Of Norquist and Newspeak

by Samuel Clemens

Anti-tax patriot Grover Norquist has found himself in the media spotlight again this week, after an uproar earlier in the 112th Congress over his Taxpayer Protection Pledge. And per usual, the government media continues to paint this issue in a negative light. But what is unusual (at least for on-the-surface politics) is that Republicans are seemingly leading the charge against the pledge and Norquist.

This week, a number of Republicans have admitted they would turn their backs on the taxpayers who elected them and consider raising taxes. New York Rep. Peter King, who has never done anything conservative during his entire career, stated “A pledge you signed 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that Congress,” and “the world has changed and the economic situation is different.”

Evidently Rep. King believes that it was “bad” to raise taxes in 1992, but now in 2012, economic laws have been overthrown by the wisdom of our central planners. (Of course, King also voted for the Wall Street bailout, noting the bailout was “necessary for the financial health of New York and his district.” Thanks for nothing, pal.)

Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss also admitted to being a Democrat, stating “If we do it his way, then we’ll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that.” Of course this explanation is pure nonsense: raising taxes will not do a thing about the debt. Chambliss clearly couldn’t think of a better excuse, and so he apparently just strung together several words in the hopes of producing a coherent sentence. He failed.

Perennial uber-liberal Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina shocked precisely no one when he admitted that he too is a fan of the big government Republicans claim to hate. Joining the fray most recently was Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, who laughingly adds “I’m not obligated on the pledge. I made Tennesseans aware I was just elected — the only thing that I’m honoring is the oath that I take when I’m sworn in this January.” (The now-banned Intrade has the prospects of Corker violating his oath to the Constitution approximately 60 seconds after taking said oath at 94 %.)

Most anyone who has been awake since Woodstock ’99 understands that there simply isn’t enough private property to steal to make up for a trillion-plus deficit and $16 trillion dollar debt. It’s not possible. No serious person argues that it is.

So what’s with the talk about helping the debt situation by raising a relatively (to the size and cost of government) tiny amount of revenue?

The most annoying thing about these attacks is this: Republicans who claim to be conservative have once again adopted the language of the left. The Taxpayer Protection Pledge isn’t taken to Norquist. Norquist doesn’t “run” anything or anyone. He simply provides a very important tool for voters: the promise that the candidate will not further steal from them to pay for a litany of immoral and unconstitutional government programs. I personally would not even consider voting for a candidate who did not promise to at the very least refrain from increasing the amount of money Washington steals from me to murder 16 year-old American boys in Yemen and give out free Obama phones. (Don’t even get me started on the Greedy Geezers.)

This brings me to a larger point: what most people fail to understand (including libertarians despite the correctness of the Inept Government argument) is that Washington is a very sophisticated Kabuki Theatre, only without the entertainment. Moves are planned well in advance, and all arguments are carefully orchestrated to appear as though they are spontaneous or naturally-occurring. They aren’t. (Honest Hill staffers and similarly situated politicos will attest to this.) The old song and dance about how this is a “new emergency” or “the world has changed” is the same canard they use every time they want to steal more of our money or liberty. But the arguments taking place are not real. Both sides agree that taxes will be raised and spending increased. Period.

But back to the point: nearly all Members of Congress – with a few notable exceptions like the Paul dynasty, Justin Amash, etc – are guilty of raising taxes, regardless of whether or not they oppose or support marginal tax rate increases. Debt is a tax… one to be paid now or later. The same “radical Tea Party” Republicans who scream about debt vote endlessly for it. We spent MORE money in 2012 than we did in 2011, with a “Tea Party” House of Representatives, from whence all spending bills originate.

Inflation is also a tax, and boy has there been a lot of it. Lord Keynes himself noted, “Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the Capitalist System was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some…There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.”

To their credit, House Republicans finally voted to pass the Audit the Fed bill, but what about all the years between 1913 and 2012?

In summation, run of the mill Republicans love the Welfare State just as much as the Democrats. They are going to raise your taxes, and they are not going to get any spending cuts in return. Incumbents have a 90% re-election rate. Now get off your ass and get rid of these clowns in 2014.