Grover Norquist

Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is an influential American conservative activist and lobbyist. He currently serves as president of anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform. Image File history File links Grover_Norquist. ... Image File history File links Grover_Norquist. ... is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Conservatism in the United States comprises a constellation of political ideologies including fiscal conservatism, free market or economic liberalism, social conservatism,[1] bioconservatism and religious conservatism,[2][3] as well as support for a strong military,[4] small government and promotion of states rights. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ... Lobbying is the practice of private advocacy with the goal of influencing a governing body, in order to ensure that an individuals or organizations point of view is represented in the government. ... “Taxes” redirects here. ... This article is about the political effort. ... Americans for Tax Reform is an interest group seeking to reduce the overall level of taxation in the United States, at the federal, state and local level. ...

Early years and career

Norquist, who is of Swedish descent, grew up in Weston, Massachusetts, where he learned politics at an early age when his father would liken each bite he took out of his ice cream cone to a different type of tax levied by the government. His political leanings were cemented at the age of eleven by reading anti-Communist tracts such as Masters of Deceit by J. Edgar Hoover and Witness by Whittaker Chambers.^[1] Swedish Americans are U.S. Americans with Swedish heritage, most often related to the large groups of immigrants from Sweden in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. ...   Settled: 1642 â€“ Incorporated: 1713 Zip Code(s): 02493 â€“ Area Code(s): 781 Official website: http://www. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Missing image Ice cream is often served on a stick Boxes of ice cream are often found in stores in a display freezer. ... John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an influential but controversial Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). ... Whittaker Chambers, 1948 Jay Vivian (David Whittaker) Chambers (April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer, editor, Communist party member and spy for the Soviet Union who defected and became an outspoken opponent of communism. ...

Norquist received a B.A. (economics) from Harvard College, which he attended from 1974 to 1978, living in Winthrop House. He later received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (1979–1981).^[2] Harvard Yard Harvard College is the undergraduate section and oldest school of Harvard University, founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts Legislature. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Winthrop House Crest John Winthrop House is the one of the twelve undergraduate residences at Harvard College and home to slightly under 400 students. ... Harvard Business School, officially named the Harvard Business School: George F. Baker Foundation, and also known as HBS, is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ...

After leaving professional school, Norquist became executive director of both the National Taxpayers Union and the national College Republicans organization, holding both positions until 1983. He was an economist and chief speech writer for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 1983 to 1984.^[3] National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is an pro-taxpayers advocacy organization in the United States, founded in 1969 by James Dale Davidson. ... The College Republicans is an organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the worlds largest not-for-profit business federation, representing 3,000,000 businesses 2,800 state and local chambers 830 business associations They are staffed with policy specialists, lobbyists and lawyers. ...

Norquist founded Americans for Tax Reform in 1985, at the request of President Reagan, and has headed the organization ever since. ^[4] Although he is best known as the head of that organization, his introduction to conservative politics was rooted in the anti-Soviet arguments of the Cold War. "I was actually a foreign-policy conservative first," he told an interviewer in 1998. Reagan, an Irish surname, may refer to: // Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of The United States Nancy Reagan, the wife of Ronald Reagan and influential First Lady Ron Reagan, President Reagans son and liberal journalist Michael Reagan, President Reagans son and conservative talk show host Maureen Reagan, President... CCCP redirects here. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ...

From 1985 to 1988, Norquist was also an economic advisor to Angola UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi.^[5] During this period, he was registered with the United States Department of Justice as a foreign agent of Angola.^[6] A UNITA sticker The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, commonly known by the acronymn, UNITA, derived from its Portuguese name União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, is an Angolan political faction and a former rebel force. ... Jonas Malheiro Savimbi (August 3, 1934–February 22, 2002) was a rebel leader in Angola who founded the UNITA movement in 1966, and ultimately proved a central figure in 20th century Cold War politics. ... The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C. “Justice Department” redirects here. ...

