Grover Norquist's meltdown has been getting a good deal of attention in the blogosphere. So I hopped over to the Americans for Tax Reform website to take a look at their
friends and enemies list. It was mildly amusing (not as funny as the NRA's enemies list). Here are some highlights.
- The Killington Vermont board of selectmen threatened to secede from Vermont and join New Hampshire because of the "destructiveness of oppressive taxation"! Shout shout the Battle Cry of Freedom! By the way, Killington isn't even on the border of New Hampshire. Would ATR support spending a shitload of taxpayer money to reroute the Connecticut River?
- US Ambassador to Macedonia Lawrence Butler is an enemy of the taxpayer! He earned that "for spending taxpayer money to fund a far Left agenda in little, conservative Macedonia. His embassy has sponsored graphic billboards in Macedonia which depict and promote homosexuality." I want to see that backstory.
- Alabama Governor Bob Riley is an enemy of the taxpayer! We already know about the tragically failed attempt to force the extractive industries in Alabama to contribute toward public services in the state they terrorize for profit. But did you know that Riley tried "to guilt Alabamians into supporting the plan by calling it the 'Christian' thing to do"? That's right: appealing to a Christian sense of social justice is 'guilting' the people of Alabama.
- Washington Governor Gary Locke is both a friend and enemy of the taxpayer! That's right: flip-flopping Grover Norquist can't decide whether the budget Locke presented at the end of 2002 had or did not have tax increases! Locke supported tax increases as a way of solving the state's shortfall, and he also proposed a budget that didn't have any tax increases. Amazing!
- Former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating is both a friend and enemy of the taxpayer! Keating protected the abused and neglected taxpayer by spearheading the craptacular "paycheck protection" initiative. What does that have to do with taxes? Who knows! But Grover Norquist likes it. But Keating also "forced" Oklahoma to join the Southern Dairy Compact! What does that have to do with taxes? Who knows! But Grover Norquist doesn't like it.
- (my personal favorite) OPEC is a friend of the taxpayer! Yes, it's true: the oil cartel dominated by Middle Eastern autocrats living in shameful splendor on the backs of a distressed population (kind of like the Republican party) is watching out for the American taxpayer. How do we know? Because they blamed oil taxes for high gas prices, not output quotas! Yes, those selfless members of the Saud family care about American taxpayers first and foremost. Is it actually true that taxes cause high oil prices rather than quotas? We don't know. What matters is that those righteous warriors in OPEC blame the right bogeymen.
I love the Americans for Tax Reform!