Who are these Republicans? TPM has provided a list of seven key Republicans who have broken with the Tax Troll. Let's take a look:

Tom Coburn: The Senator from Oklahoma, long known as someone who marches to the beat of his own drums, party be damned, has been a long-time foe of Norquist and has openly declared his support for tax hikes on the wealthiest. He also wrote a NY Times op-ed in July called "Norquist's Phantom Army" that referred to Norquist as a "boogeyman" standing in the way of real progress.

Lindsey Graham: Despite the looming threat of a primary challenge in 2014, Graham (who has signed Norquist's pledge) is also disavowing the pledge and calling for more revenue. Of course, being the little weasel he is, he's calling for closing tax loopholes to get said revenue, not tax hikes, along with entitlement cuts. Still, progress of sorts.

John McCain: Going along with Graham (the Larry Fine to his Moe Howard), McCain has also come out in favor of increasing revenue by closing loopholes (again, the weasel approach). While not pointedly addressing Norquist's pledge, his remarks do signal a break with them.

Jeff Flake: The recently elected Arizona Senator denied signing Norquist's pledge during the campaign (though he actually had...liar) and had this to say:



"The only pledge I'd sign is a pledge to sign no more pledges."

"A pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that Congress. For instance, if I were in Congress in 1941, I would have signed a - have supported a declaration of war against Japan. I'm not going to attack Japan today."

"For heaven's sake, you have Grover Norquist wandering the earth in his white robes saying that if you raise taxes one penny, he'll defeat you," he added. "He can't murder you. He can't burn your house. The only thing he can do to you, as an elected official, if defeat you for reelection. And if that means more to you than your country when we need patriots to come out in a situation when we're in extremity, you shouldn't even be in Congress.

"I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge," Chambliss says. "If he do it his way then we'll continue in debt and I just have a disagreement with him about that."

Does Chambliss think Norquist will hold the anti-tax pledge against him during his next re-election bid in 2014? Yes. "But I don't worry about that because I care too much about my country. I care a lot more about it than I do Grover Norquist," Chambliss says.

"The rigidity of those pledges is something I don't like," Bush said. "The circumstances change and you can't be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist. It's - who the hell is Grover Norquist, anyway?"

: The bilbilous House Homeland Security Committee chair and leading Muslim boogeyman paranoiac doesn't seem nearly as afraid of the boogeyman named Grover, calling his pledge "outdated:" : The former Wyoming Senator and co-chair of Simpson-Bowles has long been a vocal opponent of Norquist and as usual has used a rather strong choice of words in urging Republicans to stop quaking in fear of the Tax Troll:: In perhaps the most ominous sign for Grover, the reliably conservative Georgia Senator has openly broken with Norquist and is unapolgetic about it:This is notable, because, as I wrote about a few days ago , Chambliss is already facing the likely threat of a primary challenge in 2014 and crossing the Tax Troll all but assures it. But he doesn't seen concerned by it:And as an added note, who can forget what, who famously earned Grover's eternal ire by violating his "no new taxes" pledge while in office, had this to say about Norquist and his pledge:Who the hell indeed?

Now, Grover being Grover, he's not taking this lying down, appearing on CNN today to bluster and boast that no one who has signed his pledge has ever voted for a tax increase and specifically calling out King for his comments, saying when you sign the pledge, you adhere to it for as long as you're in Congress. (I'm surprised Grover doesn't ask for their signature in blood.) But his threats don't seem to be working, as today Bob Corker joined the "Piss Off Grover" caucus and said he wasn't obligated by the pledge either.

Whatever the outcome, the mere possibility of Grover Norquist losing his suicidal death grip on the GOP is something we can all get behind. And one thing's for sure, it's going to be fun to watch. Prep the popcorn, folks. This could get very interesting.