In addition to heading Americans for Tax Reform, Norquist is currently on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association^[7] and the American Conservative Union.^[8] He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and chairman emeritus of the Islamic Free Market Institute. He was the chair of the September 2005 convention of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies.^[9] Americans for Tax Reform is an interest group seeking to reduce the overall level of taxation in the United States, at the federal, state and local level. ... Chairman of the Board redirects here. ... This article concerns the National Rifle Association of the USA. For the UK organisation, see National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is a non-profit group for the promotion of marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection of hunting and personal protection firearm rights... The American Conservative Union (ACU) is a large conservative political lobbying group in the United States. ... The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an influential and independent, nonpartisan foreign policy membership organization founded in 1921 and based at 58 East 68th Street (corner Park Avenue) in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C. Through its membership, meetings, and studies, it has been... The Islamic Free Market Institute (also known simply as the Islamic Institute) is a Muslim outreach group founded by Grover Norquist and Khaled Suffuri in 1999. ... The National Federation of Republican Assemblies is an organization which seeks to promote conservative principles and candidates within in the United States Republican Party. ...

Political importance on national politics

Norquist is one of the so-called "Gang of Five" identified in Nina Easton's 2000 book by that name, which gives a history of leaders of the modern conservative movement. He has been described as "a thumb-in-the-eye radical rightist" (The Nation), and "Tom Paine crossed with Lee Atwater plus just a soupçon of Madame Defarge" (P.J. O'Rourke). Norquist's page on the web site of Americans for Tax Reform includes a laudatory quote about him from former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Indeed, Norquist co-authored the 1994 Contract with America. Nina Easton is the Washington bureau chief for Fortune magazine. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... The Nation (ISSN 0027-8378) is a weekly [1] U.S. periodical devoted to politics and culture, self-described as the flagship of the left. [2] Founded on July 6, 1865 as an Abolitionist publication, it is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. ... For other persons of the same name, see Thomas Paine (disambiguation). ... Harvey Leroy Lee Atwater (February 26, 1951 – March 29, 1991) was an American Republican political consultant and strategist. ... Madame Defarge is the wife of Ernest Defarge and a tireless worker for the French Revolution in the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. ... Patrick Jake ORourke (born November 14, 1947) is an American political satirist, journalist, and writer. ... Americans for Tax Reform is an interest group seeking to reduce the overall level of taxation in the United States, at the federal, state and local level. ... The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is the presiding officer—or speaker—of the United States House of Representatives. ... Newton Leroy Gingrich, (born June 17, 1943), served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. ...

In 1999, he was instrumental in securing early support for then Texas Governor George W. Bush, continuing a decades-long association with Karl Rove ("The Wall Street Journal's John Fund dubbed him "the Grand Central Station" of conservatism and told The Nation: "It's not disputable" that Norquist was the key to the Bush campaign's surprising level of support from movement conservatives in 2000") [1]. After Bush's election to the White House in 2000, Norquist was the prime architect behind the many Bush tax-cuts ("Grover Norquist: 'Field Marshal' of the Bush Plan") [2]. George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States of America, originally inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is an international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company in New York City, New York, USA, with Asian and European editions, and a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million as of 2006, with 931,000 paying online subscribers. ... John Fund Born 1957 in Tucson, Arizona. ... The Nation (ISSN 0027-8378) is a weekly [1] U.S. periodical devoted to politics and culture, self-described as the flagship of the left. [2] Founded on July 6, 1865 as an Abolitionist publication, it is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. ...

Norquist is "adept at media appearances ... writes a monthly politics column for the American Spectator magazine, and frequently speaks at regional and state think tanks of the conservative movement," according to the critical website MediaTransparency.Org. The American Spectator is a conservative-leaning American monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. ... This article is about the institution. ... Ths article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ...

Wednesday Meetings

Shortly after Bill Clinton was elected president of the United States in 1992, Norquist began hosting a weekly get-together of conservatives in his Washington office to coordinate activities and strategy. "We were sort of like the Mensheviks after the Russian Revolution," recalls Marshall Wittmann, who attended the first meeting as a representative of the Christian Coalition. William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Leaders of the Menshevik Party at Norra Bantorget in Stockholm, Sweden, May 1917. ... Marshall Wittmann is a pundit, author, and sometime political activist. ... This article is about the organization presently operating in the United States. ...

