Norquist: Tea party resurgence if no "fiscal cliff" deal
Grover Norquist is predicting that President Obama will be the political target of tea partiers if a deal on averting the "fiscal cliff" fails to materialize.
"Tea party two is going to dwarf tea party one if Obama pushes us off the cliff," said Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, on NBC's "Meet the Press".
"Let's not pretend who's pushing us over the cliff."
Norquist, who for decades has promoted a hard line on tax increases and has had hundreds of lawmakers sign anti-tax pledge, has become a focus as members of Congress work on the "fiscal cliff". A major part of the "cliff" is whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, which expire at the end of the year.
Many Republicans want to extend all of the tax cuts, while several , including Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., have said letting the cuts expire for the wealthiest Americans should be part of the discussion, putting them at odds with Norquist's pledge.
"There are a handful of people who have said maybe I could raise taxes under some circumstances," Norquist told CBS News' Bob Schieffer last week. "Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said if the Democrats give me ten-to-one dollars on entitlement reform, that's ironclad and can't be revoked, I would consider a tax increase. And I've had this conversation with him. I've also said, senator, nobody is going to offer you that. You just told us you'd be willing to buy a silver unicorn. But there aren't any silver unicorns."