Fire them all?
By Norman Leahy | Monday, November 21st, 2011 | Politics, VirginiaSenator Mark Warner says that if Congress fails to address the federal debt, then voters should sack them all:
“If we can’t get this fixed, you’ve got to fire us all,” Warner said. “I’m serious.”
If so, then perhaps we should invite the “Bobs” to Capitol Hill to begin the exit interviews:
The deficit-reduction supercommittee, stuck in a partisan deadlock, faces an almost certain collapse—raising the threat of disruptive military spending cuts and a resurgent public anger at Congress as it struggles with the basic tasks of governance.
Barring an unlikely, last-second breakthrough, the committee is expected to announce Monday that it failed to reach its mandated goal of writing a bipartisan bill to reduce deficits over the next 10 years by at least $1.2 trillion.
Someone must be blamed…how about Grover Norquist?
Senator Patty Murray, the Democrat co-chair of the committee, said Republicans had constantly cited Mr Norquist’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” for their refusal to consider higher taxes.
“His name has come up in meetings time and time again,” she told CNN, the broadcaster, saying Republicans were “more in thrall” to a conservative lobbyist than the needs of the rest of the country.
There’s a wide difference between being ‘in thrall’ and “employing a convenient excuse.” As for himself, Norquist is sticking to his guns, enjoying his moment in the spotlight and finding a way to make former Club for Growth president Pat Toomey look like Bela Abzug:
Republican committee member, Senator Pat Toomey, a former chair of the anti-tax Club for Growth group, proposed raising $350bn in extra revenue over 10 years by ending a series of existing tax deductions.
His proposal had a strong conservative flavour, as Mr Toomey demanded that the committee reduce rates and make permanent the tax cuts introduced by George W. Bush in return for shutting the loopholes.
But the plan raised Mr Norquist’s ire nonetheless.
“They had a very good idea – all they have to do is to take out the goddam tax increase part of it,” he said.
Staying in character, right to the end.
And so the tiresome and pointless exercise of the supercommittee comes to a grinding halt. Now we have the ugly curtain call, full of anger and excuses.
If we take even half a step back and look at it all, we see that the committee’s job was to find $1.2 trillion in savings over a decade (though none of it would begin until 2013). In the meantime, the government’s debt has risen to $15 trillion. The feds will spend more in interest payments each year than they proposed to save. So even had the committee met its goal, we still would still be losing ground. The Treasury has a handy chart showing just how bad the situation really is. In FY 2011, total federal interest payments topped $454 billion. The supercommittee was charged with finding $120 billion in yearly savings.
Fire them all? Senator Warner may be on to something…
Brian Schoeneman offers his take on this mess here.
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About the author
Norm Leahy has written about Virginia and national politics online since 2002, beginning with One Man's Trash (OMT), and continuing through Bacon's Rebellion (both the blog and the e-zine), Sic Semper Tyrannis, NBC12's Decision Virginia, Richmond.com and Tertium Quids. He is the chief blogger at "The Score" and a producer of "The Score" radio show as well as being a Washington Examiner contributor.
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13 Responses to "Fire them all?"
Might help if we sent someone to the U.S. Senate who is interested in solving this problem.
Of course no republican can vote for new revenue or he/she will earn a well financed primary opponent. Republicans owe their allegiance to Grover Norquist, not to their constituents or to the public interest. They could not do what most kids in the sand box do; after arquing, they split the difference. But even though the large majority of americans wanted them to do exactly that, that is, reduce the deficit by equal parts of cuts and by tax increases, in the end, republicans simply cannot vote for that becasue it breaks their pledge to Norquist.
Frankly, that is sickening, and now a stark picture can be painted in the campaign: republicans care more for Norquist and millionaires that they do for the 99% of american citizens. Further, their pledge to defeat the President no matter what that takes now includes our fiscal prosperity as a nation. Having been told a big deal would in and of itself stimulate the economy, they punted.
Perhaps disgusting is a word not strong enough.
Mike Barrett (aka “Occupy Bearing Drift”) wrote “Of course no republican can vote for new revenue or he/she will earn a well financed primary opponent.”
Mike, why do you say that like it is a bad thing ? //grin//
If only it were true …
Unfortunately deficit borrowing IS a form of increased taxation because you eventually have to pay for it. Apparently the way to win elections is to promise not to raise taxes or cut spending, then borrow and spend more than the other guy, it is a formula that has been working for Democrats and Republicans for three decades.
Well Temporary, they sure consider it to be a bad thing. I don’t think any politician enjoys have a target on their back which indicates that a well funded conservative PAC will be supporting their opponent in the next republican primary.
And yes, excessive borrowing is to be condemned, and the way to prevent that is to decrease costs and increase revenues. Duh, the same recommendation from every bi-partisan study commission. But one side, that is, the republicans, are simply prohibited by the pledge to Norquist to do what is right for America.
For me, any republican, or democrat for that matter, who puts a no tax pledge pledge to a non elected dictator, ahead of his/her oath of office deserves an opponent and defeat in the next election cycle.
Perhaps we should bring UC-Davis’ Lt. John Pike to Capitol Hill and have him hose down everyone with pepper spray until they reach a compromise?
The committee should co-opt or adopt HR 920 by Rep. Louie Gohmert which has 38 co-sponsors. They can then declare a bipartisan victory and then go home and enjoy Thanksgiving.