In 1994 Norquist worked with Newt Gingrich and the Heritage Foundation to draft the Contract with America. Newton Leroy Gingrich, (born June 17, 1943), served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. ... The Heritage Foundation is a public policy research institute based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. ... The Contract with America was a document released by the Republican Party of the United States during the 1994 Congressional election campaign. ...

The "Wednesday Meeting" of Norquist's Leave Us Alone Coalition has become an important hub of conservative political organizing. George W. Bush began sending a representative to the Wednesday Meeting even before he formally announced his candidacy for president in 1999. "Now a White House aide attends each week," reported USA Today in June 2001. "Vice President Cheney sends his own representative. So do GOP congressional leaders, right-leaning think tanks, conservative advocacy groups and some like-minded K Street lobbyists. The meeting has been valuable to the White House because it is the political equivalent of one-stop shopping. By making a single pitch, the administration can generate pressure on members of Congress, calls to radio talk shows, and political buzz from dozens of grassroots organizations. It also enables the White House to hear conservatives vent in private — and to respond — before complaints fester".^[10] The Leave Us Alone Coalition is an idea popularized by conservative/libertarian activist Grover Norquist for a wide-ranging and loose collaboration among various elements of U.S. politics, united by a common desire for minimal involvement with and restrictions from government, especially the U.S. federal government. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States of America, originally inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. ... Richard Bruce Dick Cheney (born January 30, 1941), is the 46th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President George W. Bush. ... K Street, epicenter of American lobbying. ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ... Congress in Joint Session. ...

Lobbying career

Norquist has represented various corporate interests including, American Express, National Rifle Association, Microsoft. Records show that Microsoft paid Grover Norquist $60,000 in 1999.^[11] American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as AmEx or Amex, is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. ... This article concerns the National Rifle Association of the USA. For the UK organisation, see National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is a non-profit group for the promotion of marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection of hunting and personal protection firearm rights... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ...

Influence on state and local politics

Norquist's national strategy includes recruiting politicians at the state and local levels.

In 2004 Norquist helped California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with selling his plan to privatize the CalPERS system.^[12] Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): ) (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-born American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of the U.S. state of California. ... The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) provides pension fund, healthcare and other retirement services for 1. ...

In Virginia, Norquist was involved in the 2005 Republican primaries, trying to unseat a number of legislators who voted for higher taxes. Norquist has helped to set up regular meetings for conservatives in many states, meetings modelled on his Wednesday meetings in Washington. He wants to set up a nationwide network of conservative activists that he can call upon to support his causes, such as tax cuts and deregulation. There are now meetings in forty-eight states.^[13] This article is about the U.S. state. ...

