Norquist: ‘The Economy’s In The Present State’ Because Democrats Took Control Of Congress In 2006»

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/25/norquist-crisis-dems/

Norquist: ‘The Economy’s In The Present State’ Because Democrats Took Control Of Congress In 2006»

On CNBC this morning, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist claimed that the current financial crisis facing America is rooted in the fact that Democrats took control of the House and Senate in 2006. “The economy’s in the present state because when the Democrats took the House and Senate in 2006, you knew that those tax increases were going to come in 2010,” said Norquist.

According to Norquist, the stock market collapsed because “we’re in the middle of responding” to tax increases that haven’t actually happened yet:

NORQUIST: Well, the economy’s in the present state because when the Democrats took the House and Senate in 2006, you knew that those tax increases were going to come in 2010. The stock market began to collapse as soon as you recognized that those old tax rates were coming back. So, we’re in the middle of responding to those tax increases.

David Sirota, who was on the CNBC show as well, notes that Norquist’s absurd argument was laughed at and immediately rejected by the host and the other guests on the show. The Financial Times’ Chrystia Freeland pointed out that “the stock market is collapsing because the U.S. and global financial system is in crisis.”

Watch it/read transcript at link~

Though economists might disagree over what the exact causes of the financial crisis are, Norquist’s assertion is laughable. Indeed, if he wants to find a real culprit, he should look at the Bush administration’s utter failure to supervise our mortgage, lending and financial markets properly while also ignoring the ailing U.S. housing market.

[Deja Q]

1. Isn't he the same Grover who wanted the US economy to drown in a bathtub or something?

[BeyondGeography]

3. No; it was government...now he's the one who has been downsized to bathtub-friendly proportions

Not that he realizes it or anything.

[yellowcanine]

27. So does Grover drown himself in the tub?

[babylonsister]

5. Yes...

http://www.culturekitchen.com/mole333/blog/drowning_america_in_a_bathtub_the_gingrich_doct

Grover Norquist, one of the darlings of the extreme rightwing, Gingrich/Bush/McCain branch of the Republican party, once said, "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." This statement has been the basis of Republican policy. Norquist went into more detail:

"Cutting the government in half in one generation is both an ambitious and reasonable goal," Norquist stated in May 2000. "If we work hard we will accomplish this and more by 2025. Then the conservative movement can set a new goal. I have a recommendation: To cut government in half again by 2050"

[lob1]

2. What? I thought it was Clinton's fault.

[Uncle Joe]

4. The economy is in it's present state

because Grover Norquist's daddy didn't believe in withdrawal.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

6. Norquist is to blame.

His philosophy is what the current group of criminals have been operating under for eight years. Of course you'd have to be a man to admit it, but Grover lacks any qualifications of manhood so why bother expecting anything less tan this.

[malaise]

7. Grover is looking some media attention

No doubt CSpin will welcome him tomorrow morning.

Hey Grover, go drown yourself in your bathtub. You lost - your model is dead -get the fuck over it.

[marmar]

8. Not even a nice try, Grover.....Nobody bought it - witness the further Repug slaughter in Nov.

Now go find a bathtub and drown in it. Or more appropriately, go find a toilet and flush yourself down.

[RainDog]

9. why is Norquist on tv spouting this nonsense? why does tv give him an audience?

isn't it incredibly irresponsible on their part for major news networks to feature Norquist as anyone who has anything to say of value when he obviously lies out his ass on every occasion (or, conversely, he is so stupid he cannot think critically.)

honestly - don't the networks contribute to the economic problems by putting someone like this on tv as tho he is reputable? where is thier sense of responsibility toward the public trust? where is their sense of responsibility to the public forum - a place in which political game playing should be put aside, it would seem to me, in the fact of the enormous crisis we face.

they were more than willing to put generals on tv who lied about the war. they were more than willing to censor themselves about the actual events surrounding the war. now they are more than willing to allow a political ideologue who is responsible for much of the problems we now face to try to put the blame on others.

just one more reason the major news networks continue to lose validity in the eyes of audience members who are aware of events over the last 8-plus years.

