(Cross-Posted at Upstate Blue)
Recently, Republican 20th Congressional District candidate Alexander "Sandy" Treadwell signed a pledge in support of the extremist agenda of Grover Norquist, the head of the right-wing "Americans for Tax Reform" and the co-founder of the K Street Project, an organization geared towards stearing powerful lobbying postitions to Republican loyalists.
According to People for the American Way, Norquist refused to support Bush's 2000 presidential bid unless he agreed to fully support a hard-right economic agenda, including social security privatization, school vouchers, and tort reform.
"In 1998, Karl Rove brought Norquist to Texas to meet privately with George Bush as he prepared to run for president. Norquist told Bush that he would have to support massive tax cuts, privatizing Social Security, school vouchers and tort reform if he wanted Norquist’s endorsement, which he ultimately received. As Norquist explained, "The president and Rove understood the coalition and deliberately placed themselves inside it. That’s why they won and McCain lost.""
What's more, Norquist is beyond radical when it comes to the size and role of the govenment; he favors the outright abolition of several government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the Education Department, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts. In essence, much of the middle class safety net is under seige.
"Given his ability to unite so many different agendas, it would be easy to underestimate the radical nature of Norquist’s ultimate agenda. While temporary compromise may be necessary, Norquist is an ideologue who does not shy from the label "revolutionary." He favors abolishing a whole slew of government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the Education Department and the National Endowment for the Arts."
Also noteworthy, Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform is heavily funded and influenced by big tobacco and big drug companies. Pfizer, Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, and US Tobacco have all been major contributors to Norquist's organization.
Unsuprisingly, Norquist's organization played a major role in working to defeat Clinton's national health care plan during the 1990s, which involved an increase in the federal cigarette tax:
From Sourcewatch:
"When in early 1994 the House Ways and Means Committee backed an increase in the Federal Excise Tax to $1.49 per pack to pay for Clinton’s proposed health care plan, Norquist sprang into action. "Together we can kill this outrageous tax hike that Bill Clinton, and his tax and spend allies in Congress plan to levy on you and millions of smokers to underwrite their flawed Health Care Reform Plan," Norquist wrote in a letter calling on smokers to lobby committee members.
However, sensitive to popular support for improved health care, Norquist chose not to defend the status quo. "Now, the current system is not perfect. There are real problems that need to be fixed. But we cannot put the entire responsibility for paying for the Plan on the backs of smokers or those who depend on tobacco for their jobs," he wrote.
"The Federal Government already gets enough money from the taxpayers and they squander it on wasteful, pork barrel programs. If Bill Clinton wants to create another national Government-run program for health care,he should start by cutting spending on existing programs, NOT RAISE TAXES AGAIN!," Norquist continued.
That year, the ATR organised a postcard writing campaign urging Congress to cut government "instead of trampling on taxpayers individual rights and levying new taxes". Tobacco industry officials confirmed to the Washington Post that ATR was funded by R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris.
The tobacco companies – along with other business and conservative groups – ultimately succeeded in derailing Clinton’s healthcare plan. Ramhurst, a PR and lobbying company hired by RJR said of the defeat of the health care plan "I think that was one of our biggest accomplishments. Tobacco looked like it was going to take a big hit", said Doug Goodyear, Ramshurst’s Vice-President."
In addition, Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform also played a significant role in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Last year, Norquist was accused of using various organizations where he had connections, including Americans for Tax Reform, to help secretly transfer funding from Abramoff's clients towards lobbying campaigns.
From The Washington Post, June 25, 2006:
"Among the organizations used by Abramoff was Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. According to an investigative report on Abramoff's lobbying released last week by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Americans for Tax Reform served as a "conduit" for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to surreptitiously finance grass-roots lobbying campaigns. As the money passed through, Norquist's organization kept a small cut, e-mails show."
"A second group Norquist was involved with, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, received about $500,000 in Abramoff client funds; the council's president has told Senate investigators that Abramoff often asked her to lobby a senior Interior Department official on his behalf. The committee report said the Justice Department should further investigate the organization's dealings with the department and its former deputy secretary, J. Steven Griles."
The "K Street Project," though, is perhaps the biggest feather in Norquist's cap. In 1995, Norquist co-founded the K Street Project with former U.S. Rep. Tom Delay in an attempt to help stear most influential lobbying and patronage contracts towards staunch Republican loyalists. The goal behind Delay/Norquist's stint was to develop K Street into a "fourth branch" of government where corporate lobbyists and the Republican Party would basically work off each other to help achieve their goals; in essence, the corporations would contribute large amounts of dollars to the GOP, as congressional Republicans would work endlessly to pursue the agenda of its corporate contributors.
This passage from David Brock's 2003 book, "The Republican Noise Machine," does an excellent job of summarizing Norquist and the K Street Project:
"Norquist served a similar function for corporate donors through his connections to the lobbyists along Washington's K Street. By spearheading what he called the "K Street Project." Norquist placed Republican operatives in the city's top lobbying jobs, broakered legislative deals with the Republicans on behalf of the corporations, and directed substantial flows of corporate money into the coffers of GOP politicians and advocates who constituted his coalition. "All of the trains run through Grover's office," according to his friend John Fund of the Wall Street Journal.
Also check out this page from the website of the Washington D.C.-based governmental watchdog group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility (CREW) on K Street:
"It is unlikely, though, that the framers of the Constitution ever envisioned the K Street of today: a $2.1 billion industry of mostly corporate interests. Since President Bush's election in 2000, its ranks have doubled to at least 34,750 registered lobbyists with starting salaries of about $300,000 a year, according to figures recently compiled by author and Washington Post reporter Jeff Birnbaum."
You may read more about Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform, and the K Street Project at the CREW website here.
One perhaps can now only wonder why Mr. Treadwell who supposedly fashions himself as a "moderate" is now pledging to support the agenda of ideological extremists in the league of Grover Norquist.