The Republican "Leave-Us-Alone" Coalition - Grover Norquist

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/05/15/Grover_Norquist_on_the_Next_Republicanism

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist argues that the central unifying idea of the conservative movement is the belief that government should stay out of citizen's lives as much as possible.

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On May 15th, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform discussed his new book, Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives, and entertained questions from an audience at the New America Foundation.

Norquist began by analyzing the political landscape of American politics, dividing it into two inimically opposed coalitions: the "Takings Coalition," comprised of groups with a shared interest in feeding upon the earnings and wealth of others, and the "Leave Us Alone Coalition," composed of those with a common interest in keeping the government out of their lives.

While the components of each coalition contain diverse viewpoints on many issues, all are motivated to cooperate and vote by shared interest in one area: the degree to which a government should interact with the social and financial autonomy of its citizens.

The contrast between these two coalitions represents the ideological divide that will shape American domestic policy for the next several generations, according to Norquist. Their balance of power will decide the direction that American policy moves toward for the next generation.

Norquist went on to identify the trends that would alter this balance in the future, including differing fertility rates, the decline of hunting, and the expansion of stock ownership. He also discussed important legislative priorities for the "Leave Us Alone Coalition," such as portable health savings plans and individually mandated savings accounts - New America Foundation

Mr. Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a coalition of taxpayer groups, individuals and businesses opposed to higher taxes at both the federal, state, and local levels.

ATR organizes the TAXPAYER PROTECTION PLEDGE, which asks all candidates for federal and state office to commit themselves in writing to oppose all tax increases. To date, President George W. Bush, 193 House members, and 41 Senators have taken the pledge. On the state level, 7 governors and 1,221 state legislators have taken the pledge.

Mr. Norquist is author of the book Leave Us Alone -- Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives. The book is an optimistic look at how the conservative movement can and will grow during the next 25 years.

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[A4AgnstcFndmntlst]

I wish the Christian Right would leave me alone.

[fubar28]

i like to call my self a liberal libertarian.

i don't care about gay marriage or abortion; just keep my taxes down, don't take my money, and don't bother me.

simple.

[Splangy1]

@A4AgnstcFndmntlst then there not right if they don't

[exbronco1980]

i'd like it if norquist had a retarded child.

[johnnondrowsyd]

except all of these people want to force us to live by there morals. if we don't live like Christians, they won't leave us alone. if you want to be left alone, how bout leaving us alone.

[peter1114222]

If big business was left alone it would rape every part of your life it could wrap it's greedy life sucking hands around they prove it every day. If they thought they could get away with putting sewage in your cheerios and making you believe it was good for you they would do it with a smile, look at how big tobacco played the game.

[hasatum]

Oops. I wrote this comment awhile back. He made some ambiguous remarks and I'd read something somewhere that I later found to be false. Apparently he is in fact more or less a Democrat. Or a liar. :)

[whoo689]

I'm pretty sure Stephen Colbert is actually a Democrat. What makes you think he's libertarian? Do you have proof of this discovery?

[whoo689]

"EVERYTHING"? I'm pretty sure Grover Norquist doesn't wanna privatize "everything." Sure, a lot, and I favor that too, to save money and make things more efficient, but we'll all be better off. The welfare state was never necessary to fight poverty. There are alternatives, such as making college more affordable.

[whoo689]

I'd rather the Leave Us Alone coalition be libertarian, favoring a "leave us alone" policy on ALL fronts, so long as no one is harming someone else. THAT is what freedom is about. Both parties and both major ideologies favor freedom in only one sphere of life. They favor statism in the other. Grover Norquist may believe in economic liberty, but he's just as statist as Al Gore, just on issues like gay rights, abortion, euthanasia, drug policy, and more.

[nathanb1188]

Grover Norquist is beyond any reasonable doubt horrible for our society in his position of power. His idea of "slaying the beast" wants to kill all government power so that everything becomes privatized. He wants to raise the government debt so that people lose all faith in the government. The government would lose any real power. With a completely privatized economic base here, corporations will police themselves and all small businesses and environmentally sound businesses suffer and or fail.

[ls1z28chris]

Whether or not you agree with this man's politics, there is much validity to his analysis of what constitutes the "conservative" base.

What I find ironic is that "conservatives" keep voting for the candidate who campaigns on an "I'll leave you alone" platform, but legislates an "I want to control every aspect of your life" or "I'll do whatever you want if you give me campaign money" agenda.