grover norquist

If anything great should be remembered from this past election it should be the fact that Grover Norquist has become much less significant. The number of Republicans breaking with the Norquist pledge to not raise taxes keeps rising, with the latest one coming out today:

Open criticism of Grover Norquist and his Americans for Tax Reform group's anti-tax pledge continued to make its way to the forefront of debate on Monday, with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) saying that his only real obligation was to serve his constituents by finding a long-term solution to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff."

“I’m not obligated on the pledge,” Corker told Charlie Rose of CBS News, responding to a question about growing disenchantment among Republicans who had previously stood in agreement with Norquist's strict "no new taxes" pledge. “I was just elected. The only thing I’m honoring is the oath I take when I serve when I’m sworn in this January.”

Corker joins other big names, such as John McCain, Saxby Chambliss, Tom Coburn, Lindsey Graham and Peter King. These influential Republicans can really put pressure on the rest of their party to disavow the thinking of Norquist and finally work to move our country forward.

But any man in the midst of defeat, old Grover is resilient as ever:

Prominent American anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist on Monday insisted that his movement was as strong as ever and that Congress would withstand pressure to raise taxes even if more Republican lawmakers are spurning his anti-tax pledge.

But I thought John McCain said raising taxes on oil companies would cause them to reduce output and do more harm than good? Apparently not:

The increase backed by the Republican vice presidential nominee will, at current prices, raise oil revenue to $11 billion this year -- almost twice what the state needs to fund its government -- state documents show. Alaska also has gotten more money from the federal government than its residents pay in taxes -- $1.75 per tax dollar in 2006, the most recent year available, according to the Tax Foundation, a Washington research group.

But that's fine and dandy. Experience doesn't matter anymore. As matter of fact, that should be the new GOP slogan; "We don't care about experience". Let's just ask neo-con icon Grover Norquist:

`There's never a good reason to raise taxes,'' said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington group that encourages politicians to sign a no-new-taxes pledge. ``She does have a track record of cutting other taxes. We're interested in what she does going forward.''

So even though in her tenure of 20 months as governor she raised oil taxes, we won't worry about that, because she might change now. Sounds like the neo-cons are selling out to the same gamble McCain has sold out to.

But let's look at what more drilling would do for Alaska, something Palin is very much for:

Each Alaska resident gets an annual rebate from state oil revenue, and this year Palin added $1,200 more to the $2,100 check each person received.

You know it is bad for McCain when you got NewsMax going after him with this little piece:

McCain's Out-of-Control Anger: Does He Have the Temperament to Be President?

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is considered a front-runner for the 2008 race, but does McCain have the temperament to be president?

As portrayed by the mainstream media, McCain is an engaging war hero, a man of political moderation positioned between the left and the right.

But to insiders who know him, McCain has an irrational, explosive side that make many of them question whether he is fit to serve as president and be commander in chief.

Nowhere is that sentiment stronger than in the Senate, where McCain has few friends or supporters. In fact, when McCain ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2000, only four Republican senators endorsed him.

"I have witnessed incidents where he has used profanity at colleagues and exploded at colleagues," said former Senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who served with McCain on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on Republican policy committees. "He would disagree about something and then explode. It was incidents of irrational behavior. We've all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I've never seen anyone act like that."

It is true - these radical right wingers will eat their young. Funny how this comes out a day after an article comes out about Grover Norquist being pissed at McCain. So either NewsMax is a major follower of old Grover (and his corruption) or Grover has some major pull in NewsMax.

Time for that Sunday Morning Line-up. I am compiling these myself now since the WaPo is slow to get them up:

Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer:

• Dr. Mowaffak al-Rubaie: Iraqi national security adviser
• Sen. Jack Reed: D-Rhode Island, Armed Services Committee member
• Sen. Arlen Specter: R-Pennsylvania, Judiciary Committee chairman
• Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt: Deputy director, U.S. Central Command
• Queen Rania of Jordan
• Anders Fogh Rasmussen: Danish prime minister

This Week With George Stephanopoulos:

• Amb. L. Paul Bremer on al-Zarqawi's death and the fight for Iraq
• Rep. Reynolds vs. Rep. Emanuel over the bitter battle for Congress
• ROUNDTABLE: Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria, ABC News consultant Donna Brazile, and George Will debate Iraq, 2006 elections and all the week's politics
• VOICES: George Will gets Grover Norquist's take on taxes and the Republican agenda

Meet The Press:

• Gen. Barry McCaffrey, (Ret.), U.S. Army & NBC Military Analyst, on the war & Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death.
• Roundtable with the Daily Kos's Markos Moulitsas, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, the Cook Report's Amy Walter & National

Face the Nation doesn't have their schedule up yet so that one will be a surprise. By far the best one will be seeing Markos on Russert tomorrow morning. Is he catching a flight from Vegas to DC tonight or is he leaving his party early?

It seems like the Abramoff story is still gaining ground. According to

Raw Story, the

Wall Street Journal is reporting that Abramoff's assistance with prosecutors
could now implicate 60 lawmakers:

It remains unclear which lawmakers prosecutors are looking at, and also
how persuasive Mr. Abramoff could be in helping to make potential cases
against any of them stick. A onetime chairman of College Republicans -- a
close ally of such party luminaries as Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed and Grover
Norquist -- Mr. Abramoff says he has information that could implicate 60
lawmakers.

View complete article

here.

Well that number has increased by 300% over the past 24 hours.

The bandwagon is still loading up of lawmakers returning money given to them
by Abramoff:

WASHINGTON - President Bush, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and
his successor Roy Blunt Wednesday joined the growing list of officials
shedding political donations from Jack Abramoff, the once powerful lobbyist
who has agreed to testify in a broad-ranging political corruption
investigation.

Article continues
here.

Perhaps Roy Blunt should be looked at a little closer with his ties to
Abramoff. Something had to spark this comment by Newt yesterday: