Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC): “When you’re $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other is to avoid becoming Greece, and Republicans — Republicans should put revenue on the table. We’re this far in debt. We don’t generate enough revenue.”  [ABC’s This Week, 11/25/12]

Rep. Peter King (R-NY): “A pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that Congress.  For instance, if I were in Congress in 1941, I would have signed a declaration of war against Japan.  I’m not going to attack Japan today.  The world has changed.  And the economic situation is different.  Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill realized that in the 1980s.  I think everything should be on the table.” [NBC’s Meet the Press, 11/25/12]

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA): “I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge.  If we do it his way then we’ll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that.” [WMAZ News, 11/22/12]

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN): “I’m not obligated on the pledge.  I was just elected; the only thing I’m honoring is the oath that I take when I serve, when I’m sworn in in January.”  [The Hill, 11/26/12]

Norquist Defends His Title Of “Most Powerful Man In The Republican Party” From Jeb Bush, Who Said Of Norquist’s No Tax Pledge “I Don’t Believe You Outsource Your Principles And Convictions To People.”

Joe Scarbourough On The Matchup: “…I’m Pretty Confident Jeb Wins…”

Fundamentally Skewed Priorities in Republican Budget Would Hand More Tax Breaks to Wealthy at Expense of Middle-Class Families

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid spoke on the Senate floor today regarding Republican attempts to go back on an August budget agreement in order to protect multi-millionaires and corporate defense contractors at the expense of ordinary Americans. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:

Yesterday Republicans continued to filibuster Democrats’ plan to protect 7 million students from skyrocketing interest rates on federal student loans.

What’s worse, they seem proud of it. Not a single Republican voted to allow the debate on this bill to go forward.

But this fight is not over. Democrats have not given up efforts to keep college affordable for almost 30,000 Nevadans and more than 7 million students nationwide.

I hope Republicans will come to their senses, and work with us toward a compromise.

As Democrats work to create jobs and make college affordable, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are operating under a different set of priorities.

In the House, Republican efforts are underway to undo a hard-fought August agreement to cut more than 2 trillion from the deficit over the next decade.

But the Republican budget and their so-called reconciliation bill don’t just renege on that bipartisan, bicameral agreement to reduce spending.

They reflect fundamentally skewed priorities. They hand out even more tax breaks to multi-millionaires and shield corporate defense contractors, all at the expense of hard-working, middle-class families, the elderly and those in greatest need.

They would slash investments that strengthen our economy and shred the social safety net.

President Dwight Eisenhower once said: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

In a balanced world – one where a strong national defense and a strong social safety net are both valuable pillars of a successful society – that need not necessarily be true.

But the Republican plan would enshrine into law a set of truly unbalanced priorities – and ensure the kind of terrible math Eisenhower envisioned.

Unlike defense contractors and billionaires, ordinary Americans don’t have high-priced lobbyists to protect them. That’s our job.

But Republicans are going after those who can’t fight back – hard-working Americans and struggling families.

Let’s review a bit of history. The sequester isn’t the first bipartisan agreement to reduce the deficit.

Over the years there have been many efforts to reach comprehensive, bipartisan solutions to our deficit.

There was the Fiscal Commission, Bowles-Simpson, the Gang of Six and the Supercommittee. They all failed.

Although President Obama was willing to make difficult concessions to achieve meaningful deficit reduction, Republicans and Speaker Boehner could never go against Grover Norquist.

This is a Grover Norquist Congress.

So we’re left with the threat of almost $500 billion in cuts to domestic programs and almost $500 billion in cuts to defense programs.

Democrats agree the sequester – which includes across the board cuts both to domestic spending and the defense budget – is far from the ideal way to solve our nation’s fiscal problems.

It’s a tough pill to swallow. But that was the point.

Those cuts were designed to be tough enough to force lawmakers to compromise.  They were designed to be tough enough to force the two sides to reach to a balanced deal.

But Republicans refused to be reasonable. They refused to raise even a penny of new revenue, or ask millionaires to contribute their fair share to help reduce our deficit and our debt.

I’d like to read a short excerpt from a piece by Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein from the Washington Post.

They eloquently describe the GOP’s unwillingness to compromise here:

“We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.”

They went on to say:

“The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

Republicans insisted on balancing the budget on the backs of the middle class, seniors, students, single mothers and so many others who could least afford it.

