The Wall Street Journal editorial board argued in Tuesday’s paper that Republicans don’t need to abandon Grover Norquist in order to strike a deal with Democrats that prevents the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.
This is where Mr. Norquist can give some ground. If taxes are going up anyway because the Bush rates expire, and Republicans can stop them from going up as much as they otherwise would, then pledge-takers deserve some credit for that. Mr. Norquist says it violates his pledge to eliminate deductions without lowering rates, but at the current economic and political moment it is also a service if Republicans prevent tax rates from going up. Speaker John Boehner deserves some leeway to try to mitigate the damage by negotiating a larger tax reform.