[Crunchy Frog]

23. They're owned by the same corporations that own Grover.

[Johonny]

10. Norquist’s absurd argument was laughed at

So he's now comedy relief... good

[Bolo Boffin]

11. So by this logic, the recession in 2000 which began before Bush took office...

...occurred because the market was anticipating the Bush tax cuts.

Right?

[donco6]

12. Oh, it doesn't work that way because . . .

. . . uh . . . because . . . it just doesn't.

:sarcasm:

[fascisthunter]

13. I Want Grover to Be Investigated for Conspiracy to Defraud Americans...

and rip off our treasury. This fucker is part of the very cult that decided to "shrink" this government by putting it into debt.


His own fucking words:

"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years," he says, "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010514/dreyfuss

What does he know about the very crisis this country is on, because it sure as hell looks like this piece of filth was a part of it.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. While I Agree He's A Fraud. . . .

. . .and has been paid as if he an expert in something, that's the fraud he's perpetrated.

He's been investigated by the press. He's not worth anything. He's got a negative net worth.

He's a ridiculous idealogue who isn't even making the money he is helping to steal. He's a fraud, and an accomplice to a trillion dollar theft, and he's getting none of it.

A bad person. A complete fake. And stupid.
The Professor

[fascisthunter]

19. "an accomplice to a trillion dollar theft"

exactly..

I know you are right... he is "nothing". I'm positive there are plenty of bigger fish to hold accountable, but he seemed to know quite a bit about a plan to bankrupt this nation and cause economic ripples across the globe. If these people are never to be held accountable, we will remain victims to their actions and we will be forced to pay taxes to pay off the debt they created.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. A Useful Idiot

A buffoon who was actually committed to his laughable ideas that could provide an ideological smokescreen while others were getting rich.

The perfect dupe for those folks.
GAC

[Earth_First]

14. Of course Norquists' ties to the banking lobby has nothing to do with this... n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Grover, Your Time Is Up

Nobody is listening to him anymore. He is now an anachronism. In 12 months nobody will remember his name. (Although some court of law ought to be remembering it when they sentence him 20 years for fraud.)
The Professor

[charlie]

17. If no one else, the mouthbreathers are running with it

I've seen this same "argument" long before Norquist many times on other boards, boards not remotely dedicated to politics. It's plain and simple enough for morons to grasp -- Democrats showed up, things went to shit. The timing is undeniable and that's good enough for dittohead nation.

[biscotti]

18. He is such a lowly whinny hypocritical worm.

Wish he would just go home to MaMa but I shouldn't wish that on her or anyone else.

[Dawgs]

21. The Democrats didn't take control of either house until 2007, so that's one lie.

The other lie is even more obvious.

[Crunchy Frog]

22. And what exactly could the Democrats do that Bush couldn't stop?

:shrug:

Oh, and the "old tax rates" that they had under Clinton that the stock market hated so much. And it's why the stock market reached its highest point ever in October of '07. :crazy:

They will say absolutely anything to maintain their delusions.

[TygrBright]

24. Waitaminnit, I'm confused... I thought it was the Clenis?!?

Why are they changing the narrative now?

bewilderedly,
Bright

[surrealAmerican]

25. He's incoherent.

They should take him off the air.
If he's looking for a cause to the current crisis, he can find it in any mirror.

[applegrove]

26. They cannot let the truth stand. They have to start the phony myth-making right away.

[bemildred]

28. "The dog ate my homework."

:rofl::rofl:

[kentuck]

29. Two months ago...

when gasoline was $4.00 a gallon, they were blaming it on the Democrats. Now that gasoline is 1.43 in some places, is that the Democrats "fault" also? :-)

[Kingofalldems]

30. I love that story

[StreetKnowledge]

31. Norquist = GOP shill

Not much else needs to be said.

Tax raises are a NECCESSITY now, whether the GOP like it or not. the US carries such debts that the tax rates will have to grw dramatically in the next two decades, or the country will become insolvent. Whose fault is that? Not the Democrats. Our President got the budgets balanced. Yours turned that into a trillion-dollar deficit. And who does a better job managing the economy?

[LuckyTheDog]

32. Well, in his defense

Grover Norquist IS a lying piece of shit.

[XOKCowboy]

33. In the words of KO - Grover you're irrelevant!

With you're "bathtub" quote you're more irrelevant than even Kristol. Putz.