POLITICS
THERE ARE FEW PEOPLE WHO WOULD ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE Democratic Party’s approach to taxation with an allusion to 1960s mass murderer Richard Speck. Even fewer could pull it off without clearing the room. To his credit, Grover Norquist, the founder of Americans for Tax Reform, managed the feat recently—a reminder of why he’s the most influential proponent of tax cuts in Washington, D.C. Ninety percent of Republicans in Congress have signed his pledge, which binds them to the promise of never voting for a net income tax increase. And while some accuse Norquist of a dogmatic approach that kills any chance of compromise, he is a lively defender of his ideas.
Newsweek spoke with Norquist about two weeks before Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee released its Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.