Yes, please!
With our boy Saxby Chambliss out of the picture, this is actually a realistic thing. (Cain is a Georgia resident.)
Everyone knows that Saxby meant he was happy to raise taxes. Now, under pressure back home, he is waffling. He covets his seat in Washington and is fearful of being primaries. Georgia has primary run-offs, whichs means he can be taken out. He cannot bring himself to say he wants to raise revenue through changing in the tax code that will cause taxes to go up, so he dances around. Behind the scenes, we all know he will work to structure a proposal that increases taxes on Americans, but he’ll cleverly make sure there are enough votes so he can vote against it.CNN contributor and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson • Condemning his home-state senator, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, in a lengthy missive posted today. The impetus for Erickson’s denunciation is clearly Chambliss’ public disparagement of the Americans for Tax Reform pledge, engineered by Grover Norquist, which he signed some twenty years ago. The bigger takeaway: on his radio show later in the day, Erickson said he’s been approached about running a primary challenge against Chambliss, and that he’s giving it some “prayerful consideration.” We’re all for people getting involved in politics, so we tip our hats to Erickson if he opts to jump in. Though, as could well be true for most bloggers and pundits, it wouldn’t be an easy road back to politics for the former Macon County councilman — his opposition research file practically writes itself. source
…the commitment he made to the people of Georgia was not to me, it was a written commitment to the people of Georgia that he would go to Washington to reduce government spending, and reform government, not raise taxes. If he wants to change his mind and become a tax increaser, so we don’t have to reform government, he needs to have that conversation with the people of Georgia.Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist • Responding to remarks we mentioned yesterday by Georgia’s Senator Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss made it clear he won’t be constrained on tax negotiations, even though he signed Norquist’s infamous pledge, to never raise taxes, decades ago. The above was Norquist’s testy response, delivered to Joe Johns on CNN. That he’d try to chasten Chambliss by reminding him of potential political risk is no surprise, considering the stakes — the GOP begins turning its back on the pledge during upcoming “fiscal cliff” negotiations could shatter the keystone of Norquist’s influence and relevance in Washington. source
I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge…I care a lot more about it than I do Grover Norquist.Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, breaking ranks with the militant anti-tax wing of his party. 41 senators have signed Norquist’s pledge—which is essentially a promise to never, ever vote for any revenue or tax increase—but while the document used to be Republican orthodoxy, its influence is showing signs of crumbling. Chambliss’ colleagues Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Tom Coburn have all recently called for Republicans to abandon the pledge, as has former governor Jeb Bush. While Norquist is a very powerful figure in DC, he isn’t an elected official. He derives power solely from Republicans’ decision to grant him power, and if their subservience to his demands goes away, so does the bulk of his political influence. source
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