Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is an American political activist and tax reduction advocate who is founder and president of
Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a politically conservative U.S. advocacy group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today." According to ATR, "The government's power to control ...
, an organization that opposes all
tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
increases. A
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
,
[ he is the primary promoter of the ]Taxpayer Protection Pledge
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a politically conservative U.S. advocacy group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today." According to ATR, "The government's power to contr ...
, a pledge signed by lawmakers who agree to oppose increases in marginal income tax rates for individuals and businesses, as well as net reductions or eliminations of deductions and credits without a matching reduced tax rate. Prior to the November 2012 election, the pledge was signed by 95% of all Republican members of Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
and all but one of the candidates
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be election, elected to an official, office — in this case a Preselection, candida ...
running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Early life and education
Norquist was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania
Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwest ...
and grew up in Weston, Massachusetts
Weston is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, the population of Weston was 11,851.
Weston was incorporated in 1713, and protectio ...
. He is the son of Carol (née Lutz) and Warren Elliott Norquist, a vice president of Polaroid Corporation
Polaroid is an American company best known for its instant film and cameras. The company was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, to exploit the use of its Polaroid polarizing polymer. Land ran the company until 1981. Its peak employment was 21,00 ...
, and is of Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
ancestry. His brother, David Norquist
David L. Norquist (born November 24, 1966) is an American financial management professional and government official who served as the 34th United States deputy secretary of defense from 2019 to 2021. In January 2021, he served for two days as ac ...
, has served in senior posts in Republican administrations at both the United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
and the United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the I ...
. Norquist became involved with politics at an early age when he volunteered for the 1968 Nixon campaign, assisting with get out the vote
"Get out the vote" or "getting out the vote" (GOTV) describes efforts aimed at increasing the voter turnout in elections. In countries that do not have or enforce compulsory voting, voter turnout can be low, sometimes even below a third of the ...
efforts.[ He graduated from Weston High School and enrolled at ]Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1974, where he earned his B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
and MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
.
At college, Norquist was an editor at the ''Harvard Crimson
The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at ...
'' and helped to publish the libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
-leaning ''Harvard Chronicle''.[ He was a member of the ]Hasty Pudding Theatricals
The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known informally simply as The Pudding, is a theatrical student society at Harvard University, known for its burlesque crossdressing musicals. The Hasty Pudding is the oldest theatrical organization in the United Sta ...
. Norquist has said: "When I became 21, I decided that nobody learned anything about politics after the age of 21."[ He attended the ]Leadership Institute
The Leadership Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia that teaches "political technology."
The institute was founded in 1979 by conservative activist Morton Blackwell. Its mission is to "increase the num ...
in Arlington, Virginia, an organization that teaches conservative Americans how to influence public policy through activism and leadership.
Career
Early career
Early in his career, Norquist was executive director of both the National Taxpayers Union
The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is a fiscally conservative taxpayer advocacy organization and taxpayers union in the United States, founded in 1977 by James Dale Davidson. NTU says that it is the oldest taxpayer advocacy organization in th ...
and the national College Republicans
College Republicans are college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Many members belong to the organization College Republican National Committee (CRNC), College Republicans United (CRU), or various in ...
, holding both positions until 1983. He served as Economist and Chief Speechwriter at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urgin ...
from 1983 to 1984.
Norquist traveled to several war zones to help support anti-Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
guerrilla armies in the second half of the 1980s. He worked with a support network for Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...
's efforts with the Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
n Contras
The Contras were the various U.S.-backed and funded right-wing rebel groups that were active from 1979 to 1990 in opposition to the Marxist Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction Government in Nicaragua, which came to power in 1979 fol ...
and other insurgencies, in addition to promoting U.S. support for groups including Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
's RENAMO
RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppose ...
and Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Savimbi (; 3 August 1934 – 22 February 2002) was an Angolan revolutionary politician and rebel military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). UNITA waged a guerrilla war agai ...
's UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...
in Angola[ and helping to organize anti-Soviet forces in ]Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
. In 1985, he went to a conference in South Africa sponsored by South African businesses called the "Youth for Freedom Conference", which sought to bring American and South African conservatives together to end the anti-apartheid movement. Norquist represented the France-Albert Rene government of Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
as a lobbyist from 1995 until 1999. Norquist's efforts were the subject of Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American television host, conservative political commentator and writer who has hosted the nightly political talk show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight'' on Fox News since 2016.
Carlson began ...
's 1997 article in ''The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', "What I sold at the revolution."
Americans for Tax Reform
Norquist founded Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is a politically conservative U.S. advocacy group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today." According to ATR, "The government's power to control ...
