To end fiscal cliff, Norquist pledge needs to be broken
I hope I am not the only one on campus watching the fiscal cliff negotiations currently taking place in our nation’s capital with disgust and dismay. It seems that a surprisingly large portion of our nation’s congressional leaders have forgotten, or are choosing to disregard, the unequivocal message voters sent on Election Day less than a month ago: the wealthiest Americans must pay higher taxes so middle- and lower-class rates don’t go up.
Despite the will of the nation, as evidenced by a number of recent polls on tax rates for the wealthiest 2 percent, a Republican plan to avert the fiscal cliff that was just rejected by the White House did not include any tax hikes on the richest of the rich. In fact, the plan called for tax cuts for the wealthy, in addition to the rest of the populace as well. How any logical-minded person could think of addressing our nation’s overwhelming debt and budget deficits without putting tax increases on the table is beyond me.
To the Republicans’ credit, however, they are demanding broad entitlement reform, that is, cuts on the amount of money spent by the government to provide American citizens with Medicare, Social Security and other benefits. The only issue with this demand is that it is unrealistic to think it can be achieved in time to avert the fiscal cliff early next year. Some on the right are using the refusal of Democrats to include broad entitlement reform in the negotiations as justification for refusing to budge on taxes, more evidence that the Republicans would rather pander to extremists like Grover Norquist than objectively approach the nation’s fiscal troubles. Democrats know that entitlement reform isn’t achievable in a month. I believe Republicans know this as well, yet they are talking as if a balanced approach must include reforms that are impossible given the circumstances.
Why not concede to the wishes of a growing majority of Americans and hold the wealthiest citizens to fairer tax standards? It is, after all, the most fundamental principle of democratic society that the majority rules. Given the dire need of an immediate compromise, Rep. John Boehner should stop acting like he is speaking for the people and admit that his failure to do his job and his refusal to heed the voter’s demands are a direct result of a pledge he signed years ago that he would not vote to raise taxes by a dime for any Americans while he is in office. Norquist, the pledge’s drafter, is perhaps the most influential public figure in all of politics. Should Boehner break his pledge, he may face defeat in the next election due to Norquist and his vast vindictive political machine. Americans should know that Boehner and most congressional Republicans are looking out for their jobs, not for their constituents.
While some Republicans are beginning to break the pledge already, I can only hope more will join suit before we fall over the cliff.