Connections to Jack Abramoff

Main article: Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal

Jack Abramoff pled guilty to conspiracy to corrupt public officials, mail fraud and tax evasion on January 3, 2006. According to an investigative report on Abramoff's lobbying released in June 2006 by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) served as a "conduit" for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to surreptitiously finance grass-roots lobbying campaigns. A second group Norquist was involved with, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, received about $500,000 in Abramoff client funds.[3] This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... The Jack Abramoff Guam investigation involves an alleged plot by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others to control the functions of the courts in Guam. ... The Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal involves the efforts of Jack Abramoff, other lobbyists, and government officials to change and/or prevent Congressional action regarding the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) and businesses on the main island of Saipan. ... The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (IGPA) was a 1999 bill in the US Senate to ban Internet gambling defeated, in large part, by the lobbying efforts of Jack Abramoff. ... The monetary influence of Jack Abramoff run deep in Washington, as Jack Abramoff spent millions of dollars to influence and entertain Republican politicians. ... SunCruz Casinos is one of many cruise lines that offer cruises to nowhere, taking passengers into international waters out of reach of the federal and state gambling laws. ... Jack Abramoff (born February 28, 1958) is an American political lobbyist, a Republican political activist and businessman who is a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals. ... R. Jared Carpenter is a Republican environmental activist. ... Italia Federici is the President of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA). ... James Steven Griles (born December 13, 1947) is the Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Interior. ... William Heaton is the former chief of staff for Rep. ... Adam Kidan is a former business associate of indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who partnered with Abramoff in the purchase of SunCruz Casinos. ... Robert William Bob Ney (born July 5, 1954) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. ... Tony C. Rudy, with Ed Buckhams Alexander Strategy Group which shutdown January 9, 2006, served as Deputy Chief of Staff (and former counsel) to House Majority Leader Thomas D. DeLay (R-Texas) until 2001, when he took a job with Jack Abramoff. ... Michael Scanlon is a former communications director for Rep. ... Roger G. Stillwell (born October 13, 1939), an American lobbyist. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Mark Zachares is a former Congressional aide to Rep. ... David Hossein Safavian (suh-FAY-vee-an) was chief of staff of the United States General Services Administration (GSA), the procurement arm of the U.S. federal government and in 2004, an employee of the Office of Management and Budget. ... Edwin A. Buckham is a former congressional staffer and lobbyist, who presently is under investigation in various scandals surrounding high-profile lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Congressman Tom DeLay. ... Thomas Dale DeLay (born April 8, 1947) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas. ... Thomas Charles Tom Feeney III, usually known as Tom Feeney (born May 21, 1958), is a Republican politician from the state of Florida. ... Team Abramoff is the team of lobbyists assembled by Jack Abramoff when he worked at Greenberg Traurig, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Susan Bonzon Ralston worked as an administrative assistant for Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed before being hired in 2001 as the most senior assistant to Karl Rove in The West Wing of the White House. ... Ralph Eugene Reed, Jr. ... Kevin A. Ring is a lobbyist and Of Counsel at the Barnes & Thornburg LLP law firm in Washington, DC. [1] On June 28, 2005, Jon Kamman reported in The Arizona Republic that Ring no longer represented the Hopi Tribe following harsh questioning by Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) on Ring... A list of organizations related to Jack Abramoff. ... List of Jack Abramoffs tribal clients: Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Pueblo of Sandia Pueblo of Santa Clara Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Tigua Indian Reservation Category: ... A listing of trips for politicians, lobbyists, and staffers funded by Jack Abramoff. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Jack Abramoff (born February 28, 1958) is an American political lobbyist, a Republican political activist and businessman who is a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals. ... is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Americans for Tax Reform is an interest group seeking to reduce the overall level of taxation in the United States, at the federal, state and local level. ... Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy or CREA, is an anti-environmental charity and lobbying group, headed by Italia Federici, and is involved with the Jack Abramoff scandals. ...

Norquist has been close friends with Abramoff since college, when he ran Abramoff’s successful campaign to become national chairman of the College Republicans.

In 1996, the Choctaw tribe, an Abramoff client, donated $60,000 to ATR to oppose a tax on Indian casinos. The funds continued; in 1999, Norquist moved $1.15 million in Abramoff client money to Ralph Reed's for-profit political consulting company, Century Strategies, and to anti-gambling groups working to defeat a state lottery in Alabama. The money routing was deliberate: in one email reminder to himself, Abramoff wrote: "Call Ralph re Grover doing pass through." For other uses, see Choctaw (disambiguation). ... Ralph Eugene Reed, Jr. ...

ATR kept a small percentage of the funds that passed though the organization. In May 1999, Norquist asked Abramoff "What is the status of the Choctaw stuff?", in an email. "I have a 75g [$75,000] hole in my budget from last year. ouch." Abramoff eventually grew annoyed at the amount that Norquist took off the top before sending the money on, e-mails show. "Grover kept another $25 k!" Abramoff wrote in a February 2000 note to himself. [4]

On May 9, 2001, Chief Raul Garza of the Kickapoo tribe of Texas met with President Bush, with Jack Abramoff and Grover Norquist in attendance. Days before the meeting, the tribe paid $25,000 to Grover Norquist's ATR at Abramoff's direction. According to the organization's communications director, John Kartch, the meeting was one of several gatherings with President Bush sponsored by ATR. On the same day, the chief of the Louisiana Coushattas also attended an ATR-sponsored gathering with President Bush. The Coushattas also gave $25,000 to ATR soon before the event. This article is about the Native American tribe. ...

