House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has at least one powerful ally in his latest effort to sell the GOP on a debt deal: tax hater extraordinaire, Grover Norquist.
Shortly after President Obama took to the air and urged both houses of congress to pass the newly thrashed-out debt deal, Norquist tweeted: “Real spending cuts. No tax hike. Gang of Six said it could not be done. 1982, 1990 are now bad memories we learned from. Onward.”
This should be helpful for the beleaguered Boehner. Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform are behind the no-tax pledge that has become a virtual entry requirement for any Republican congressman.
This backing could be useful, since many of the more hardcore conservatives are still opposing the agreement. That includes bombastic but influential bloggers like Red State’s Erick Erickson, as well as more august institutions such as the Heritage Foundation.
Still, Boehner might not find this all that helpful. Norquist supported his last bill too, which only passed the House after many long hours of battling recalcitrant members. Now that this new bill has had some of their key demands downgraded (such as the guaranteed passage of the constitution-changing Balanced Budget Amendment) Boehner might find it an ever harder sell.
On the other hand, the default deadline is Tuesday, and that ticking clock might help focus a lot of his members’ minds.
Thomas Lane
Thomas Lane is an associate editor at Talking Points Memo. He previously produced and reported for the BBC from its UN Bureau in New York. He is a dual citizen of the US and the UK.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.