And it is their intransigence – their refusal to compromise – that leaves us facing the threat of the sequester, and its difficult but balanced cuts.

Going back on the August budget agreement now in order to protect wealthy special interests is no solution.

Neither is refighting the battles of last year.

Democrats agree we must reduce our deficit and make hard choices.

But we believe in a balanced approach that shares the pain as well as the responsibility.

Is the sequester the best way to achieve that balance? Absolutely not.

But Republicans refuse to consider a more reasonable approach – one that asks every American to pay his fair share while making difficult choices to reduce spending.

And Democrats won’t agree to a one-sided solution that lets the super-wealthy off the hook while forcing the middle class, and those in greatest need, to bear all the hardship.

Democrats believe we can protect Americans’ access to health care, create jobs while investing in the future and protect the poor and elderly.

And we can do all that while reducing the deficit in a responsible, even-handed way.

But we can’t do it alone. It will take hard work and compromise.

And so far Republicans have been unwilling to make a serious effort to achieve that compromise.

Republicans have rejected our balanced approach. Their one-sided solution to across-the-board cuts would take from the many to give to the few.

So, here’s what their plan would do:

• Cut Medicaid benefits, increasing the number of uninsured children, parents, seniors and people with disabilities by 300,000. It would also put seniors in nursing homes at risk.
• Punish Americans who receive tax credits to purchase health insurance when their financial circumstances change – causing 350,000 Americans to forgo coverage.
• Weaken Wall Street reforms, protecting big banks at the expense of consumers.
• Once again target middle-class workers, including food inspectors, air traffic controllers and border patrol, drug enforcement and FBI agents.
• Cut funding for preventive health care programs that fight chronic illnesses – such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes – that cause 70 percent of deaths in America.
• Slash Block Grant funding that allows states to help 23 million children, seniors and disabled Americans live independently and out of poverty.

No segment of the population is immune from the pain of this Republican plan – except maybe millionaires, billionaires and wealthy corporations.

The Republican proposal cuts Meals on Wheels for seniors.

It reduces food assistance for 1.8 million needy people.

And it cuts off 280,000 kids from free school lunches at a time when one in five children lives in poverty.

That’s why the U.S. Conference of Catholic of Bishops said the Republican plan fails a “basic moral test.”

This budget sets very clear priorities. The problem is, they’re the wrong priorities.

President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”

Republicans would do well to remember our nation is judged not only by the strength of its military, but also by the strength of its values.

WATCH THE NEW VIDEO:
Grover Norquist, The Man Who Really Runs the GOP HERE

DECLARING VICTORY: WITH THE SUPER COMMITTEE DECLARING AN IMPASSE, NORQUIST IS TOUTING HIS TREMENDOUS POWER OVER REPUBLICANS ON TAXES

November 20: As The Super Committee Nears Impasse, Norquist Is Bragging About His Influence Over The Republican Stance On Taxes. “Grover Norquist has collected pledges from many Republicans that they will not vote for a hike of any kind. In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s ‘60 Minutes,’ the head of the Americans for Tax Reform makes it clear he’s proud of his role firing up anti-tax fervor in Washington. ‘The Republicans won’t raise your taxes. We haven’t had a Republican vote for an income tax increase since 1990,’ he told Steve Kroft. When asked by Kroft if that were his doing, Norquist said, ‘I helped. Yeah’ … Norquist reiterated that he wants to starve the beast, reducing tax revenue so that the size of the federal government shrinks. ‘I intend to win. I intend to be part of the whole effort to crush the other team,’ Norquist said.” [Politico, 11/21/11]

Wall Street Journal: “Thank You, Grover Norquist.” [11/22/11]

WHEN SUPER COMMITTEE MEMBER JON KYL LOOKED LIKE HE MIGHT BE OPEN TO DEFYING THE PLEDGE AND INCLUDING SOME REVENUES, NORQUIST “YANKED” THE “WANDERING LEADER BACK INTO LINE.”