The details of the Kickapoo meeting and a letter dated May 10, 2001 from ATR thanking the Kickapoos for their contribution were revealed to the New York Times in 2006 by former council elder Isidro Garza, who with Raul Garza (no relation), is under indictment in Texas for embezzling tribal money. According to Isidro Garza, Abramoff did not say the donation was required to meet the president; the White House denied any knowledge of the transaction.^[14]

Emails released in an October 12, 2006 report by the US Senate Finance Committee investigation, show that Norquist exchanged support for cash donations to ATR. Abramoff asked Norquist, "I have sent over a $50K contribution from DH2 (the mutual fund client). Any sense as to where we are on the op-ed placement?" To which Norquist replied, "The Wash Times told me they were running the piece. . . . I will nudge again."^[15]

Norquist denies that he has done anything wrong, although the association with Abramoff has affected his reputation.^[13] Whether Norquist could face criminal charges, in addition to civil actions against ATR for violating its non-profit charter, according to experts, is unclear. ^{[16] [17]}

Janus-Merritt Strategies

Main article: Janus-Merritt Strategies

In 1997, Norquist and lawyer David Safavian (who was later sentenced to 18 months in prison for lying and obstruction in connection with dealings with Abramoff) founded a lobbying firm, the Merritt Group, later renamed Janus-Merritt Strategies (sometimes referred to as "Janus Merritt" or simply "Janus"). Over the next five years, the firm's clients included international companies, Indian gaming interests, the government of Pakistan and the government of Gabon, and the American Muslim Council and Abdurahman Alamoudi, a fierce supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah. Senate disclosure reports on file show that for years Janus-Merritt registered as a lobbyist for Alamoudi. In 2002, Janus-Merritt was sold to the firm Williams Mullen. Norquist has refused to release tax records of the firm for the period during which he and Safavian owned the company. Janus-Merritt Strategies was a lobbying firm founded in 1997 by conservative activist Grover Norquist and then-lawyer David Safavian, who would later become better known as the chief of staff in the General Services Administration and for his conviction in the Abramoff-Reed Indian lobbying scandal. ... David Hossein Safavian (suh-FAY-vee-an) was chief of staff of the United States General Services Administration (GSA), the procurement arm of the U.S. federal government and in 2004, an employee of the Office of Management and Budget. ... The American Muslim Council is a Muslim organization aimed at empowerment of American Muslims. ... Abdurahman Alamoudi was born in the country of Eritrea and later became a naturalized American citizen. ... Hamas (Arabic: ; acronym: Arabic: , or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or Islamic Resistance Movement,[1]) is a Palestinian Sunni Muslim militant organization. ... For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ...

Other criticisms and controversies

Religious allies

Norquist's Muslim outreach to groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has drawn criticism from former Reagan Administration official Frank Gaffney for getting too close to some of its members who have not only openly expressed sympathy with Hamas and Hezbollah but refused to condemn their terrorist activities against Israel. According to an article^[18] in The New Republic, Norquist believes that American Jews will never vote Republican in numbers large enough to make a difference in elections, so the party should reach out to Muslims. The Council for an American Islamic Republic(CAIR) is an Islamic advocacy group in North America, funded by American Muslims and also in significant part by sources with connections to Arab Middle Eastern governments. ... President Reagan, with his Cabinet and staff, in the Oval Office (February 4, 1981) Headed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989, the Reagan Administration was conservative, steadfastly anti-Communist and in favor of tax cuts and smaller government. ... Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. ... The Council for an American Islamic Republic(CAIR) is an Islamic advocacy group in North America, funded by American Muslims and also in significant part by sources with connections to Arab Middle Eastern governments. ... Hamas (Arabic: ; acronym: Arabic: , or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or Islamic Resistance Movement,[1]) is a Palestinian Sunni Muslim militant organization. ... For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ... Terrorist redirects here. ... For other uses, see New Republic. ... A Jewish American (also commonly American Jew) is an American (a citizen of the United States) of Jewish descent who maintains a connection to the Jewish community, either through actively practicing Judaism or through cultural and historical affiliation. ...

