The Norquist Pamphlet

Grover Norquist is the worst person that serious people take seriously. He has looked earnestly at cameras for thirty years and lied to the American people, and his hands are caked in the blood of his association with the murderous weapons lobby. There are plenty of libertarian “intellectuals” who are destroying our civil society; Norquist is the worst of the worst.

Norquist had slipped from my mind until Monday morning, when I saw him interviewed on CNBC. It’s a bad morning when I’m stuck on the treadmill near CNBC rather than in my sweet spot between ESPN and MSNBC. If the only treadmill is under the television tuned to Fox News, it’s time to skip the workout.

Norquist was engaging in rhetorical gymnastics to explain how a tax bill that raises taxes on all but the rich could meet his sanctified taxpayer pledge. For those unfamiliar, Norquist’s stupid pledge, blindly agreed to by idiot Republican lawmakers, pledges them to “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.”

Such absolutism is stupid in any time but it’s dangerous in a time like this when our politics are in crisis. It’s deeply responsible for the polarization that the far right has caused, where compromise is the only greater enemy than Democrats.

At least, however, it could be said that Norquist stood for something. A stupid, unenforceable, counterproductive libertarian something, but something. But of course, the current tax debate has proved that was all a lie. It is now clear that the tax plan would ultimately raise taxes on the middle class in order to provide a huge, permanent tax cut to the idle, filthy rich and powerful corporations. The plan guts deductions that help middle class families: state and local income, student loan, and health care cost deductions. The plan’s repeal of the Affordable Care Act mandate will also result in higher premiums for middle class families. Any way you cut it, the plan is an immoral punch in the face of the middle class.

But at least it exposes Norquist or who he is. The universality of the pledge made it seem like this weasel in human form was fighting for taxpayers across the board. When it came time for his partners to make policy, however, there were inevitably winners and losers. Norquist gladly endorsed the rich and powerful being the undisputed winners and is absent any concern about the middle class getting walloped.

What had me incensed during the CNBC interview was Norquist’s defense of limiting the state and local income tax deduction. Sun Tzu would be proud of how this policy punishes the middle class in blue states. But Norquist claimed that taxes are high in those states because of the inefficiency of those state’s governors and the corruption of big city mayors. I’d love to hear Norquist say that to the face of Chris Christie and Mike Bloomberg. But I’m sure that slimy weasel has never confronted a man to his face in his miserable life. Norquist further claimed that blue states use the SALT deduction to mooch off other states. Yes, the man really said something to that effect.

Taxes are higher in blue states because we have decided to invest in the future through education, environmental protection, health care, infrastructure, fair wages, and public safety. That’s why we are the states that produce the most revenue and in turn fund the federal budget needs of the red states that actually mooch off of blue states. New Jersey, New York, and California fund the budget needs of West Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and Norquist, our crusader for fairness, is endorsing changes that would make things even worse.

Thus, Norquist and his libertarian friends are revealed for what they are: servants of a sick philosophy that ultimately serves to transfer even greater wealth and influence to the already supremely rich and powerful. The ruse is up and there’s no pretending again.

This would be enough for a fairly damning obituary, but Norquist is an overachiever in the field of public policy villainy. Norquist remains a board member of the National Rifle Association, which represents libertarianism in its purest form: protect any restraints on my hobby no matter how many people die as a result. Nine in ten Americans want full background checks to stem the carnage from mass shootings that seem to happen on a biweekly basis, but Norquist and his fellow NRA absolutists will never give ground to common sense. With every mass shooting, his hands are further caked in blood, as are those of every member of the leadership of that despicably evil organization. May they someday be judged as they deserve.

Libertarianism remains ascendant in DC policy. Norquist is part of a triumvirate of libertarians who act to crush the public interest, whether it’s in tax policy or the removal of sensible regulations that protect the public. Libertarianism is the cancer that is destroying our civil society. Its worship f naked self interest led us to Trump, and it is the greatest threat to our republic today.

I will make it my goal for the remainder of my public-facing life to tell the true story of libertarianism and reveal its advocates for what they are. They are enemies of the middle class, and they must be stopped. Grover, we are coming for you, so wipe that smug smile off your face.