I Pledge Allegiance to Grover Nor…Wait, What!?

If you want to make it in the GOP these days before you sign an oath to uphold the Constitution,  you need to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.  All the uncool Republicans are doing it, see 238 of 244 members of the House and 41 of 47 GOP Senators.  The brainchild of anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist, the pledge is at the heart of the current gridlock in Congress.

The pledge says, we  “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.”

Sounds great…who likes taxes?   I certainly don’t.  A colonoscopy doesn’t do anything for me either…but both taxes and that unpleasant procedure are necessary.  But they are, sorry it is grown up time.  They don’t care about the tax rates of most people, they are all in to save money from the corporations who contrary to popular belief all pay way too little in taxes.

Corporations use more of the commons: the roads and infrastructure, the web, the municipal water and waste services than any individual ever dreams of.  You can argue they benefit more than any one person does from a great educational system.  Of course they should pay more.

And that’s not even getting into the questionable constitutionality of a member of Congress signing a pledge to someone other than his or her constituents and to uphold the Constitution itself.

This has been a burr in my saddle for far too long.  As always Garry Trudeau makes it all too clear the issues that come with a member of Congress answering to someone else: