Conservative icon sees Trump poised to break ‘first commandment of conservative politics’
“Many Republicans are signaling that the party might just break the first commandment of conservative politics,” according to a new report from The Atlantic. That commandment is raising taxes on the wealthy.
The plan comes with heavy criticism from renowned conservative Grover Norquist. “It’s an incredibly destructive idea economically, and very foolish politically,” the anti-tax activist told Russell Berman.
What was once a foreign concept to the Republicans might become reality, with support from some members and Trump advisors.
“The reality is that the constituency and base of the Republican Party is shifting,” former adviser to Mitt Romney Oren Cass told The Atlantic, “and there is rightly and deservedly much more focus on the concerns of working families and much less on what corporations and the highest-income households want.”
Another Trump supporter advocating for the hike is Steve Bannon. “At some point, you have to make changes,” Bannon said, “and those changes are to not extend the tax cuts for the upper bracket.”
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However, Norquist does not agree. “Norquist’s opinion used to matter in the Republican Party,” penned Berman. “Maybe it still does. Before President Donald Trump came along, Norquist was the nation’s most powerful enforcer of GOP orthodoxy, at least when it came to taxes.”
Norquist, who founded Americans for Tax Reform, believes Cass’s critique is blasphemy and Bannon is jeopardizing Trump’s legacy.
The 68-year-old was quick to note, Trump has repeatedly promised to make permanent his 2017 tax cuts, including those for the top income bracket. He recalled what happened to President George H.W. Bush when he did an about-face on tax hike. “His tombstone doesn’t say, Won Cold War. It says, Lied and Raised Taxes,” Norquist told Berman.
“But Norquist knows that the Republican whose opinion matters most is Trump,” Berman penned. “If the president wants to shift the party’s position on taxes, as he has on tariffs, Norquist will likely be powerless to stop him.”