November 3rd, 2011
Posted by CNN Congressional Producer Deirdre Walsh
Boehner calls anti-tax crusader Norquist 'some random person'
Washington (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner downplayed the influence of Washington's most notable anti-tax crusader, calling Grover Norquist "some random person" at his weekly press conference Thursday. Asked about Norquist, who heads the powerful Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) group, Boehner said, "it's not often I'm asked about some random person in America and what I think."
When pressed again about Norquist's sway over the House GOP, the speaker said he was focused squarely on creating jobs, not talking "about somebody's personality." But Boehner stressed the GOP stance on taxes, saying "our conference is opposed to tax hikes because we believe that tax hikes will hurt our economy and put Americans out of work." Norquist's group urges members of Congress each session to sign a pledge to their constituents that they will not vote for any tax increases. With the "super committee" now less than three weeks from its deadline for voting on a plan to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the deficit there is increased focus on the anti-tax promise, and whether there will be political fallout for those who consider breaking it. It's unclear whether some options under discussion, such as closing corporate loopholes, would be interpreted as being in conflict with ATR's pledge. Asked about the inclusion of revenues in a debt plan at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Norquist said he supported getting rid of the deductions added to the tax code as political deals. But he also warned against efforts to use the ending of special carve outs as "a Trojan horse for tax increases." Norquist added, "That's why the earlier efforts on increasing taxes on the energy sector to spend the money was a nonstarter. This is to clean up the code without turning it into a secret backdoor tax increase which is what too often what some people use tax reform to do." According to the ATR website 238 House members and 41 senators have signed its pledge, which reads, "I will: ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates." Just two House Democrats and one Senate Democrat signed the pledge in this session of Congress, and Congressional Democrats frequently argue that Norquist's pledge is the reason Republicans have been unwilling to compromise on the issue of tax increases as part of a big deal to slash the federal deficit. The House Democrats' campaign arm jumped on Boehner's comment, arguing it contradicted the House GOP's actions on tax policy. "It's laughable that after nearly every House Republican has signed away their ability to close tax loopholes for big oil and tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires in this special interest pledge, now Speaker Boehner thinks that its author is just a random person," said Jesse Ferguson, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Earlier this week former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson sarcastically referred to Norquist in his testimony before the "super committee," saying, "if Grover is now the most powerful man in America he should run for president. There is no question about his power and he has people enthralled." Simpson has repeatedly argued that tax revenues need to be paired with entitlement reforms in order to come up with a comprehensive deficit reduction package. South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune, when asked about the charge by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the GOP are "puppets" of Norquist, said GOP's opposition to tax increases is a philosophical tenet of the party. But Thune said he believed the GOP could support ending special tax loopholes if done in broader approach. "If you were able to come up with some reforms to our tax code that lower rates and broaden the tax base and get away with a lot of the lobbyist loopholes that riddle our tax code today, that you would see economic growth and that would generate more revenue. I don't think there's anybody on our side who is opposed to that," Thune said.
–CNN's Kate Bolduan, Ted Barrett, and Xuan Thai contributed to this report.
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Today is
Disingenuous, Is Equal To Lying
If you can Lie, you can cheat, if you can cheat,
you can steal
House Speaker John Boehner, describes Mr. Norquist as being a
* random person *.
Mr. Norquist is the person that have convince members of the republican party to sign a secret pledge..., to not raise taxes of any kind, a pledge that he created, and his presense in the halls suggests that he continues to influence the republicans to stand strong against the U.S. Citizens.
To convince a rep to sign a secret pledge, outside of the Oath of Office, that the rep pledge to uphold, when placing his or hand on a bible, swearing to act on the behalf of his constituency, suggests that a man, does have some true influence over the rep, and for Mr. Boehner to state that Mr. Norquist is "Some Random Person", places Mr. Boehner in a position of making "Misleading Statements", simi liar to the type of statements that Mr. Cain is having to explain, regarding his sexual harassment settlement.
House Leader Boehner signed this pledge that Mr. Norquist created, and got republicans to sign. The Link will display a article with all the reps that signed this *pledge*, each one of them ought to be convicted of fraud.
Thus, Mr. Boehner disposition that he displays in this video, is an example of a "Liar", he minimizes his knowledge of Mr. Norquist, when he knows Mr. Norquist very well..., well enough to be willing to add his signature to the exact pledge that agrees to refuse to vote for any tax increases of any kind, to include refusing to vote in favor of removing tax breaks for the rich that Bush signed into law 11 years ago.
For any "Elected Representative" to sign a pledge of any kind, outside of the Oath of Office, is a illegal act, and each member who signed the pledge, should be eradicate from office and tried for "fraud and perjury", associated with their sworn Oath of Office.
I'm not sure why I'm the only person who is seeing this "Pledge" for what it is, but, I certainly hope that someone of some influence, actually reads my article and take the required actions associated with investigating "fraud" by our political representatives.
Mr. Boehner, as leader of the house of representatives, disposition, with respect to responding to the question of whether or not Mr. Norquist's presence in the halls of the house of representatives, on this specific day, "was considered a positive", was that of a dismissive disposition, and he completely avoided the question asked, as if the reporter question was totally unknowing of the pledge that Mr. Norquist created that Mr. Boehner, himself, signed.
I construe Mr. Boehner's disposition and dismissive response to addressing the question regarding Mr. Norquist presence..., as a direct, and intentional refusal to acknowledge the significance of Mr. Norquist's impact on the entirety of the republican representation in the house of representatives.
Mr. Boehner's refusal to acknowledge the reporter's question is an example of the manner in which, our republican representatives, deny their actual knowledge,,, of specific knowledge,,, of *anyone or any information* that provide a direct negative influence to they 'er ability to be 100% representative of all possible considerations for the well being of the U.S. interests.
Take a look at the video, and observe Mr. Boehner's body language, and his refusal to acknowledge that *he knows Mr. Norquist personally*, and as you watch Mr. Boehner's response, understand that Mr. Boehner "is" a signer of Mr. Norquist pledge. Also note the snickering of his fellow republicans reps, that's called the "good old boy snicker", a snicker that says, "hell ya we know what the hell we are doing, but you can't do a darn thing about it baba".
I construe Mr. Boehner's representation as that of "MisRepresentation", and for me, I call Mr. Boehner a liar.
A Prime Example of who is leading this country, and a Prime Example of why this country is on the cusp of destruction. It's people like Mr. Boehner, whom are the problem with this country, not the government, because it's Mr. Boehner and the rest of the republicans who make decisions for the government, on the behalf of you and I.
In My Opinion
ASMFMB
11/4/11
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