For many Republicans it was a shock to lose the general election, but for others it has opened the way to speak freely about new directions.
Over the last week four Republican members of Congress have publicly declared they would break the pledge they made to Grover Norquist’s anti-tax group, Americans for Tax Reform.
The Taxpayer Protection Pledge is over 20 years old, a majority of House Republicans signing the oath to never raise taxes in any form.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) was the first to break, announcing Wednesday, Nov. 21, that he was more concerned about preventing the “fiscal cliff” than breaking Norquist’s anti-tax pact.
“I care more about my country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge,” Chambliss told Georgia television network 13WMAZ. “If we do it his way then we'll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that.”
He was followed on Sunday, by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).
“I think Grover is wrong when it comes to ‘We can’t cap deductions and buy down debt,’” Graham said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform.”
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said economic conditions had changed since he signed the bill years ago. Now “everything should be on the table. ... We should not be taking ironclad positions,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
On Monday morning, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) joined the rebels, telling CBS’s Charlie Rose that he was “not obligated to the pledge.”
Political analysts say the rebellion suggests a new mood, Republican congressmen now more willing to chart their own course away from the current Republican Party line.
