Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, is not just another political lobbyist in DC. He’s the top GOP activist in America. Outside of elected GOP lawmakers and Bush administration officials, Norquist has unparalleled influence on politics and public policy in Republican circles.
Norquist helped shape, for example, Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, as well as the Republican Party platform in every election since 1988. He also helped create the K Street Project and hosts the infamous “Wednesday Meetings,” in which the top 100 or so top conservative activists and lobbyists gather every Wednesday to plot strategy.
Grover Norquist is not, therefore, just another right-wing player in Washington. He is the player.
And late last week he crossed a line of decency that warrants condemnation.
The truth is, Norquist says stupid things all the time. In May 2001, he said his goal as a lobbyist/activist is to “cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”
Not crazy enough for you? OK, consider that five months ago Norquist said he is working “to change the tones in the state capitals — and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship.” He added, “Bipartisanship is another name for date rape.”
Offended yet? No? Well take a look at Norquist’s appearance on NPR’s “Fresh Air” last Thursday — when he compared the Estate Tax to the Holocaust. No, I’m not kidding.
Norquist said that proponents of the Estate Tax argue that it only affects the top two percent of all U.S. families. He said this argument is the moral equivalent of the Holocaust.
“The argument that some who played at the politics of hate and envy and class division will say, ‘Yes, well, that’s only 2 percent,’ or as people get richer 5 percent in the near future of Americans likely to have to pay that tax,” Norquist said. “I mean, that’s the morality of the Holocaust. ‘Well, it’s only a small percentage,’ you know. ‘I mean, it’s not you, it’s somebody else.'”
The NPR host, Terry Gross, stepped in and asked, “Excuse me one second. Did you just compare the Estate Tax with the Holocaust?”
Norquist said, “No, the morality that says it’s OK to do something to do a group because they’re a small percentage of the population is the morality that says that the Holocaust is OK because they didn’t target everybody, just a small percentage. ‘What are you worried about? It’s not you. It’s not you. It’s them.'”
I don’t care if you think the Estate Tax is right or wrong, fair or unfair. Describing the slaughter of millions as the moral equivalent of a tax on millionaires is inexcusable.
Obviously, NPR’s Terry Gross realized just how breathtaking this was and asked if Norquist had really just compared the tax to the Holocaust. Norquist said, “No,” and proceeded to make the exact same comparison all over again.
Politics can get nasty and people occasionally say outrageous things. I can appreciate that. But Norquist’s comparison is utterly disgusting.