and frequently reminds them of their anti-tax pledge.  For the record, there has been not one republican vote for an increase in income taxes since 1990.  In fact, the only effort on taxes by the republican party has been to provide tax cuts, specifically during the Bush years.  The greater concern of this anti-tax pledge is that each republican candidate for the Presidency has signed this pledge with the exception of John Huntsman. 

Simply put, each of the republican candidates seeking our nation's highest office are beholding to one man and his organization's wishes.  No taxes ever.  For any reason.  My question is how can one of these men or women running for office have their hands tied in such a fashion.  It is incredibly unacceptable for our President to have any option, including taxes, off the table when they are managing our nation. 

Like everyone else, I am not in favor of any additional taxes.  I find the ones we have to be onerous and difficult on a personal level to manage.  However, I am unable to fathom why I would not want my President to have the capability to request Congress for a tax hike should we absolutely need one.  What about a national emergency?  What about war?  What about where we're at right now where we are spending money that we do not have.  To me, this is beyond reason and frankly, if I was President Obama's team, I would hammer away on this very issue throughout the campaign.  Not that I want to raise taxes but under no circumstances would my opponent be allowed to because of this silly pledge. 

The Republican Party had better wake up.  They had better have a anti-tax pledge burning party on the Capitol steps and renounce Grover Norquist and his protection racket.  If I was one of the republican candidates running for the Presidency, I would renounce it at the next debate and make it clear that I am not beholding to anyone.  If I was John Huntsman I would pronounce it loud and clear that I didn't sign such a pledge and no one seeking our nation's highest office should have.   

A PATHETIC EFFORT...NOTHING SUPER ABOUT THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON DEFICIT REDUCTION

Is anyone surprised that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction would fail in their mandate of tax cuts for deficit reduction.  I certainly am not.  This supercommittee as it has become known was doomed to failure from the moment the 112th Congress enacted the Budget Control Act of 2011.  Remember, this Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction was charged with issuing a recommendation by November 23, 2011 for at least 1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction steps to be undertaken over a ten-year period.  It was a non-starter from the beginning.

"Everything is on the table" were the words spoken by White House Economics advisor, Gene Sperling.  What he should have said is that "nothing new is on the table".  The democrats refused to budge on entitlement programs and the republicans refused to consider any new revenue resulting in tax increases.  This committee has failed in such an egregious fashion just like Congress has failed and yes, even the President. 

I am fed up with our political leadership in this nation.  We do indeed need to throw them all out.  Once again, we appear the laughing stock of the world.  Our leaders can't agree on anything.  No willingness on anyone's part to compromise.  The fact that we let them get away with it is what is most discouraging.  The Republican Party loves to talk about the exceptionalism of America.  There is nothing exceptional about what our political leadership is doing right now and has been doing for the last three years. 

Maybe we all should take the lead of our political leaders and perform in a similar fashion within our workplaces, our families, our churches and the organizations we belong to.  I'm sure you remember as I do all those early classroom conversations when our teachers taught us to look up to, admire, to emulate the practices of our political leaders.  What a joke that is today. 

What if each of us chose not to find compromise within our families or relationships.  We disagree on what bills to pay, so we just don't pay them.  At work, the collaborative project you are working on with your co-workers, forget it, we can't agree or find compromise.  Don't worry about it.  All of us each day, day in and day out, find compromise in every piece of our life because we have to.  It is the only way that anything gets accomplished.  We learn to accept that we can't get everything we want but we get some of it because we work through the problem and find agreement. 

Our national debt is mounting at record pace.  Our people are without work.  People have lost their homes.  People are living in motel rooms, with family or in their cars.  Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling.  Choose the problem or issue and it is failing in this nation.  The failing all lands on the doorstep of our political leaders.  Choosing not to work together is totally unacceptable.  This stalemate and willingness of our political leaders to watch America fail is UN-AMERICAN.  If you can't get along with your spouse, you divorce.  If you can't find agreement with your friend, you find a new friend.  If you fail to work appropriately with your co-workers, you get fired.  It's time that we, the American people, the 99%, divorce these leaders, fire them if you will.  Just think of it, we were encouraged to be like these leaders as youngsters. 

They should be like us, real Americans, who day in and day out find compromise so that we can accomplish our work, live in harmony and get things done.  Some time ago, it was pointed out to me that I was not being proactive about my life and my work.  There was a consequence for me.  I got the message loud and clear.  I started making decisions, started taking control of my life and not leaving things to chance.  It's made a difference for me in my life.  Congress and the president need to take a similar stance and start being proactive about making our nation work again.  If this path continues, the only thing exceptional about America will be how exceptionally stupid and pathetic our leaders have been to allow our nation to fail.       

Choose to compromise or we will eventually find folks who will. 

"Shame On You"

The students were chanting, "shame on you", "shame on you", "shame on you".  They were shouting it to the police at UC Davis Friday afternoon when police dressed in riot gear opened up with pepper spray on a group of peaceful student protestors.  The students were seated on the ground with arms linked.  They did not appear to be blocking anyone or creating any type of disturbance but the police determined that it was a "volatile situation" and acted accordingly.  I haven't seen this type of response by the police with any demonstrators in this nation since 1968.  It was not a pretty scene.     

I've watched the video clip at least ten times now and have no earthly idea why the police chose to take the action they did by spraying these young people (protestors) with pepper spray.  I just don't understand it.  What was their point in trying to move these folks.  It made me think once again about how authority does not care for those who choose not to be compliant.  I've never really understood that.  I recognized the same non-compliance in my children from time to time when they were growing up and it was always frustrating for me as the parent.  However, I chose not to break out the pepper spray.  Truthfully, each of them ended over my knee a few times for such non-compliance. 

There is a difference though.  Watching the police officer aim the pepper spray as he did directly at the protestors was very disturbing.  Almost as if he was enjoying it.  When other officers tried to remove the protestors self-protection methods so that the pepper spray-wielding fellow officer could shoot directly into their face including in one instance a protestor's mouth, it just seemed way beyond necessary.  At the end of the day, there is going to have to be a fair amount of explaining on the part of the police, the university and whoever gave the officers permission to take such an action. 

The Occupy Wall Street movement has for the most part been non-violent.  There have been a few clashes of consequence and as each day passes, additional arrests are being made.  The movement suffers significantly from a lack of a coherent message and the leadership structure to deliver it.  Times past, there was real leadership leading such protest movements in this country.  One has to wonder who will take center stage for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Hopefully, someone soon will take up the mantle of leadership, define and clarify their issues and begin a significantly more organized effort at affecting the types of change they envision. 

Otherwise, these scenes of recent days including the use of pepper spray by the police will escalate.  Too many of us remember how terribly wrong things went back in Ohio on the campus of Kent State University. That truly was a dark day for our nation.  It can happen again if a serious dialogue does not begin with these protestors soon.  In this case, it was a police officer being just a little exuberant in his use of pepper spray.  What will happen when the police really do feel threatened by a protest group?  Will they only resort to pepper spray.  It started out that way in the sixties too.  Escalated to tear gas, rubber bullets and then students were killed. 

Occupy needs to find its collective voice and our political leadership across the country needs to listen.  Failure on the part of either side  should not be an option.  What our political leadership, local, state and federal seem to fail to realize is that incidents like the one we just witnessed only emboldens those involved in protest to march on.