Who Cares?

Grover Norquist does not like President Obama. Grover Norquist does not like children. Grover Norquist is not in favor of higher taxes for poor people. Grover Norquist is in favor of cancer for poor people.

From Newt. Again. by Matt Bai:

I got a sense of what this kind of combative approach might sound like when I called Grover Norquist, the anti-tax zealot who convenes a weekly meeting of influential Republican operatives. Norquist was fuming that Obama, who had pledged not to raise taxes on anyone but the wealthy, had just signed a children’s health care bill that included a tax on cigarettes.

“He’s a liar,” Norquist said of the president. “He knew he was lying the whole time. Shame on him. He can no longer look us in the eye and say he won the election fair and square.” This seemed a little strong to me — it wasn’t as if Obama had just dumped nine million stolen votes out of a suitcase onto his desk — but Norquist was getting himself worked up now. “Rich people like him can afford an extra 61 cents,” he went on. “Poor people can’t. And he does not care.”

Let me try to understand this. Is Grover Norquist actually in agreement with Obama here? Because it sounds to me like Norquist is saying that a higher tax on rich people is OK, and that a higher tax on poor people is not OK. So, Grover Norquist favors a progressive tax? Just like Obama does.

Phew, I’m glad I didn’t have to write about Newt!