Free Republic

Grover Norquist is known as an anti-tax crusader, but in the coming weeks he will be just as much a pro-immigration crusader, combatting what he calls the “bitter enders” who oppose comprehensive immigration reform. Norquist says that he’s trying to counteract the effect of “a handful of radio talk-show hosts who talk loudly.” “The bitter-enders who are still responding to radio talk-show hosts from eight years ago haven’t noticed that the world has shifted from underneath them,” he says. “The people who need cover are the guys who are still voting like they were Pat Buchanan.” Advertisement Norquist’s group, Americans...

To the list of liberals who vote for higher taxes -- and then proceed to complain about them -- add comedian Bill Maher. Incredibly, the caustic, left-wing Maher recently warned, "ln California, I just want to say: Liberals -- you could actually lose me." As a resident of California, a state with high income taxes, Maher complained that his taxes are "over 50 percent." What's more, Maher made a point seldom heard except on Fox News or by a rich Parisian. Maher said, "Rich people ... actually do pay the freight in this country ... like 70 percent" of the...

Anti-Muslim activist and blogger Pam Geller said Saturday at a CPAC panel of rouge conservative activists that a board member of the group that puts on the annual conservative conference is worse than a terrorist killed by an American drone strike in Yemen. Geller said the reason she and the other panelists — including fellow anti-Muslim activists Frank Gaffney and Robert Spencer — were barred from CPAC because of the nefarious influence of board members Grover Norquist and Suhail Khan. The three anti-Muslim activists have for years accused Gaffney and Khan of being members of the Muslim Brotherhood and secret...

Over at Atlas Shrugs I discuss why the common categorization of me as "right-wing" is all wrong: Many years ago, when I interviewed the great avant-garde saxophonist Charles Gayle, I asked him about bitter criticism he had received for his tendency to preach a pro-life message in the middle of his concerts. “Yeah,” he said with some amusement, “they always call me ‘right-wing.’ Man, I ain’t got no wings!” Neither do I. And as the events of the past week have shown, I am not “right-wing,” either; nor am I a conservative. Throughout my public career, of course, the mainstream...

For anyone going to the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), I’m sure by now you’re aware that there will be no panels conducted regarding the threat of Islam this year.  All of our leading experts on Islam–Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Frank Gaffney and others–have been banned from speaking and/or holding panels.Unfortunately, many Conservatives still aren’t aware that two of the most influential organizers of CPAC—seemingly innocuous tax guru Grover Norquist and former aide in the Bush administration Suhail Khan—are fighting together to eliminate any dissenting voices about the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.  Why is this?Last year, I...

Popular radio show host Sean Casey (The Morning Show with Sean and Frank) had CPAC chief Al Cardenas on his show today, and Sean asked Cardenas about my banning at CPAC (a story that has gone viral). If you recall, Al Cardenas told the Washington Post last week: "...this year we decided not to invite Pamela Geller for comments she made at CPAC critical of our officers [ Grover Norquist]. In each of these cases, their ad hominem attacks denigrate the debate and distract from the real point of CPAC....." But in his response to Sean Casey this morning, he...

For decades, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has been a barometer of the different political tendencies inside the right-wing. In the 1980s, Reagan administration officials and Reaganite New Rightists dominated the podium. Pres. Reagan spoke at CPAC in both 1984 and 1988. In the 1990s, culture warriors like Pat Buchanan and the Rev. Pat Robertson joined Republican regulars such as Sens. Bob Dole and Phil Gramm. At this years’ CPAC13, Tea Party leaders and Tea Party-supported politicians will dominate the proceedings. The result is an agenda filled with bigots, conspiracy mongers, and publicity hounds. Consider the inclusion of...

I was surprised and honored that Jihad Watch was among the nominees for the People's Choice Blog Award, sponsored by Right Wing News and TheTeaParty.net, to be awarded at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2013. As you can see from the vote above, Jihad Watch won decisively, getting over 50% of the vote in a field of fifteen. And I received confirmation of the victory from one of the organizers of the CPAC blog awards when I asked him when voting officially ended: From: XXXXXXXXX Subject: Re: You've Been Nominated For A People's Choice Award At the CPAC Blogger...

Conservatives confronted with the Republican Party's "stupid party" image after the November 2012 election will be gathering on March 14-16 for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. CPAC is an annual, 3-day gathering of conservative activists and political leaders who network and set the tone of the conservative political agenda. This year, CPAC has not been without controversy . Box Turtle Bulletin's Timothy Kinkaid has pointed out that gays — and in particular, GOProud — are banned from any formal role because of the cries of the Family Research Council and other religious right activists. Chris Christie,...

For the last four years, Pamela Geller of AtlasShrugs.com and the American Freedom Defense Initiative have held events at CPAC featuring guests she invites to discuss the influence of Islamism on America. But this year, the American Conservative Union (ACU) has no room for Geller or her message. [...] In years past, the events were standing room only thanks to their popularity, but that apparently was not enough to counter pressure brought to bear from somewhere to exclude Geller’s message.