(ATR) in 1985, which he says was done at the request of then-President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
. Referring to Norquist's activities as head of ATR, Steve Kroft
Stephen F. Kroft (born August 22, 1945) is an American retired journalist, best known as a long-time correspondent for ''60 Minutes''. Kroft's investigative reporting garnered widespread acclaim, winning him three Peabody Awards and nine Emmy a ...
, in a ''60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'' episode that aired on November 20, 2011, claimed that "Norquist has been responsible, more than anyone else, for rewriting the dogma of the Republican Party."
The primary policy goal of Americans for Tax Reform is to reduce government revenues as a percentage of the GDP. ATR states that it "opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle." Americans for Tax Reform has supported Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) legislation and transparency initiatives, while opposing efforts to regulate health care.
In 1993, Norquist launched his Wednesday Meeting series at ATR headquarters, initially to help fight President Clinton's healthcare plan. The meeting eventually became one of the most significant institutions in American conservative political organizing. The meetings have been called "a must-attend event for Republican operatives fortunate enough to get an invitation", and "the Grand Central station of the conservative movement."[ Medvetz (2006) argues that the meetings have been significant in "establishing relations of ... exchange" among conservative subgroups and "sustaining a moral community of conservative activists."
As a nonprofit organization, Americans for Tax Reform is not required to disclose the identity of its contributors. Critics, such as Sen. Alan Simpson, have asked Norquist to disclose his contributors; he has declined but has said that ATR is financed by direct mail and other ]grassroots fundraising
Grassroots fundraising is a common fundraising method used by political candidates which has grown in popularity with the emergence of the Internet. It has been utilized by US presidential candidates like Howard Dean, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, and mo ...
efforts. According to CBS News, "a significant portion appears to come from wealthy individuals, foundations and corporate interests."[
]
Taxpayer Protection Pledge
Prior to the November 2012 election, 238 of 242 House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
Republicans and 41 out of 47 Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Republicans had signed ATR's "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", in which the pledger promises to "oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates."
The November 6, 2012 elections resulted in a decline in the number of Taxpayer Protection Pledge signatories in both the upper and lower houses of the 113th Congress: from 41 to 39 in the Senate, and from 238 to "fewer than ... 218" in the House of Representatives. According to journalist Alex Seitz-Wald, losses in the election by Norquist supporters and the "fiscal cliff
The United States fiscal cliff refers to the combined effect of several previously-enacted laws that came into effect simultaneously in January 2013, increasing taxes and decreasing spending.
The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, which had been e ...
" have emboldened and made more vocal critics of Norquist.
In November 2011, Senate Majority leader
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...
(D-NV) blamed Norquist's influence for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction,Budget Control Act of 2011, , Title IV colloquially referred to as the Supercommittee, was a joint select committee of the United States Congress, created by the Budget Control Act of 2011 on August ...
's lack of progress, claiming that Congressional Republicans "are being led like puppets by Grover Norquist. They're giving speeches that we should compromise on our deficit, but never do they compromise on Grover Norquist. He is their leader." Since Norquist's pledge binds signatories to opposing deficit reduction agreements that include any element of increased tax revenue, some Republican deficit hawk
Deficit hawk is a political slang term in the English speaking world for people who place great emphasis on keeping government budgets under control. 'Hawk' can be used to describe someone calling for harsh or pain-inducing measures (alluding to ...
s now retired from office have stated that Norquist has become an obstacle to deficit reduction. Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY), co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (often called Simpson–Bowles or Bowles–Simpson from the names of co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles; or NCFRR) was a bipartisan Presidential Commission on deficit reduction, ...
, has been particularly critical, describing Norquist's position as " taxes, under any situation, even if your country goes to hell."[
]
Other political activities
National politics
Norquist was listed as one of the five primary leaders of the post-Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for president ...
conservative movement by Nina Easton
Nina Jane Easton (born October 27, 1958) is an American author, journalist, TV commentator, entrepreneur, and film producer. In 2016, she co-founded SellersEaston Media, a private-client storytelling service that chronicles the legacies and impact ...
in her 2000 book, ''Gang of Five''. Working with eventual Speaker Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
, Norquist was one of the co-authors of the 1994 Contract with America
The Contract with America was a legislative agenda advocated for by the Republican Party during the 1994 congressional election campaign. Written by Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey, and in part using text from former President Ronald Reagan's 19 ...
, and helped to rally grassroots efforts, which Norquist later chronicled in his book ''Rock the House.''[ Norquist also served as a campaign staff member on the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Republican Platform Committees.
