Mitt Romney gave them the idea. The fiscal cliff lent them urgency. The election bought them momentum.

Here are supposedly the 60 most powerful words in all of politics:



I, ___ , pledge to the taxpayers of the district of the state of ___ and to the American people that I will: One, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses; and Two, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.

Washington calls it The Pledge. Republicans call it common sense. Democrats call it somewhat more unprintable things. Written by Grover Norquist and signed by all but 22 elected Republicans on Capitol Hill today, it is a simple promise to never, ever raise taxes. And, since 1990, Republicans on Capitol Hill never, ever have.



When President Bill Clinton raised taxes in his first year in office, he received exactly zero Republican votes. The Pledge had build a steel curtain between the tax raisers and the GOP. Four years later, Clinton cut investment taxes. Four years after that, President George W. Bush cut taxes again. And then again. We've never raised them since.

But in the wake of President Obama's victory last Tuesday, Norquist's steel fortress is creaking. The White House insists that there will be no deal to avoid the fiscal cliff unless taxes go up for the richest slice of American households. House Speaker John Boehner has responded that he would be willing to accept new revenue "under the right conditions," although he has also stated flatly that "there is no mandate for raising tax rates."

