Grover Norquist, author of the now famous/infamous no-tax pledge, was gives Republican icon Ronald Reagan a pass on all his tax hikes because, in part, “he didn’t sign the pledge.”
That tidbit was part of the discussion Monday, March 12, night between the president of Americans for Tax Reform and Jon Stewart on Stewart’s Comedy Central program.
Norquist defended his no-tax pledge, signed by most Republican Representatives and Senators, as being successful because it is simple.
Stewart countered that the no-tax pledge is too simplistic and absolutist. He pointed to George W. Bush’s administration, during which there were substantial tax cuts and which saw a budget surplus turn into a budget deficit.
Norquist said the problem with the younger Bush’s presidency was that spending didn’t stop.
So where, asked Stewart, is the stop spending pledge?
The Daily Show host characterized the no-tax pledge as great branding, but not good government policy.
The video clip above is part one of three. Links for the other two tax talk segments are at the end of the video because, Stewart said, his viewers always tell him, “I love your tax policy discussions, but they’re too short.”
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