Norquist was instrumental in securing early support for the presidential campaign of then-Texas Governor ]George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, acting as his unofficial liaison to the conservative movement.[ He campaigned for Bush in both ]2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
and 2004.[ After Bush's first election, Norquist was a key figure involved in crafting Bush's tax cuts. ]John Fund
John H. Fund (born April 8, 1957) is an American political journalist. He is currently the national-affairs reporter for National Review Online
and a senior editor at ''The American Spectator''.
Life and career
Fund was born in Tucson, Arizona. ...
of ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' dubbed Norquist "the Grand Central Station" of conservatism and told ''The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'': "It's not disputable" that Norquist was the key to the Bush campaign's surprising level of support from movement conservatives in 2000.
He has long been active in building bridges between various ethnic and religious minorities and the free-market community through his involvement with Acton Institute
The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is an American research and educational institution, or think tank, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, (with an office in Rome) whose stated mission is "to promote a free and virtuous society ch ...
, Christian Coalition and Toward Tradition
Daniel Lapin (born January 1, 1947) is an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and public speaker. xaminer om/article/rabbi-lapin-reveals-prosperity-secrets (URL blocked by Wikipedia) He was previously the founding rabbi of the Pacific Jewish Center ...
.
He has also "announced his plan to assemble a center-right coalition to discuss pulling out of Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
to save hundreds of billions of dollars."
Norquist is active in Tea Party politics. Talking at a Florida rally he said "tea party groups should serve as the 'exoskeleton
An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...
' that protects newly elected Republicans" from pressures to increase government spending.
Comprehensive immigration reform is an interest of Norquist's, who believes that the United States should have "dramatically higher levels of immigration" than it currently does.
Involvement with Jack Abramoff
According to a 2011 memoir by former lobbyist Jack Abramoff
Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction ...
, Norquist was one of Abramoff's first major Republican party contacts. Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform were also mentioned in Senate testimony relating to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal was a United States political scandal exposed in 2005; it related to fraud perpetrated by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Native American trib ...
which resulted in a 2006 guilty plea by Abramoff to three criminal felony counts of defrauding of American Indian tribes and corrupting public officials. Records released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee allege that ATR served as a "conduit" for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to surreptitiously finance grass-roots lobbying campaigns. Norquist has denied that he did anything wrong, and has not been charged with any crime.
State and local politics
Norquist's national strategy has included recruiting state and local politicians to support ATR's stance on taxes. Norquist has helped to set up regular meetings for conservatives in many states. These meetings are modeled after his Wednesday meetings in Washington, with the goal of creating a nationwide network of conservative activists that he can call upon to support conservative causes, such as tax cuts and deregulation. There are now meetings in 48 states.
In 2004, Norquist helped California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
with his plan to privatize the CalPERS
The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) is an agency in the California executive branch that "manages pension and health benefits for more than 1.5 million California public employees, retirees, and their families".CalPERSFa ...
system. In Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
's 2005 Republican primaries, Norquist encouraged the defeat of a number of legislators who voted for higher taxes.
Boards and other activities
Norquist serves on the boards of directors of numerous organizations including the National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
, the American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...
, the Hispanic Leadership Fund, the Indian-American Republican Caucus, and ParentalRights.org, an organization that wishes to add a Parental Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
. In 2010, Norquist joined the advisory board of GOProud
GOProud was an American tax exempt 527 organization supported by fiscally conservative gay men, lesbians, and their allies. GOProud advocated for free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights and worked at the federal ...
, a political organization representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is an ...
conservatives and their allies, for which he was criticized by the Family Research Council
The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...
. Norquist also sits on a six-person advisory panel that nominates ''Times Person of the Year. In business, Norquist was a co-founder of the Merritt Group, later renamed Janus-Merritt Strategies. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
. Norquist signed the ''Madrid Charter
The ''Madrid Charter: In Defense of Freedom and Democracy in the Iberosphere'' ( Spanish: ''Carta de Madrid: en defensa de la libertad y la democracia en la Iberosfera''), also known as the ''Letter from Madrid'', was a manifesto created on 26 O ...
'', a document drafted by the conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Spanish political party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of Ibero-America
Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese are predominant languages (usually form ...
involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".
Views on government
Norquist favors dramatically reducing the size of government.[ He has been noted for his widely quoted quip from a 2001 interview with ]NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's ''Morning Edition
''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'':
Journalist William Greider
William Harold Greider (August 6, 1936 – December 25, 2019) was an American journalist and author who wrote primarily about economics.
