Archive for Grover Norquist

VIDEO– Grover Norquist: Pres. Obama “may decide to go blow up small countries he can’t pronounce”

This is the second time Norquist has used the term “short leash” regarding the president: VIDEO– Grover Norquist: GOP “can have [Obama] on a rather short leash. Here’s your allowance… come back if you behave.”  Unlike his last little racist dig, this time he caught himself.

“We got lots of things Obama claims to be for, and we will make — we, the Republicans in the House and Senate — will make him actually make those spending restraints, in order to get the continuing resolution out a week, two weeks, a month. Obama will be on a very short leash, fiscally speaking, over the next four years. He’s not gonna have any fun at all. He may decide to go blow up small countries he can’t pronounce because it won’t be any fun to be here, because he won’t be able to spend the kind of cash he was hoping to.”

Grovie is such a panic, isn’t he? Or to put it another way:

Seriously, what a condescending, self-important ass.

Via Think Progress:

It is noteworthy that Norquist says “we” when referring to the Congressional Republicans. This would seem to conflict with his group’s frequent claim that it is a “a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups who oppose all tax increases.” And it seems to ignore the 50 Congressional Republicans who have already distanced themselves from his ironclad oath.

Poll-itics: Pres. Obama’s approvals spike to highest level since Osama bin Laden’s death

A new Quinnipiac University poll has President Obama at his highest approval numbers in three years, since he rid the world of its number one enemy, in fact.

Via The Hill:

Fifty-three percent said they approve of the job the president is doing, compared with 40 percent who said they disapprove. In the previous survey conducted by Quinnipiac, in July, Obama’s approval rating was under water, at 45 percent positive and 49 negative.

Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute:

President Barack Obama hasn’t had a score this good since his 52-40 percent approval rating May 5, 2011, right after the death of Osama bin Laden.”

As for that pesky fiscal bluff/molehill/crossroads issue, the poll showed people trust the president and Democrats by a wide margin of 53% vs. 36% for the Republicans.

A majority said they believe Obama and the Democrats will make a good-faith effort in the “fiscal cliff” negotiations, while a majority said they didn’t expect the same from Republicans.

And there’s broad support for allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for those making more than $250,000 a year, with voters siding with the president 65%-31%.

There was also a sound repudiation of Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge. A whopping 85% thought it was a bad idea, including 77 percent of Republicans, and only 15% supported it.

So after all these polls, when oh when will the GOP finally grasp what’s going on all around them? And when oh when will they truly realize they are imploding?

“Fiscal cliff” traffic report

Today’s guest post by the one, the only, Will Durst:

FISCAL CLIFF TRAFFIC REPORT

“So, expect showers and gale force winds over the next couple of days and don’t forget that high surf advisory is in effect throughout the weekend. We may even see some downed power lines and scattered looting. That’s the weather here on Capitol Hill, now let’s go to Brandon with your Congressional traffic report.”

“Thanks Brandon. Well, its gotten pretty ugly out there, people. My best advice is, stay in your homes. As expected, following the holiday recess, we’re seeing a lot of bluster and bombast building up on the Beltway, and the obstructionist blather has managed to stall headway on nearly every budget deal ramp to a virtual crawl.

Three or four jack knifed 18- wheelers jam packed with Election Day rancor have overturned and as you might imagine, rubber necking has resulted in hundreds of not so tender fender benders in both directions. It’s gotten so bad that major media outlet trucks are stuck on the shoulder filming each other, filming each other.

It’s not just the Beltway that’s backed up. Main Street and Wall Street and the Path to Prosperity all report major slowdowns due to a multitude of partisan pile- ups. Some drivers seem to be purposefully ramming fellow travelers right off the road while others speed across median strips to dive into oncoming traffic seemingly with no thought to life or limb. Casualties continue to mount and officials worry about running out of tarps.

Sky Nine over the Bridge to the Future reports that progress remains hopelessly clogged with all visible movement being of the backwards variety and from their vantage all the right lanes look to be blocked as far as the eye can see. Left lanes: not much better. Center lanes: you don’t want to know.

Many reasons have been offered up for Carmageddon spreading nationwide. Pure native stubbornness, leading to refusals to merge. Infrastructure deterioration. Widespread smoke screens creating low visibility. A plethora of misread signs due to intentionally misinterpreted polls. Death wishes. Insanity. Mad Cow.

Part of the problem can be attributed to the numerous turnarounds closed by committee chairmen to restrict desertion from party line movement and reports continue to stream in that a crazy person by the name of Grover Norquist, has been single- handedly impeding traffic by standing in the ditch and flagging motorists off the road straight into various freeway abutments. Although it must be said, some cars do now seem to be aiming right for him chasing the anti- cheerleader back to the safety of various rest stop bathroom stalls.

Due to the slick situation, eternal congestion and some inexplicable glitch that has turned all the surface street stop lights to red, further delays are expected to spread across the nation as the country experiences a massive impasse on all roads leading to the cutoff meant to avert the dreaded Fiscal Cliff.

Veteran observers claim this activity is expected due to the mostly poor driving skills possessed by the residents of our nation’s capital. But the upshot is, we’re back to stalls and jams and near total gridlock far into the foreseeable future. So remember to keep that dial here, where we bring you weather and traffic together on the eights, although to be perfectly honest, not much is expected to change any time soon. Back to you Brandon.”

