■ 07 February 2012 | 5:00 AM
Pledge to voters
Re 'Varied views greet Rigell after switch on tax pledges,' front page, Jan 31: I am encouraged that Rep. Scott Rigell has disavowed his no-new-taxes pledge to Grover Norquist. I voted for Rigell, not Norquist. Rigell displayed courage in recognizing that we're in dire economic times that demand sacrifice by all. We need not only to cut government spending but also to reform our tax code and end tax loopholes.
For all those on the extreme right and left, compromise is the key to good government. Our Constitution was hammered together by compromise. Those having the attitude of 'my way or the highway' defy the spirit of the Constitution.
John Gossner
Virginia Beach
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Agreed
Agreed and well said. Representatives that DO change their minds after looking deeper into a situation and have the guts to stand up to people like Norquist have my respect and my vote.
Norquist is like the officer of a ship that insists on pumping out the water but doesn't want to plug the holes that let the water in in the first place. He is an unelected power broker that is a serious danger to this country.
The U.S. Constitution WAS a compromise, and a hard fought one too. That same spirit is missing today in our leadership and is harming America in many ways.
Taxes should be a SMALL part of our compromise
The reason for our deficit has much more to do with our growing expenditures than with our limited tax revenues. We simply can't balance the budget by increasing taxes enough to cover the total deficit without killing the goose that lays these golden taxes. We are living far beyond our means just like Greece and the other European countries and will soon experience their fate unless we cut spending.
However, in the spirit of compromise, I’d be willing to raise taxes so we all make some sacrifice, but I’d prefer to see three dollars of spending reduction for every dollar of new taxes. When this compromise was tried in the past, the taxes always seemed to be imposed but the spending cuts never materialized. Conservatives won’t be fooled this way again, so before we discuss how to raise taxes, I’d need to see a firm plan for how to cut spending.
Let's give Rigell the benefit of the doubt.
And say he signed the Norquist pledge as a matter of principle. What does that say about his decision to renounce it? Have his principles changed? Or is he just now running scared since he and the other GOPT Congressmen have become a national joke and embarassment?
Courage?
When Rigell needed Tea Party support to get himself elected, he signed their pledge. Now that he is facing a moderate challenger, he is talking more moderately. That isn't political courage, that is political expediency.
Rep. Rigell has voted the extreme right "my way or the highway" House Republican Party line 91.9% of the time. Any actual compromise remains to be seen.
http://www.opencongress.org/people/votes_with_party/house/republican