(CNN) - Notorious anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist said Democrats who've blamed him for the super committee's bipartisan budget gridlock are simply lying.
The president of Americans for Tax Reform encouraged Republican members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to sign a pledge that binds them to resist raising taxes as they work to find $1.2 trillion dollars in deficit-cutting measures by Wednesday, but on CNN's "American Morning," he said the pledge was between the country and its congressmen, and not with him.
Programming note: GOP presidential candidates face off at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, November 22, in the CNN Republican National Security Debate in Washington, D.C.
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray called Norquist out Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" saying his name came up too often during super committee negotiations.
"As long as we have some Republican lawmakers who feel more enthralled with a pledge they took to a Republican lobbyist than they do to a pledge to the country to solve the problems, this is going to be hard to do," she said.
Norquist fired back Monday.
"The senator is not telling the truth," he argued.
"For the congressmen and senators who signed the taxpayer protection pledge, they and the American people know the pledge is from them to the voters of their district and their state."
And although he admitted, "they have tried to say I'm the reason Republicans won't raise taxes, that's not nonsense," Norquist directed blame back at Democrats saying, "The Democrats want higher taxes. That's off the table."
"It's been off the table for a year," he continued. "The Democrats are a little hard of hearing."
Defending his role in promoting the pledge, first signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, Norquist insisted again, "The pledge that congressmen and senators make is not to me despite what Reid and other Democrats pretend. When they say that, let's use the kind word. It's not true. It's a lie."
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Doesn't matter. Because of Grover (does he have a nephew named Elmo Norquist), the Bush era tax cuts for everyone are gone after next year. They won't allow the cuts to remain for the poor and middle class unless the wealthy continue to get the breaks. It's fine. i'm not wild about paying higher taxes, but the country can't afford these cuts to continue. When they were enacted initially they were not funded. The same for our two wars of conquest....
nigel
Spending cuts now, whether agreed on or automatic, are going to destroy a lot of jobs and threaten national security.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
$15 trillion of debt will do the same thing, except much worse and for a far greater period of time.
No matter whos behind it the people in D.C. will continue to butt heads and not agree on anything. They take risk with our lives to try and get relected. They dont care about us never have never will. If either side thinks they do the your all fools.
There should be a law, the only pledge a federal pol can take is their oath of office.
Everyone is now seeing the heart of the problem. Norquist is financed by Coal money (kochs), Pfizer, Philip Morris (tobacco), and Microsoft. Through him, corporations have direct say in who is elected and how they vote. He is a puppet of the large corporations, and he loves the power that comes with it. Even the Supreme court has given him power. He is nothing but a lobbyist out of control. A disease. Glad you Americans are catching on.
It should be a crime for a lobbiest to have this much influence on our elected leaders. Vote out the corrupt cretins in his pocket.
Norquist.
Liar and traitor.
Wow, almost no posters question the out of control spending by Congress and our Presidents. Raising taxes won't fix the problem. Just bringing the government spending back down to 2008 levels would be a cut of $900 Billion Dollars in the budget. That alone would almost balance the budget. Cutting spending should be a bigger priority than raising revenue.
I am a conservative who does not want to see taxes raised without very significant spending cuts. The fact is that the taxes that you liberals want on the rich will make a very small dent in our deficity. Maybe $100 billion a year against a deficity of $1.5 Trillion. Sometimes I think we should raise the taxes to get this issue off the table... and then see what the free spending party proposes to do about the remaining $1.4 trillion in annual deficits. People, it is time to start dealing with facts, not partisan fiction.
This guy needs to get out of politics. He's a lobbyist pure and simple, and our Representatives should not be listening to him over anyone else. It should be treason.
I can't believe he went with the "Liar, Liar pants on fire!" defense... What a pathetic man.
The quotes in this article make me shake my head. They are dishonest and condescending. To take your own personal views which are shared with a minority percentage of the American people and project them onto the entire population is a bold faced lie and it only hurts his cause to treat everyone with such contempt.
Hopefully the politicians can find a little backbone and relegate him to the dustbin so we can start solving our mounting problems through honesty, reason, and compromise.
Howard, you can't change everything through legislation, of course, but you can make life a bit easier, or a bit harder for the worst or best off among us through legislation.
Are there any reasonable Republicans left? Please save our country by taking your party back from these aweful money loving people who have hijaacked it. A complete failure of the republican party in 2012 elections will help the people loving and more balanced members of the party gain control of the party.
This guy is really adamant about not paying his fair share of the taxes. He probably doesn't pay any taxes, and he certainly isn't going to start. What a life of luxury and means he's lived, but then again, who hasn't?
look, the problem with congress is the corrupt influence of outsider "big money" groups who pay to get the pols elected....until that big money influence is removed, congress will never be able to act in the best interest of americans, it can only act in the best interests of the big money donors! thats really just common sense, and no honest person can disagree..
there are 3 simple (not easy) steps to return integrity to congress :
1) campaign funding reform – public financing ONLY
2) term limits – NOBODY get more than 8 years in dc, no exceptions
3) congressmen prohibited from working for lobbyists – MUST cut the corrupt ties
well, thats about it. those 3 simple steps will enable congress to work for americans once again
The American people, at mid-term elections, ousted a lot of Democratic House seats, and some in the Senate, to send a clear message to Washington that we are not satisfied with the whole of Congress' behavior in working toward a clear path to save our economy, jobs, housing, health care, what have you. I ask the American people to remember that with this upcoming Presidential election, that more Senate and Houese seats will be up for grabs. Please, please, I think we should oust those members of Congress who have been sitting in their seats for so long that they became complacent and put party first instead of the American peole's needs first. Put fresh new faces in the House and Senate because new blood brings new ideas and inspiration. Bottom line: THROW THE BUMS OUT.
THe worst part is that the vast MAJORITY of the country knows that there must be revenue increases AND that the Pols in DC have been legislating for the rich for quite some time now. Nobody voted for this Puke and the GOP needs to listen to the majority or it is going to cost them!
The Republican party has sold out the country to save a few bucks for the 1%. I always considered myself an independent but not anymore. If you are an everyday working guy the Republicans are whispering sweet nothing in your ear while they're sticking it to you.
Democrats always lie. Out of the top ten richest congressmen, 7 are democrats. So much for their empathy with the common man!
THe worst part is that the vast MAJORITY of the country knows that there must be revenue increases AND that the Pols in DC have been legislating for the rich for quite some time now. Nobody voted for this guy and the GOP needs to listen to the majority or it is going to cost them!
Obama created the most divided country in our history since the civil war. Unilateral push thru legislation his first two years as his super-majority in house/senate brought huge debt to our country. The country reacted and brought the republicans back (tea party) and now we have gridlock. No surprise. You can only blame Bush for so long. Poor poor childish leadership from the Chicago machine.
Grover Norquist is the liar. The people who will lose the most with a tax hike are the wealthiest of Americans, they are the supporters of Norquist and not the other 99% of us.
The way around Norquist is to just let the Bush tax credits expire.
I hope Obama has the guts to do that this time.
You people on here sound really stupid taking up for this jerk. How do you think these people got rich? Off the backs of the working poor and now they want to throw them under the bus. Their motto is I have mine now you need to figure out a way to get yours after they have used and abused people to line their pockets.
Grover Norquist has stated in the past that his goal is nothing short of seeing the United State's government become bankrupt. It seems he's well on his way to helping accomplish just that.