Alleged links to radical Islamists and terrorism

In 1998, Norquist founded the Islamic Free Market Institute^[19] (sometimes just called the "Islamic Institute") with money from a number of sources, mainly in the Middle East. One of the early major contributors was Abdurahman Alamoudi, the founder of the American Muslim Council. Alamoudi appears to have contributed $35,000 to the Islamic Institute.^[20] Abdurahman Alamoudi was born in the country of Eritrea and later became a naturalized American citizen. ...

Minimizing government power

Norquist has been noted for his widely quoted quip: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."^[21] This is a facetious restatement of the Americans for Tax Reform mission statement: "The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax. We believe that power should be minimized."^[22]

The pledge of "no new taxes" that many Republican legislators have signed was his project. As of mid-2005, more than two hundred and twenty Republicans in the House of Representatives had signed this pledge; in the Senate, forty-six Republicans had done so.^[13] The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ...

"Cutting the government in half in one generation is both an ambitious and reasonable goal," Norquist stated in May 2000. "If we work hard we will accomplish this and more by 2025. Then the conservative movement can set a new goal. I have a recommendation: To cut government in half again by 2050".^[23]

Following Hurricane Katrina, Thomas Friedman wrote an op-ed in the New York Times stating "An administration whose tax policy has been dominated by the toweringly selfish Grover Norquist ... doesn't have the instincts for this moment. Mr. Norquist is the only person about whom I would say this: I hope he owns property around the New Orleans levee that was never properly finished because of a lack of tax dollars. I hope his basement got flooded. And I hope that he was busy drowning government in his bathtub when the levee broke and that he had to wait for a U.S. Army helicopter to get out of town."^[24] Thomas Lauren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953), is an American journalist. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

When asked by Alain de Botton, "Why shouldn't the state help the needy?", in the television adaptation of Status Anxiety, Norquist replied, "Because to do that, you would have to steal money from people who earned it and give it to people who didn't. And then you make the state into a thief." Botton follows with, "You're suggesting that taxation is theft?" Norquist continues, "Taxation beyond the legitimate requirements of providing for justice is theft, sure." Alain de Botton, (born 20 December 1969 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a writer. ... “Taxes” redirects here. ...

Comparison of the estate tax to the Holocaust

A small controversy erupted after an interview between Norquist and Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air program. In the interview, Grover Norquist did not compare the morality that allows the estate tax to that which permitted the Holocaust. Norquist said that it is a problem when you allow the government to target groups of people and don't care if the group is a small group. Terry Gross attempted to put words in Norquists' mouth but he flatly denied comparing the Holocaust to the tax hikes, stating that he was comparing the governments' actions against certain groups of people. .^[25] Terry Gross (born 1951) is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview format radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio. ... For the Scottish student radio station, see Fresh Air (Edinburgh). ... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ...

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Grover Norquist

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ...