Early life and education
Greider was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 6, 1936, to Harold William Greider ...
quotes him saying his goal is to bring America back to what it was "up until Teddy Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, when the socialists took over. The income tax, the death tax, regulation, all that." When asked by journalist Steve Kroft
Stephen F. Kroft (born August 22, 1945) is an American retired journalist, best known as a long-time correspondent for ''60 Minutes''. Kroft's investigative reporting garnered widespread acclaim, winning him three Peabody Awards and nine Emmy a ...
about the goal of chopping government "in half and then shrink it again to where we were at the turn of the 0thcentury" before Social Security and Medicare, Norquist replied, "We functioned in this country with government at eight percent of GDP for a long time and quite well."[
Some smaller government advocates argue that Norquist's "obsession with tax revenue" is actually counterproductive with respect to minimizing the size of government.] Although the Americans for Tax Reform mission statement is "The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax. We believe that power should be minimized", critics at the Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indust ...
have argued that "holding the line on taxes constrains only one of the four tools (taxes, tax deductions, spending without taxation, and regulation) used by government to alter economic outcomes."
Norquist published ''Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives'', in 2008. In 2012, he published ''Debacle: Obama's War on Jobs and Growth and What We Can Do Now to Regain Our Future'', with John R. Lott, Jr. He has served as a monthly "Politics" columnist and contributing editor to ''The American Spectator
''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor- ...
''.
Norquist has also called for reductions in defense spending as one way to reduce the size of government.
Norquist has endorsed a non-interventionist
Non-interventionism or non-intervention is a political philosophy or national foreign policy doctrine that opposes interference in the domestic politics and affairs of other countries but, in contrast to isolationism, is not necessarily opposed t ...
foreign policy and cuts to the US military budget
The military budget is the largest portion of the discretionary United States federal budget allocated to the Department of Defense, or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. The military budget ...
.
Personal life
Norquist has described himself as a "boring white bread Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
."[ In 2004, at age 48, he married a ]Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
named Samah Alrayyes, a PR specialist who was formerly a director of the Islamic Free Market Institute
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...
and specialist at the Bureau of Legislative and Public Affairs at United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
(USAID). The couple has adopted two children, both girls, one of whom is from the city of Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
.
According to friend and former roommate John Fund
John H. Fund (born April 8, 1957) is an American political journalist. He is currently the national-affairs reporter for National Review Online
and a senior editor at ''The American Spectator''.
Life and career
Fund was born in Tucson, Arizona. ...
, Norquist's devotion to his political causes is "monk-like" and comparable to that of Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes.
The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...
.[
Norquist has competed three times in the comedy fundraiser "Washington's Funniest Celebrity" and placed second in 2009.] Humorist P. J. O'Rourke has described Norquist as "Tom Paine
Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
crossed with Lee Atwater
Harvey LeRoy "Lee" Atwater (February 27, 1951 – March 29, 1991) was an American political consultant and strategist for the Republican Party. He was an adviser to US presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and chairman of the Repub ...
plus just a soupçon of Madame Defarge
Madame Thérèse Defarge is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the 1859 novel ''A Tale of Two Cities'' by Charles Dickens. She is a ringleader of the tricoteuses, a tireless worker for the French Revolution, memorably knitting besi ...
".[
Norquist and his wife attended the annual Burning Man festival in August 2014 in Black Rock, Nevada. Norquist explained that he wished to attend because, "There's no government that organizes this. That's what happens when nobody tells you what to do. You just figure it out. So Burning Man is a refutation of the argument that the state has a place in nature."]
Writings
* ''Rock the House''. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla: VYTIS Press, 1995.
* ''Taxes: The Economic & Philosophical Necessity of Real Reform''. Minneapolis, MN: Center of the American Experiment, 1996.
* "America is freedom" chapter from Deaver, Michael K. ''Why I Am a Reagan Conservative'', Chapter New York: W. Morrow, 2005.
* ''Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives''. New York, NY: W. Morrow, 2008.
* ''Debacle: Obama's War on Jobs and Growth and What We Can Do Now to Regain Our Future''. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012.
See also
* Democratic International The Democratic International, also known as the Jamboree in Jamba, was a 1985 meeting of anti-Communist rebels held at the headquarters of UNITA in Jamba, Angola.J. Easton, Nina. ''Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade'', 2 ...
* K Street Project
The K Street Project is an effort by the Republican Party (GOP) to pressure Washington lobbying firms to hire Republicans in top positions, and to reward loyal GOP lobbyists with access to influential officials, an arrangement known as crony capi ...
* Starve the beast
References
External links
Official biography
from Americans for Tax Reform
Column archive
at ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
*
*
*
*
A Lesson in Conservative Optimism
The Weekend Interview
by Stephen Moore
''The Wall Street Journal''
November 23, 2012
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