Post by gabbybl112 on Dec 4, 2012 23:07:32 GMT -5
Unbeknownst to many Americans, someone outside of the government has been controlling the Republican initiatives preventing any bills regarding taxes to be passed. In 1985, Grover Norquist, an America lobbyist, started the Americans for Tax Reform and took control of the conservative elected officials by having them sign a pledge prohibiting them from raising any taxes. In holding Republicans to this pledge for the past 17 years, Norquist has blocked any proposal for change put forth by the Democrats that includes raising taxes. By signing the pledge, the Republicans blindly followed the consensus and leveraged their power over the Democrats to put forth their own ideas for economic growth even if it was not in the best interest of the common man.
Since 1985 the Republicans have been justifying their actions in a plethora of ways. The pledge was made under the Reagan administration. Reagan based his economic policy on “trickle down economics”. He felt that pumping money into the wealthy would eventually trickle down to the lower class. Reagan convinced the public that not raising taxes on the rich was a good idea. He portrayed the consensus of the Republicans as positive. He made citizens believe that not raising taxes would result in more money reaching the common man and everyone would benefit from the rich getting richer. The succeeding president, George H.W. Bush, followed Reagan’s idea with his iconic line at the Republican National Convention, "Read my lips: no new taxes." This speech was given following the 1987 economic downturn, a time when it would have been beneficial to the masses to raise taxes. However, Bush stayed true to the consensus of the GOP to maintain the support of the conservatives. Furthermore, Governor Romney ran on a similar platform to these presidents and the fact that he lost the election suggests that the country is starting to pull away from this consensus.
Preceding the current financial crisis starting in 2008, there had not been such a glaring need to question this pledge and raise taxes. Obama recognized this need at the start of his first term in office, but at that time the consensus prevented him from taking the necessary actions to improve the fiscal condition of the country. For example, Obama proposed a jobs bill that would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion, but the Republicans immediately refused to pass it because it involved raising taxes on wealthy Americans. Now that he is starting his second term, Republicans are recognizing that spending cuts will only decrease the national deficit to a certain extent and an increase in taxes is imperative to decrease the national debt. Senator Chambliss was recently quoted in Huffingtion Post, "I care too much about my country -- I care a lot more about it than I do about Grover Norquist". He and other Senators are slowly defying the consensus. Norquist, in a sad attempt to keep the consensus alive, is threatening to call out these senator for going back on their verbal and written promise, further manipulating constituents’ perception of who has their best interest at heart.
Now that the tyranny of consensus is beginning to fall and the representatives within government are taking back control of the economy, progress can finally be made. Hopefully, Obama will be able to lead a united government to do what is right for the America public and reduce the national deficit without being held hostage to a tyranny of consensus. It is promising to see that the Republicans are realizing that their loyalties lie to their country and not a pledge made 17 years ago.
Word Count: 599
Works Cited:
Reilly, Mollie. "Grover Norquist: Debt Ceiling Gives Republicans 'Leverage.'" TheHuffingtonPost.com. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/grover-norquist-debt-ceiling_n_2201099.html>.
"Top 10 Unfortunate Political One-Liners." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1859513_1859526_1859516,00.html>.
Works Consulted:
Jones, Sarah. "President Obama Schools Republicans for Refusing to Pass Jobs Bill." PoliticusUSA. PoliticusUSA.com, 2 June 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.politicususa.com/president-obama-schools-republicans-refusing-pass-jobs-bill.html>.
Since 1985 the Republicans have been justifying their actions in a plethora of ways. The pledge was made under the Reagan administration. Reagan based his economic policy on “trickle down economics”. He felt that pumping money into the wealthy would eventually trickle down to the lower class. Reagan convinced the public that not raising taxes on the rich was a good idea. He portrayed the consensus of the Republicans as positive. He made citizens believe that not raising taxes would result in more money reaching the common man and everyone would benefit from the rich getting richer. The succeeding president, George H.W. Bush, followed Reagan’s idea with his iconic line at the Republican National Convention, "Read my lips: no new taxes." This speech was given following the 1987 economic downturn, a time when it would have been beneficial to the masses to raise taxes. However, Bush stayed true to the consensus of the GOP to maintain the support of the conservatives. Furthermore, Governor Romney ran on a similar platform to these presidents and the fact that he lost the election suggests that the country is starting to pull away from this consensus.
Preceding the current financial crisis starting in 2008, there had not been such a glaring need to question this pledge and raise taxes. Obama recognized this need at the start of his first term in office, but at that time the consensus prevented him from taking the necessary actions to improve the fiscal condition of the country. For example, Obama proposed a jobs bill that would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion, but the Republicans immediately refused to pass it because it involved raising taxes on wealthy Americans. Now that he is starting his second term, Republicans are recognizing that spending cuts will only decrease the national deficit to a certain extent and an increase in taxes is imperative to decrease the national debt. Senator Chambliss was recently quoted in Huffingtion Post, "I care too much about my country -- I care a lot more about it than I do about Grover Norquist". He and other Senators are slowly defying the consensus. Norquist, in a sad attempt to keep the consensus alive, is threatening to call out these senator for going back on their verbal and written promise, further manipulating constituents’ perception of who has their best interest at heart.
Now that the tyranny of consensus is beginning to fall and the representatives within government are taking back control of the economy, progress can finally be made. Hopefully, Obama will be able to lead a united government to do what is right for the America public and reduce the national deficit without being held hostage to a tyranny of consensus. It is promising to see that the Republicans are realizing that their loyalties lie to their country and not a pledge made 17 years ago.
Word Count: 599
Works Cited:
Reilly, Mollie. "Grover Norquist: Debt Ceiling Gives Republicans 'Leverage.'" TheHuffingtonPost.com. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/grover-norquist-debt-ceiling_n_2201099.html>.
"Top 10 Unfortunate Political One-Liners." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1859513_1859526_1859516,00.html>.
Works Consulted:
Jones, Sarah. "President Obama Schools Republicans for Refusing to Pass Jobs Bill." PoliticusUSA. PoliticusUSA.com, 2 June 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. <http://www.politicususa.com/president-obama-schools-republicans-refusing-pass-jobs-bill.html>.