Personal

On April 2, 2005, Norquist married Samah Alrayyes. She had been the director of communications at the Islamic Free Market Institute, which Norquist founded. She is a CEO of her own communications firm and formerly a Public Affairs Specialist for Arab and Muslim outreach at the Bureau of Legislative and Public Affairs at USAID.^[26] USAID logo The United States Agency for International Development (or USAID) is the U.S. government organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1571/n3_v14/20174381/p1/article.jhtml
2. ^ http://watch.pair.com/database2.html
3. ^ http://www.mediatransparency.org/people/grover_norquist.htm
4. ^ http://www.atr.org/home/about/index.html
5. ^ http://auctionhouse.tpmcafe.com/story/2006/1/26/94216/1282
6. ^ http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fara/fara2nd97/COUNTRY/ANGOLA.HTM#5061
7. ^ http://www.nraleaders.com/grover-norquist.html
8. ^ http://www.conservative.org/pressroom/speakers/norquist.asp
9. ^ http://gopwing.com/modules.php?sid=963
10. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2001-06-01-grover.htm
11. ^ "Microsoft defends ties to Ralph Reed". Retrieved on 2007-10-02. 
12. ^ "CSR in the Cross-Hairs", Business Ethics, spring 2005. 
13. ^ ^{a b c} John Cassidy. "Wednesdays with Grover", New Yorker, July 25, 2001. Retrieved on 2007-04-30. 
14. ^ Philip Shenon. "$25,000 to Lobby Group Is Tied to Access to Bush", New York Times, March 10, 2006. 
15. ^ James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt. "Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff", Washington Post, October 13, 2006. 
16. ^ Paul Kiel. "Grover Faces Ruin, But No Jail Time", TPMmuckraker, June 23, 2006. 
17. ^ Paul Kiel. "Norquist Doings Not Criminal? Not So Fast", TMPmuckraker, June 24, 2006. 
18. ^ Franklin Foer, "Fevered Pitch", and article from The New Republic, November 12, 2001, alleging ties between Norquist and radical Islamist elements.
19. ^ Jonathan Weisman, "Powerful GOP Activist Sees His Influence Slip Over Abramoff Dealings", Washington Post, July 9, 2006
20. ^ Mary Jacoby, "Friends in high places", St. Petersburg Times, March 11, 2003
21. ^ "http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1123439">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1123439
22. ^ Mission Statement Americans for Tax Reform
23. ^ http://www.heritage.org/about/community/insider/2000/may00/welcome.html
24. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/opinion/07friedman.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists%2fThomas%20L%20Friedman
25. ^ Marx, Eric. "Anti-tax Activist Defends Holocaust Comparison", The Forward January 23, 2004.
26. ^ "Conference speaker biographies", Network of Arab American Professionals, 3rd Annual Conference, September 2005

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 275th day of the year (276th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... John Cassidy is an American business journalist. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the religion of Islam, see Islam. ... The Forward is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Democratic International
• K Street Project
• "Starve-the-beast"

The Democratic International, also known as the Jamba Jamboree, was a 1985 meeting of anti-communist global insurgents held at the headquarters of UNITA in the southeast Angolan city of Jamba, Angola. ... The K Street Project is a project by the Republican Party to pressure Washington lobbying firms to hire Republicans in top positions, and to reward loyal GOP lobbyists with access to influential officials. ... Starve-the-beast is a strategy of encouraging public budget deficits in order to force the government to reduce its spending. ...

External links

• Grover Norquist profile, NNDB.
• A lecture given by Elizabeth Drew at the Ninth Annual Knight Lecture, Stanford University, May 5, 1997.
• Testimony by Norquist to the Senate Judiciary Committee, September 7, 2001.
• Franklin Foer, "Fevered Pitch", and article from The New Republic, November 12, 2001, alleging ties between Norquist and radical Islamist elements.
• An article from National Review, March 19, 2003, describing a clash between Norquist and Frank Gaffney over Norquist's alleged ties to radical Islam.
• An article about Norquist in the Orlando Sentinel
• FEC complaint filed against Norquist, 4 February 2004.
• Grover Norquist compares the estate tax to the Holocaust.
• Norquist's articles for the American Spectator, the American Enterprise Institute and other venues.
• Speeches and Testimony by Grover Norquist and other ATR staff.
• Norquist interview with Reason Magazine, February 1997.
• transcript of an interview with Norquist on NOW with Bill Moyers.
• Government website from 1997 listing Grover Norquist as an agent of Jonas Savimbi's UNITA rebels in Angola and as an agent of the government of Seychelles who attempted to influence US Government policy in both of these nations.
• Jack Abramoff and Grover Norquist Billing Clients for Face Time with G.W. Bush