Is Grover Norquist's no-tax pledge losing its grip on GOP?
By Dan Morain, September 27, 2012
The question was simple enough. If California Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen could do it over again, would she have signed the pledge in which she promised to never vote to raise taxes?
She paused and thought and finally said she didn't know.
"The pledge has become subject to arbitrary and illogical interpretations," the Modesto Republican said.
Olsen is one of several California Republicans who openly question the wisdom of the 33-word pledge in which politicians vow to "oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes."
Beltway conservative Grover Norquist promotes the pledge, using it to become a force in American politics and raise millions into his Americans for Tax Reform. Although the pledge plays well in Republican-dominated regions, cracks have developed in California.
Three of the four Republicans running in the most hotly contested state Senate races reject the pledge. No fewer than six Republicans who have legitimate shots at winning Assembly seats are non-signers. Five Republicans who could win congressional seats also reject it.
"I'm philosophically against abdicating my responsibility to someone else," said Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione, a non-signing Republican who has a strong chance of winning his congressional race.
Perhaps rejecting the pledge suggests Republicans are facing reality. Clearly, the California GOP needs to try something new. The party teeters on insolvency, registration sits at 31 percent, and the political system has changed.
An independent commission, rather than politicians, drew legislative and congressional districts that are more balanced, and the top-two primary forces politicians to appeal to moderates.
In Sacramento, Democrats hardly bother negotiating with Republicans over the budget – the most important legislation each year – because Pledge Zombies cannot talk about taxes.
As always in politics, there's a money angle. Lobbyists are frustrated by the blank stares they get when the topic turns to budgets and taxation, and interest groups are using their checkbooks to make their views known.
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Channeling Norquist, the Flashreport issued a not-so-subtle warning: "Moving forward, (Americans for Tax Reform) will be working to educate Californians as to how their representatives in Sacramento vote on this important matter."
Olsen shrugged. Business and industry groups, including oil and agriculture, backed the measure, which included provisions to help farmers in her San Joaquin Valley district.
She was one of three Assembly Republicans, independent Nathan Fletcher, and two Senate Republicans who voted for the measure.
"This was really important to my constituents," Olsen said. "They're the ones I'm accountable to, and no one else."
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