Promises, Promises

The trouble with making promises is that eventually, you find yourself tempted to break them.

And several members of Congress who got themselves into a same-sex tax marriage with Grover Norquist – the anti-tax lobbyist – are now flirting with breaking that vow, now that it turns out to be more like a suicide pact, requiring them to leap from a certain cliff.

And the first step to breaking a vow is to come up with noble reasons.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee talked of courage:

“This is a very easy thing to do technically. What it takes is political courage,” he said.

Rep. Peter King of New York invoked Ronald Reagan:

“If Reagan and O’Neill could do it, Obama and Boehner can do it.”

Sen. Saxby Chambliss pointed out that he signed the pledge a long time ago:

“Times have changed significantly and I care more about this country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge,” Chambliss said.

Did I hear him include a little patriotism there? I think so:

“I care too much about my country. I care a lot more about it than I do Grover Norquist,” he said.

Yeah! Who is this Grover Norquist anyway?

“Grover Norquist has no plan to pay this debt down. His plan says you continue to add to this debt,” Chambliss said.

You know, he almost makes it sound like Grover Norquist kind of hates America.

Norquist himself is unruffled. The conservative tax crusader says most Republicans will stand firm, and President Obama will eventually have to extend the tax cuts as-is. We’ll know in about five weeks.