William B. Daniels posted this op-ed on truth-out.org relating the 30 year old California Propisition 13 to the Grover Norquist tax pledge. Proposition 13 requires a super majority of both California houses of Legislature to increase taxes. Daniels makes some good points about why Prop 13 may be unconstitutional, and how this arguement relates to the Norquist tax pledge.
http://www.truth-out.org/legislators-who-sign-anti-tax-norquist-pledge-a...
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Indeed. And what they get themselves into is their own ideological trap, whereby they cannot even use the word "compromise" as part of their role in Congress. Boehner couldn't even bring himself to say it in an interview on 60 minutes:
Boehner: 'I Reject the Word' Compromise
STAHL: But governing means compromising.
BOEHNER: It means working together.
STAHL: It also means compromising.
BOEHNER: It means finding common ground.
STAHL: Okay, is that compromising?
BOEHNER: I made it clear I am not going to compromise on my principles, nor am I going to compromise the will of the American people.
STAHL: What are you saying? You’re saying, “I want common ground, but I’m not gonna compromise.” I don’t understand that. I really don’t.
BOEHNER: When you say the word “compromise,” a lot of Americans look up and go, “Uh oh, they’re gonna sell me out.” And so finding common ground, I think, makes more sense.
In essense what's going on here is people like Norquist are using these ideological claptraps to essentially steal our representative voice from us in the name of a fringe group's entrenched ideology, a fringe group with the stated intention of destroying government in the name of government using a pledge to protect the people against their own Constitution. Pure propaganda.
Great lawsuit by Norris and Young identifying that these folks are revising the Constitution:
In view of their pledge to Americans for Tax Reform, signers make a false oath of office, because they have surrendered their power to tax to Norquist, in violation of Section 31. The California Government Code makes each Norquist signer's false oath of office an act of perjury, punishable by imprisonment for two, three, or five years.
(source referenced in the OP)
I was there for the toxic Prop 13 in California, and the first year I moved to Oregon we got Measure 5, its demon child. Devastating impacts in both cases. Attacks on democracy and brilliant propaganda funded by big money. Another reason why we have to talk democracy instead of beginning with economic issues other than the War on the Middle Class.
Legislators who sign the pledge are not against the constitution. They believe the two are consistent.
I always find this an irritating arguement that Thom makes all the time.
Sincerity aside, I cannot accept this degree of religious toleration. On the other hand, I do want us to discuss the Pledge instead of the Constitution because the latter is more like interpreting Leviticus as if it were the Word of God than dealing with the Beatitudes or even the Lord's Prayer. Getting the letter but having no clue about the spirit never is good enough.