Americans for Tax Reform head Grover Norquist says that large-scale immigration is good for America and the Republican Party — and that critics of easy immigration should get out of the way. “There are a whole bunch of people who are listening to loud voices, some of whom claim to be Republican … talking about [employers] who didn’t fill out the paperwork, about going after [an immigrant's] aunt,” said Norquist, whose opposition to tax increases has made him popular among Republicans and a hate-figure among progressives. Once advocates for tighter immigration are sidelined, the GOP will be able to win...

Shortly after the Center for Immigration Studies put out a report warning that the Student and Exchange Visitor Program was widely unregulated and abused, the Obama Administration has decided to dispose of the last restrictions instituted after 9/11 to prevent a repeat of the revolving door Saudi visa system. The United States, a decade after Al Qaida strikes in New York and Washington, has opened its doors to Saudi nationals. Diplomats said the administration of President Barack Obama has removed most restrictions on the entry of Saudis to the United States. They said the percentage of visa approvals for Saudis...

Over the last four years, a die-hard cadre of activists and their allies in Congress have dragged the Republican Party into a fever swamp of Islamophobia and barely-concealed anti-Muslim bigotry. In their paranoid scenario, Islamic Shariah law is creeping into American courts; the Department of Justice has come under the sway of the Muslim Brotherhood; and the president’s engagement ring includes secret writing that indicates Muslim loyalties. But after a November election that saw three of the party's loudest voices on "creeping Shariah" defeated—and the GOP presidential nominee ignore the issue entirely—the anti-Islam movement within the Republican party may have...

Grover Norquist, the Americans for Tax Reform president and anti-tax activist who has become a key figure in the ongoing negotiations on the fiscal cliff, took to Twitter as the House was voting Tuesday night to give his blessing to the deal: "The Bush tax cuts lapsed at midnight last night. Every R voting for Senate bill is cutting taxes and keeping his/her pledge." "Congress about to make permanent most of the temporary tax cuts that Democrats voted against in 2001 and 2003. Permanent beats temporary."

Despite Democrats' intransigent, no-way-no-how screeching about John Boehner's "Plan B," House Republican leaders are pressing forward with the option behind the scenes.  Those efforts received an important boost today when Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform released a statement affirming that the potential plan would not violate the group's oft-cited tax pledge:   ATR has consistently maintained that individual Members of Congress make a pledge to their constituents to oppose and vote against tax increases. The House this week will vote on a tax bill. This legislation—popularly known as “Plan B”--permanently prevents a tax increase on families making less than $1...

Listening to progressive media pundits, I'd think the most evil man in the universe is Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform. His crime? He heads a movement that asks political candidates to pledge not to raise taxes. I think Grover accomplished a lot. But I wish he'd convinced politicians to pledge not to increase spending. President Obama says raising taxes to cut the deficit is a "balanced" approach. Balanced ... But what's "balanced" about raising taxes after vast increases in spending? Trillions for war, Medicare, "stimulus" and solar panels. Tax receipts rose -- after tax-rate cuts -- from...

It’s apparently cool for the cool kids to think that Grover Norquist is a dweeb. Yes, the guy who has been warning all of us about the untenable nature of the federal tax-and-spend system, the guy who came up with the novel idea that the Republican Party should actually stand for something- and be held accountable for campaign promises- is in trouble now. Prior to the election, the reason why politicians like Barack Obama and Lindsey Graham trimmed their sails to the political winds in the first place and extended the Bush era tax cuts was because a guy like...

Among the Don’s and Capo’s of the K street syndicate operates a man of considerable yet waning influence, his name is Grover Glenn Norquist. Mr. Norquist’s controversial “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” has come under recent fire from both high ranking Democrats and so-call conservative Republican supporters. To many Americans, Norquist’s small government and tax reform agenda has made him a man worthy of praise. However, as it is with all lobbyists, the general public would do well to consider Mr. Norquist’s loyalties before rushing to anoint another false patriot. For decades Grover Norquist has enriched himself with his legislative crusades to...

Washington -- What is a Republican elected official? A Republican elected official is one who says, "I won't raise my constituents' taxes." Asked to elaborate, the Republican elected official explains, "I will keep taxes down to allow the economy to grow and to throw off ever more tax revenue." The Republican believes that the way to pay for government is to let the economy roar ... and to keep spending reasonable. What is a Democratic elected official? Back in the early 1960s a Democratic elected official, at least when it came to growing the economy, was not much different from...

Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., was on cruise control to win a 2014 bid for re-election until he made a comment on a station in Macon, Ga., that ignited a political firestorm. In essence, Chambliss hedged on a prior pledge never to raise taxes, stating that in light of the "fiscal cliff" the country is facing, his devotion to the nation was more important than a 20-year-old statement or pledge. That's when the fireworks started. The first to seize on the comment was tax-fighting lobbyist Grover Norquist, who suggested that voters in the Peach State should hold Chambliss to...