America’s Newsmakers: Grover Norquist
The Americans for Tax Reform president sounds off on the economy and GOP campaign strategy.
Pajamas Media will be bringing you a series of newsmaker interviews with elected leaders and the people who shape policy, analyze the news, advise candidates, and help run political campaigns. We will ask them the questions we think you would want to ask. We invite all our readers to contribute ideas for people they would like to hear from and what they want to learn about the movers and shakers who drive politics.
To kick off our series we sat down with Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform and author of the much-acclaimed book Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government’s Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives.
Is the economy really in another Great Depression or are the Democrats and the mainstream media exaggerating our economic woes for political gain?
Norquist replies, “Well, we haven’t actually had a quarter of negative growth. We are not in a recession. That is two quarters of negative economic growth.” But he agrees, “The economy has slowed.” And he lays the blame largely at the feet of the Democratic Congress which, he reminds voters, enacted policies ranging from ethanol subsidies, which raised food prices, to expensive energy to refusal to extend the Bush tax cuts. Given all that, Norquist says, markets are “rationally anticipating a tax increase.” He cautions that if the Bush tax cuts expire the hit to the stock market and everyone who invests in it will be four trillion dollars. He says, “I would be surprised if the economy was not reacting poorly.” (After our interview, it was reported that in the final quarter of 2007 GDP contracted 0.2%.)
Should John McCain and GOP Congressional and Senate candidates be running against the “do-nothing” Congress like Harry Truman did in 1948?
Norquist responds instantaneously, “It not just ‘do-nothing.’ They have damaged the economy.” He points specifically to the failure to extend the Bush tax cuts. As for the McCain campaign, Norquist grows animated and says that it is foolhardy for McCain to focus so heavily on Iraq as his and Barack Obama’s positions have converged on the future withdrawal of troops. He asks, “How do you win an election on that? If you say, ‘But I had a better position two years ago,’ then he [Obama] says, ‘I had a better position five years ago.’ You are not going to win by being smarter two or five years ago.”
What should McCain be running on?
Norquist says that it is on the economy where McCain “can crush Obama.” Norquist says, “Obama has twenty-five positions. Every one of them will make your 401k smaller. He does not have an economic position to increase growth.” He says that you “may be one of the lucky few” who benefit from his income redistribution plans, but his plans to hike a wide array of taxes won’t increase growth and jobs. As for McCain, Norquist says “McCain has twenty-five ideas, twenty-four of which will make your 401k bigger.” The exception, says Norquist, is his “on again, off again” plan to limit global warming.
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Jennifer Rubin is PJM's Washington, DC, editor. She also blogs at Commentary’s Contentions.
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8 Comments
1. Thomas Paine:Jennifer, you forgot to ask Grover how well he sleeps on his mattress of jihadist cash. Or how convicted Al-Qaeda fundraising kingpin Abdurahman Alamoudi bankrolled Grover’$ Islamic Institute to buy Alamoudi’s way into DC (along with his various friends, including convicted Palestinian Islamic Jihad US head Sami Al-Arian). As has been documented by the St. Petersburg Times, the Virginian-Pilot, Frank Gaffney (“A Troubling Influence”), Paul Sperry (“Norquist’s Muslim Protégés”) and others, Grover Norqui$t is personally responsible for the greatest infiltration of Islamic extremists into the US government than any other individual. Faisal M. Gill, Khaled A. Saffuri, Kamal M. Nawash, David Hossein Safavian (convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal), Suhail Khan.
Thanks Grover Norqui$t for selling you country to our enemies so you could renovate your condo!
Aug 13, 2008 - 6:07 am 2. Thalpy:Ms. Rubin, it would be interesting to hear Mr. Norquist’s response to substantive questions about the jihad in America. The issues have been raised, they should be addressed. If Mr. Norquest is unwilling, or if he places restrictions on interview questions, he should not be given a platform.
Mr. Norquest suggests that Senator McCain can “crush Obama ” on the economy, but he
Aug 13, 2008 - 7:30 am 3. RE:could “crush Obama” on national security as well, even though Senator McCain is terribly weak on immigration. At least McCain doesn’t favor Obama’s position of unilateral disarmament! Perhaps you could interview Mr. Norquist again, emphasizing national security.
Mr Norquist makes sense on taxes and government spending, but I too am uncomfortable with Mr. Norquist’s islamist apologetics.
Aug 13, 2008 - 8:39 am 4. David Thomson:“…even though Senator McCain is terribly weak on immigration.”
You are exaggerating. John McCain is weak on immigration—but not terribly so. He still advocates the control of our borders before anything else. Barack Obama is far worse on this issue. He would open the food gates to help Democrats win future elections. McCain deserves a C- while Obama earns a F.
Aug 13, 2008 - 9:08 am 5. Sandra M:Is Grover Norquist for a flat tax? The article doesn’t say. And the comments on his connections with Jihadists disturb me as Obama’s connections with convicted crook, Tony Rezko, a Syrian. and by extension, with problematic Middle East connections.
Aug 13, 2008 - 10:41 am 6. Moriah Steiner:Jennifer:
No questions about Islamism for Grover Norquist?Shame on you for ignoring the elephant in the room. What’s the matter, cat got your tongue or has Pajamas Media folded to the spector of Political Correctness?
Aug 13, 2008 - 10:45 am 7. Self-hating boomer:Interesting that he didn’t say diddly about energy. That supports what others are saying about this guy’s islamist connections.
It’s the price of gas, stupid. Not tax gimmicks. Drill here, not in his paymasters’ country.
Aug 13, 2008 - 3:01 pm 8. Morton Doodslag:Ms. Rubin, your failure to drill Mr. Norquist on his notorious Islamist connections shocks me, as it clearly does for other readers of PJM. His undeniable connections to Islam are not exactly a secret, yet you appear, (just as the MSM) to be participating in a bizarre whitewashing at all costs of Islam and apologists for Islam. Why does PJM act like the MSM in this regard? Isn’t PJM’s raison d’etre supposedly to counter the group-think and constant apologetics for radical leftism, Islam, and fascism in general, which has become emblematic of our corrupt media in America?
In my opinion, Mr. Norquist is a dangerous menace to the security of America, serving as he does as a high-ranking Islamic stooge in right-wing power circles. I believe his role in the continuing obfuscation of Islam’s centrality in all the Jihad nightmares unleashed by the Islamic world borders on treason. He, along with the growing list of other possible traitors, traitors who are pigging out at the trough of Islamic loot have sold us to our worst enemies. Surely a probing question or two on the subject is warranted? Or does Grover Norquist set the agenda and tell you what you can and can’t discuss? If so, then your readers deserve to know that he has controlled the nature of your questioning in that regard as well. Or is PJM in the business of making Eason Jordon-type deals with our enemies?
Aug 14, 2008 - 8:40 am