To the editor:
Who is Grover Norquist?
He has made himself the self-anointed king of the American people. As ruler, he brings fiscal danger to America along with John Boehner and Mitch McConnell.
Unbelievably, the power of Grover Norquist looms over the negotiations as we face the fiscal cliff. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Republicans have signed his no-tax pledge That is to say, they have pledged never to raise taxes on corporations and the top two percent of wealthy Americans.
Norquist started Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) in 1985. The object of this organization was to promotes smaller government by reducing revenue as a proportion of the GDP. To achieve his goal, Norquist devised the Taxpayers Protection Pledge, which was signed by virtually every Republican politician. Five of the six Republican presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney, signed his no-tax pledge, along with 238 out of 242 Republican members of Congress and 41 of 47 GOP Senators.
Part of the runaway national debt is due to the Bush tax cuts, plus two wars, and the refusal of Republicans to raise revenue to pay for the heightened military spending. As we approach the fiscal cliff while drowning in debt, recalcitrant Republicans remain unwilling to increase taxes. on the super-rich and corporations. President Obama was elected because on his insistence that taxes be raised on the top two percent; obviously the American people agreed.
Norquist thinks that government should be smaller, but he is dead wrong. Only 1.8 million civilians work for the federal government. The federal work force should be increased to at least 3.5 million (from 1.8 million) in order to achieve the primary goal of protecting the American people from harm both foreign and domestic.
Norquist and the Republican Party not only refuse to cut taxes for the richest Americans, but also want to deregulate everything, allow Wall Street investment bankers to make billions of dollars, wage unnecessary wars, and do away with Medicaid while privatizing Medicare and Social Security.
The super-rich and corporations must be taxed at 39.6 percent, which is entirely reasonable and a far cry from President Eisenhower’s 90%. All corporate welfare must be cut; the nation’s largest percentage of welfare money goes to corporations.Last year, they received 150 billion dollars in welfare.
Allow the rich and the corporations a tax holiday if they bring back the offshore money they have hidden in tax havens. Charge a tax of only 25 percent on the present 4 trillion dollars in their accounts. Cut the military and defense budget by at least one-fourth and end the war in Afghanistan.
The Republican Party being led by Norquist, Boehner and McConnell must be stopped. The best way to stop them is through election or, in the case of Grover Norquist, Republicans not adhering to his ridiculous pledge.
President Obama must be allowed to move forward, keeping America fiscally strong and thus creating American jobs and building a strong economy. These are the promises made to the American people during his campaign for a second term and these are the promises President Obama will be able to fulfill.
The Republican Party is in danger of becoming irrelevant because of their extreme right wing views and their insistence of complying with the tax pledge of Grover Norquist.
Joseph Tenore
Hillsborough

