its power to tax. we believe that that power should be minimized. there are some republicans who have thought that, perhaps, perhaps, maybe, we should have raised taxes to pay for the iraq and afghanistan wars, or at least partially pay for them, but they would not dare say so, because that would violate a written pledge they had made to grover norquist. who presents every republican running for the house, the senate, or the white house with a pledge to sign, saying that he or she will never, ever support raising taxes in any way. including by cutting loopholes out of the tax code that might then force an individual or corporation to pay a higher tax bill. something closer to their actual rate that they re supposed to
having an economic increase that will actually increase the revenues to the federal government. we re not talking about raising tax rates at all. so if there s a net effect of tax revenue, that would be fine with me. i experienced that during reagan s period in 1986. that may not have sounded like a particularly bold response to you, but for a republican senator, nothing braver has been said on television in this century. senator coburn just said that he s willing to violate a pledge he submitted in 2004 to a man i ve called the most powerful man in america who does not sleep in the white house. meet grover norquist, the president of americans for tax reform, whose mission statement is, the government s power to control one s life derives from