GOP lawmakers want out of tax pledge

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill

Grover Norquist’s grip on the House Republican Conference is loosening.

A growing number of GOP lawmakers have disavowed Norquist’s pledge against supporting tax increases in recent days, telling The Hill they no longer feel bound to uphold a document that they signed, in some cases, more than a decade ago.

Norquist’s advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, lists 238 House signers of its Taxpayer Protection Pledge, but several House Republicans, and at least one Democrat, now say the anti-tax group is being deceptive and want their names taken off the list.

“I haven’t signed it since 1994,” Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) said, explaining that he didn’t even remember endorsing the pledge until Americans for Tax Reform produced the original document earlier this year.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/192529-house-gop-lawmakers-want-out-of-tax-pledge

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Perhaps yesterday's election results were a bad thing? It might have scared some of the Republicans into appearing reasonable...

[DJ13]

1. .....and at least one Democrat

:banghead:

[Angry Dragon]

7. NE-Ben Nelson NJ-Robert Andrews KY-Ben Chandler

[roguevalley]

17. awesome list. Makes it easier for people to see who to vote out of

office. :)

[KansDem]

2. Perhaps the Norquist Taxpayer Protection Pledge should be reduced to a size...

...that it can be dragged into a bathroom and drowned in the bathtub.

[RKP5637]

4. And then flushed down the toilet with the rest of the sewerage. n/t

[roguevalley]

18. Kansdem and RKP, you are so damned funny! LOL! I needed that.

[Thor_MN]

20. Bath tub is too good for Grover... An unflushed toilet is more suitable.

[wordpix]

24. Grover the Groveler has to keep the Kocheads supplied with their fixe$$

[Cognitive_Resonance]

3. The way they get out of the pledge is by way of the ballot box in 2012. Flush them all! nt

[valerief]

5. They made their bed. They can restore their dignity by resigning from office and

letting a REAL representative take over.

[arcane1]

6. Now that's some bad PR!

They can't be trusted to keep their solemn vows! They're flip-floppers! Etc etc etc

:rofl:

[tridim]

8. WTF? Do they think a pledge is an official document? Do they think it's law?

These people are morons.

Just tell Norquist to go fuck himself, it's not hard.

[xxqqqzme]

10. After I registered as an assembly candidate

in the '10 election, one of the very first campaign mailers, I got was that 'pledge', a form letter from the norquist telling me why I should sign and return it. The only rethug in the CA legislature that year who had not signed it was steroid boy. If a rethug had not signed it, there was no money/support coming from the party.

[dotymed]

15. Tell them you switched from pledge to endust. n/t

[russspeakeasy]

9. Asshats...let them resign....and collect their retirement bennies..

or better yet, they can go live with grover...

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

11. all they have to do is say that the oath of office is obviously More important.

[louis-t]

12. How hard is it to get out of? It's not legally binding.

Just some dumbass who wants repugs to take an oath to him before taking an oath to the country. Did I mention he's a dumbass?

[wordpix]

22. It's very hard to get out of since repugs want the legalized bribes known as campaign donations

and they want the most they can get.

[dtexdem]

13. But they promised! Let's face it: the only honest way to get out of the pledge would be ...

to resign from Congress.

;-)

[dotymed]

14. A new document...I refuse any corporate or "bundled" money

or any lobbying or finance job after I am no longer a member of the U.S. government.

[RoboNerd]

16. Where do your loyalties lie, Congressman/Senator?

Here is the Oath of Office that I took, as did every member of Congress prior to assuming office. I don't remember Norquist's black book having precedent over it in our Constitution...

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.

Perhaps these gentlemen are beginning to remember where their loyalties are supposed to lie -- but I seriously doubt it. They are just feeling the change in the political winds.

Clarification: I am a Federal employee; we take the same Oath as Congress.

[wordpix]

23. loyalties obviously lie with the money/legalized bribes

[gratuitous]

19. Rep. LaTourette's word is no good, and we've known that for some time

He came in with the Republican "landslide" of 1994, partly on the strength of signing one of those term limits promises. Remember those? Oh, it was the ruination of the country that some people kept getting returned to Congress for term after term! We had to have a constitutional amendment limiting the number of terms anyone could serve. For those of you keeping score at home, Steven LaTourette is on his 10th term. Apparently, he's different, and Washington would just fall apart if not for his presence.

Now that Republicans have become permanent fixtures in Washington, you don't hear too much about term limits anymore. Should I color anyone shocked?

[wordpix]

21. these asshats should not be allowed to use public hwys, rails, airports, bridges, museums, parks...

or any public buildings including the Capitol. Let them build their own and maintain them since they don't see the need for taxes, government or the common good.

[Scuba]

25. In 2012 we need to make a whole bunch of Republican lawmaker unemployed. n/t

[socialist_n_TN]

26. Y'all do realize that the only reason they want out now

is so they can raise taxes and cut deductions in the tax code that the working class uses. Y'all do realize that, right? IF they can't raise taxes on the working class, they can't fund their MIC which keeps their system's imperialism going.

Even if they are let out of the pledge, you won't see them raise taxes on the 1%. No, the taxes they'll raise will be on the rest of us.