Norquist: It’s ‘Foolish’ to Declare the End of Tax Cut Politics

In an article in the new issue of Time, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is quoted saying that “Marginal tax rates are the lowest they’ve been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts. [...] The people’s desires have changed, but we’re still stuck in our old issue set.”

Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, criticized McHenry for missing the point:

“Every once in a while,” said Norquist, “there’s some silly Republican or clever Democrat who says that people aren’t concerned with high taxes anymore. Well, we just had 600,000 people in the streets protesting big government, inflation, and the promise of higher taxes. You could not get 600,000 people to do that after four months of Jimmy Carter. You could not get them to do that after four months of Bill Clinton.”

Norquist waved off Time’s cover package as the kind of argument Democrats always make after winning an election. “The left is always busy explaining that taxes don’t matter. It’s like the bad guy in the action movie telling the good guy, ‘Put down the gun and we’ll talk.’ It’s not because the tax issue doesn’t scare them. It’s not because the gun doesn’t scare the bad guy. It’s because this is a very powerful issue and they don’t want it around. When class enemies warn you off something, it’s for their benefit, not yours.”