Timmy,
They don’t want a compromise. This thing was set up to fail from the very beginning, if you look at who the Republican and Democratic members of the committee are. They are the last ones on either side who would ever compromise. Both sides are playing chicken with the economy–the Republicans believe that they can use this setback to defeat Obama and win a majority in the Senate. The Democrats believe that the voters will blame the Republicans. Neither side gives a damn about anything except winning a majority. If the committee even looked like they might strike a deal, the “leadership” of both parties would have quickly put a stop to it.
Rocky, so we have moved from “too big to fail” to “doomed to fail”? I am watching the blame game, how shrill it gets. Hopefully there will be lots of new material with which to satirize and mock the diehard House and Senate holdouts who will be climbing all over each other in their reelection campaigns to escape blame for the next credit downgrade, and of course the President who has willfully deserted his office. This is shaping up to be a “9/11” moment where the voters will mount an “Operation Enduring Freedom” to hunt down and remove these economic terrorists.
Mike Barrett, mind if I add to your post?
I watched the 60 minutes piece on Norquist last night ~ CREEP. We need to stop making this guy rich and anyone (republican/democrat) AND consider sending Jon Huntsman a check, marked as an anti-Norquist donation. Huntsman is the ONLY candidate w/ the cojones to reject Grover.
Full 60 minute video here – definitely worth watching:
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/11/grover-norquist-supercommittee-ronald-reagan-taxes
And excerpts from Fiscal Times, Nov. 16 2011/ “Anti-Tax Crusader Grover Norquist’s Grip is Slipping”
Recently, former Republican Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming urged lawmakers to stand up to the powerful outside lobbying groups like ATR. “If Grover Norquist is now the most powerful man in America, he should run for president,” Simpson said. “There’s no question about his power. And let me tell you, he has people in thrall. That’s a terrible phrase. Lincoln used it. It means your mind has been captured. You’re in bondage with your soul.”
Some former pledge signers say Norquist has scared lawmakers into signing the pledge and held it over politicians’ heads like a sword of Damocles. Over the past few months a handful of conservative lawmakers have publicly pushed back against the anti-tax oath and say they no longer feel bound by it, especially as Congress seek ways to tame the spiraling national debt.
Bartlett says Norquist may have pushed the boundaries with lawmakers. “Some members of Congress don’t like getting lectured from a ‘pipsqueak’,” he says. “There is a terrible barrier to legitimate tax reform and getting control of the deficit. He is obsessed with a very narrow focus, and it’s bull crap.”
Last month Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who did not sign the pledge, took to the House floor and berated Norquist. “Have we really reached a point where one person’s demand for ideological purity is paralyzing Congress to the point that even a discussion of tax reform is viewed as breaking a no-tax pledge?” Wolf asked. One day later, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told MSNBC that the pledge should be revisited and members of Congress shouldn’t be hamstrung by taxpayer pledges. “We shouldn’t be bound by something that could be interpreted different ways if what we’re trying to accomplish is broad-based tax reform,” Thune said.
Last week, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, threw down the gauntlet and called Norquist “some random guy,” signaling that if Norquist wanted to remain relevant and maintain his credibility, he should work with Republican members.
?
Bartlett says Norquist isn’t going to lose any sleep over members speaking out. But Republican strategist Ron Bonjean says Coburn and Boehner have severely damaged Norquist’s influence within the GOP conference. They have helped pave the way for more members to challenge the anti-tax pledge, Bonjean says.
To be sure, not all Republicans are running away from the pledge. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., a signer of the pledge, sided with Norquist and said those members who signed it should honor their commitment. “It’s not about Grover Norquist,” Cantor told reporters at a press conference on Monday. “It’s about commitments that people made to the electorate that they represent, to the people that sent them here,” Cantor said. “That’s what this is about. Your word should be good to your constituents…”
?
Norquist’s well-cultivated influence in conservative circles over the past two decades is remarkable and has earned him the title of the 101st Senator. But his path to power was no accident. “Around 1980, Grover told me that he saw himself as the Lenin of the conservative revolution and that Ralph Reed was his Trotsky and Jack Abramoff was his Stalin,” Bartlett recalls.
[...] and 'employing a convenient excuse.'"[1] Norman Leahy, "Fire them all?", http://bearingdrift.com/2011/11/…, quoting the Financial Times (behind a paywall) – emphasis mine[2] Huffington Post, "John [...]
A lot of them need to be fired. And have been.
Ya know, another thing that makes that pledge powerful is the knowledge that breaking it opens them up to being called liar, fake, and oath breaker. So, by breaking it you risk an opponent getting money and a frustrated public tired of fake slimey politicians selling them out. No need to pledge if you have a record to point to. Then if that exception arises, you can cite your past record as limiting taxation and articulate why you feel a particular exception needed to be made.
The pledge would be empty and powerless were it not for excessive spending and waste coupled with Fannie, Freddie, and economy leaving the taxpayer unable to pay more.
Norquist’s influence with the republican study committee which essentially controls Congress will be broken only by throwing out the bums who signed the pledge and thereby broke their oath of office to Congress and the American people. All the other conjecture and talk is just that. How this lobbyist could have become a dictator, telling members of Congress how they will be punished if they don’t vote the way he tells them to, is a national disgrace born by the republican party.
Let the people speak nationally, and in Virginia as well.
Mike, Grover isn’t a “dictator”, he’s a lobbyist with a potty mouth.
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