5 time Emmy- nominee Will Durst’s new e- book “Elect to Laugh!” published by Hyperink, now available at Redroom.com, Amazon or any fine virtual book retailer near you. And don’t forget the Twentieth annual Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show December 26- January 1 at a theater near you. Go to willdurst.com for more info.

Here are 36 Republicans who are waving bye-bye to Grover Norquist’s tax pledge

“An increasing number of prominent Republicans are dismissing Norquist as a pest.”

His majority in Congress is all but gone, and GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss brushed off Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge.

Alan Simpson said this about“Grover-Babe” Norquist: “He will be irrelevant. This guy is a zealot. He knows the game is up.”

Recently, Norquist said that the GOP “can have [Obama] on a rather short leash. Here’s your allowance… come back if you behave.”

So to recap, he’s becoming increasingly toxic, including his racist statements and apparent indifference to the reaction to his repellant ways.

As of now, there are 36 Republicans who are distancing themselves publicly from this despicable, self-appointed dictator who should have the allegiance of no one. To see what some of them had to say about Grovie, hop over to Think Progress:

  1. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
  2. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
  3. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
  4. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)
  5. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
  6. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE)
  7. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
  8. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
  9. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
  10. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)
  11. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
  12. Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
  13. Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
  14. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)
  15. Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY)
  16. Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI)
  17. Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA)
  18. Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR)
  19. Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA)
  20. Rep. Jon Runyan (R-NJ)
  21. Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE)
  22. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
  23. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA)
  24. Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH)
  25. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)
  26. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID)
  27. Rep. John Kline (R-MN)
  28. Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN)
  29. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN)
  30. Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE)
  31. Rep. Scott Rigell (R-VA)
  32. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC)
  33. Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY)
  34. Rep. Allen West (R-FL)
  35. Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL)
  36. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA)

VIDEO– Grover Norquist: GOP “can have [Obama] on a rather short leash. Here’s your allowance… come back if you behave.”

“An increasing number of prominent Republicans are dismissing Norquist as a pest.”

His majority in Congress is all but gone, and GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss brushed off Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge.

Alan Simpson said this about“Grover-Babe” Norquist: “He will be irrelevant. This guy is a zealot. He knows the game is up.”

Yet Grovie-Babe persists, apparently relishing his own obliviousness. Not only that, he suggests holding the government hostage, and while doing so, demonstrates his appalling disrespect for the President of the United States by referring to him as if he were a dog on a leash and/or a child and/or a servant who should “be good and “behave.”

Here he is at a Politico Playbook Breakfast with Mike Allen:

Mike Allen: This president is not going to extend [the Bush tax cuts], he knows that he loses his leverage that way.

Norquist: Well, the Republicans also have other leverage. Continuing resolutions on spending and the debt ceiling increase. They can give him debt ceiling increases once a month. They can have him on a rather short leash… Here’s your allowance, come back next month if you behave.

Allen: Okay, wait. You’re proposing that the debt ceiling be increased month by month?

Norquist: Monthly if he’s good. Weekly if he’s not.

As Think Progress notes, the last time Republicans played games with the debt ceiling, it didn’t end well:

The last high-stakes fight over the debt ceiling resulted in record low approval ratings for Congress and the downgrading of U.S. credit for the first time in history. That one fight also cost taxpayers $18.9 billion. Norquist now wants to replicate this debacle 12 or possibly 52 times per year.

VIDEO- Alan Simpson on “Grover-Babe” Norquist: “He will be irrelevant. This guy is a zealot. He knows the game is up.”

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Andrea Mitchell interviewed former Senator Alan Simpson today, who had a thing or two to say about a thing or two about Tax Cut Dictator Grover Norquist’s increasing irrelevance, or as I like to call it, shrinkage.

Mitchell:

Do you have any impure thoughts about Grover Norquist?

Alan Simpson:

Plenty. But you know, here’s a good guy with a very bad idea and he was gathering up those signatures back in the ’80s and the early ’90s when inflation was zip, when unemployment was zip, and anybody who would sign anything before they come to Congress and hear the debate and participate in it hopefully and get in to the floor, management and the amending process and the conference committee, those people I mean why would you do that? It’s like selling your soul!

Now Grover, I said, would be irrelevant in two years, and I say that– he’s got about another year and a half to go– he will be irrelevant. This guy is a zealot. A zealot is one who, having forgotten his purpose, redoubles his efforts, and he sees the crumbling of the great house of cards.

It’s like Jarvis out in California back in the late ’70s. He’s left schools destitute, he’s left institutions destitute. You can’t come in and play this kind of a game when everything has changed in America, and this time everything has changed because it’s all coming to pass on December 31st, and Grover-babe is losing a person a day and he knows it. So what does he use to cover that? Cutesies. Little smart Alecs. I know that. I don’t know who else does that. I have done that.

He is becoming irrelevant. And you can see it in his eyes. He knows the game is up. Because good people of good faith have decided that instead of being Republicans, or Democrats, they’re Americans. And instead of being beholden to Grover Norquist and the AARP, they’re beholden to the United States of America. Those guys are going to take their lumps.

Here’s the entire segment:

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Cartoons of the Day- Grover’s Losing It



Via.