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It's interesting that leading up to the 2010 midterms Grover Norquist was being hailed as a conservative mega-star and now Republican politicians are slowly starting to take an honest view of his behavior and actually publicly bashing him to boot. Rep. Frank Wolf is the newest member of the GOP to smack him around
Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf (R), one of six House Republicans who hasn’t signed Americans for Tax Reform’s no-taxes pledge, took to the House floor today and slammed ATR President Grover Norquist, accusing Norquist of working with “unsavory characters” and pushing a pledge that makes it harder for Congress to achieve meaningful deficit reduction and tax reform.
Wolf said the Taxpayer Protection Pledge created by Norquist and ATR has had the effect of “paralyzing Congress” and making it impossible to even discuss ways to reform the tax code:
WOLF: Everything must be on the table, and I believe how the pledge is interpreted and enforced by Mr. Norquist is a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code. When Senator Tom Coburn recently fought to eliminate the special interest ethanol tax subsidy, who led the opposition? Mr. Norquist. [...]
Have we really reached the 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?
Recently John Huntsman, who's running for president refused to take his tax pledge, but Wolf went further in his comments, not only bashing his ideology, but calling out his friends.
“My concern is with the other individuals, groups, and causes with whom Mr. Norquist is associated that have nothing to do with keeping taxes low,” Wolf continued.
He cited Norquist’s relationships with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and terrorist financier Sami Al-Arian, and his ties to Fannie Mae and the Internet gambling industry.
“Simply put, I believe Mr. Norquist is connected with or has profited from a number of unsavory people and groups out of the mainstream,” the congressman said.
I'm not saying I believe in the allegations Wolf levies about some of the people or groups in his speech that he calls unsavory, but that's not the point of this post. The idea that Wolf would say these harsh words to the mighty Grover is pretty amazing on the House floor.
