Frank Wolf rips Grover Norquist for ‘paralyzing’ Congress
By SEUNG MIN KIM | 10/4/11 12:35 PM EDT
A top House Republican on Tuesday attacked conservative tax activist Grover Norquist in a blistering floor speech, saying his no-taxes pledge has “paralyzed” Congress from tackling the deficit.
In a short but powerful speech, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), laid out a remarkable indictment against one of the most powerful figures in conservative politics. He cited Norquist’s ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, as well as charges that Norquist was associated with two terrorist financiers. Wolf also raised Norquist’s lobbying for Fannie Mae and the Internet gambling sector, and his reported support of moving Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States
“Simply put, I believe Mr. Norquist is connected with, or has profited from, a number of unsavory people and groups out of the mainstream,” Wolf said.
In an interview, Norquist dismissed Wolf’s remarks as a “hissy fit.”
“He gets in these silly attacks on me that are plagiarized from racist websites,” Norquist told POLITICO. “He’s got to know that this is garbage.”
Wolf, a 16-term congressman who sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, also accused Norquist of using his no-taxes pledge – signed by virtually every congressional Republican — as leverage to push causes that the lawmaker said “many Americans would find inappropriate.”
Wolf, who has a long conservative voting record, has not signed Norquist’s pledge.
Wolf emphasized that he himself did not support tax increases – essentially the mission of Norquist’s organization, Americans for Tax Reform. But the no-taxes pledge, Wolf argued, was hamstringing Congress from being able to “realistically” pursue tax reform – which Wolf said was a critical component in taming the nation’s debt.
“Have we really reached a point where one person’s demand for ideological purity is paralyzing Congress to the point that even a discussion of tax reform is viewed as breaking a no-tax pledge?” Wolf asked.
Norquist refuted Wolf’s claim, saying that his pledge, which has not been signed by Wolf and five other congressional Republicans, didn’t prevent tax reform as long as it was revenue neutral.
“He knows about it because we talked about it,” said Norquist, his voice in a near-yell. “So it’s irritating he went out and lied on the floor.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65104.html#ixzz1Zw5khS5W
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