November 11: Politico: Norquist “Yanked” Senator Kyl “Back Into Line” When It Looked Like He Might Go Against His Pledge. “Sometimes, he said, he has to yank a wandering leader back into line, as he said he did with Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) in May. Kyl publicly ruled out raising tax rates to bring in revenue, which was interpreted by some observers as leaving the door open to a variety of tax increases that wouldn’t involve rate changes.  ‘So, I call Kyl. ‘What did you say? What did you mean? How can we work together on this?’ Norquist said, adopting the tone of a teacher scolding a second grader as he recalled the conversation.  ‘Yes, I said rates,’ Kyl said, as Norquist recalled.  ‘And then,’ Norquist said, ‘he went down on the floor, and he gave a colloquy about how we’re against any tax increases of any sort. Boom!’” [Politico, 11/9/11]

WHEN REPUBLICANS ON THE SUPER COMMITTEE PRETENDED TO PUT REVNUES ON THE TABLE, NORQUIST MADE SURE EVERYONE KNEW IT WAS JUST “A UNICORN,” “NOT WRITTEN DOWN,” “A NEGOTIATING POSITION” – AND THAT HE WOULD NEVER LET IT ACTUALLY GO ANYWHERE

November 15: Norquist Said Republican Revenue Offer Was Just “A Negotiating Position … They’re Not Going To Be Passing Any Tax Increases” “It’s not written down. It’s a negotiating position. It won’t pass the House or the Senate. I’ve talked to the House leadership and the Senate leadership. They’re not going to be passing any tax increases.” [The Hill, 11/15/11]

November 16: Norquist Made It Clear That If Democrats DID Accept Toomey’s Phony Offer, He’d Pressure Them To Renege. “In an interview, Norquist said that Republicans have no intention of raising taxes, and that their decision to show ‘a little ankle’ on taxes in their latest offer was merely a ploy to prove that Democrats would not endorse structural changes to Medicare and Medicaid. Norquist acknowledged that the GOP tax plan is ‘problematic,’ however, and said he would have pushed Republicans to rescind the offer if Democrats had accepted it.” [Washington Post, 11/16/11 (emphasis added)]

November 18: Norquist Absolved Toomey For Including Otherwise “Poisonous” Revenue Increases In His Phony Proposal; “As A Negotiating Position … It Was Not Treason.” “Norquist’s group, Americans for Tax Reform, is responsible for the anti-tax pledge signed by nearly every Republican in Congress. But while he panned the tax hikes in the Toomey plan, Norquist viewed the blueprint merely as a ‘negotiating position’ to lure Democrats closer to real tax reform. ‘If it was the final bill, it would be poison for taxpayers, tea party supporters and Republicans,’ Norquist said in an email. ‘As a negotiating position to bring Democrats toward tax reform, it was not treason.’”  [Politico, 11/18/11]

NOT CONTENT TO SIMPLY DECLARE VICTORY, NORQUIST WAS SURE TO REMIND REPUBLICANS WHY THEY’RE ALL TOO SCARED TO DEFY HIM

November 20: Norquist Said He Works To Encourage Republicans Who Vote For Tax Increases “To Go Into Another Line of Work,” Called Them “Rat Heads In A Coke Bottle.”

NORQUIST: Republicans who vote for a tax increase are rat heads in a Coke bottle. They damage the brand for everyone else […]

KROFT: You make it pretty clear. If someone breaks the pledge, you’re gonna do everything you can to get rid of them.

NORQUIST: To educate the voters that they raise taxes. And again, we educate people–

KROFT: To get rid of them.

NORQUIST: To encourage them to go into another line of work, like shoplifting or bank robbing, where they have to do their own stealing. [CBS, 11/20/11]

November 21: Norquist Reiterated His Threat To “Go After” Republicans Who Broke His Pledge.

QUESTION: “But you go after these elected officials with all the money because there is a lot of very powerful people who donate to your cause. You go after these elected officials and you make sure they are not elected again. You do.”

NORQUIST: “Well, If somebody takes the pledge not to raise taxes and were to break it, we would certainly inform voters what they have done.” [CNN, 11/21/11]

IN THE END, IT’S CLEAR THE FIX WAS IN FROM THE BEGINNING, SINCE ALL 6 GOP MEMBERS SIGNED HIS PLEDGE

August 11: Norquist Blessed GOP Appointees To Super Committee, Saying They Were All “Taxpayer Friendly” And Had Signed His Pledge. “All the Republican appointees are ‘taxpayer friendly,’ said anti-tax activist Grover Norquist. They’ve all signed his pledge not to raise taxes — which was a key obstacle in the various failed plans to raise the debt ceiling.” [USA Today, 8/11/11]