In 1986, conservative strategist Grover Norquist introduced the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a written promise urging Republican lawmakers to never raise taxes under any circumstances. The wording was strict. Oppose any and all efforts to increase tax rates on individuals or businesses. Oppose any closing of loopholes unless the change is offset by a new tax cut of equal value.
Like so many Republican things anymore, a pledge that once sounded like simple tax restraint has grown into something much larger and more damaging. It has restricted government’s ability to respond to real problems. It has punished compromise. It has rewired loyalty away from voters and toward wealthy donors who reward adherence to ideological purity.
It's like what happened with our national motto: E Pluribus Unum, "Out of Many, One". It was altered, again originally with good internet, but it has not served us well. "In God We Trust", sounds good, but once you look not even that deeply into it, it falls apart. IF this was a Christian nation only, maybe it could serve some good. But when you put religion at the peak of a government, it seldom goes well. Abuses happen, and some revel in it.
As we're seeing today, as Republicans have continued to weaponize all they can against not Democrats, not just US, but anyone or anything against THEM. The "Other" has become their weapon of choice.
Disinformation has become their truth.
A Pledge that Weakens Democracy
When politicians must answer to a pledge before they answer to the people, democracy begins to suffer. The Taxpayer Protection Pledge has turned governance into a game of refusal. It teaches lawmakers that any attempt to solve national challenges through shared investment is forbidden. Health care reform, climate response, infrastructure resilience, disaster recovery, educational support, and veterans care all run into a wall built by a commitment made in 1986.
Government does not break when taxes rise or fall.
Government breaks when it cannot act.
The Road to Money Over Voters
The Norquist pledge did not cause the rise of dark money or the sweeping empowerment of special interests, but it helped prepare the way. A political system trained to prioritize the demands of donors creates fertile ground for unlimited campaign spending to take over. Public servants become dependent on private benefactors. The wealthiest interests become the loudest voices. The public becomes an afterthought.
It is no coincidence that trust in government has eroded in the exact era that political power has shifted toward those who fund campaigns rather than those who vote in them.
The Diminution of Institutions
The Republican Party once championed governance and stewardship. Today it often treats governing as a liability. The party has been reshaped into a defensive structure that prevents revenue and blocks solutions instead of guiding the nation forward.
The Supreme Court has also become perceived as a political instrument, not because of one case or one decision, but because a culture of ideology over reality now defines the road to power.
Into this environment stepped Donald Trump. He did not invent the hostility to truth. He simply discovered that the absence of shared reality is a perfect playground for deception. He rose because the foundation had already been weakened. He also discovered that stupidity is a massive weapon against an organization.
Or a government. It is not that Trump’s supporters are stupid people. It is that simplistic and dishonest ideas, when delivered with absolute certainty and the appearance of authority, become easy for many to absorb. Especially when they already lean in a certain direction. Once that connection is made, manipulation becomes far easier, and people can be guided further and further into falsehoods without even realizing they have crossed the line from belief into obedience.
When a pledge designed to shrink government becomes a tool to shrink truth, a nation is placed at risk.
The Missing Counter-Pledge
If one pledge can drag democracy backward, then another pledge can help move it forward. America does not need a promise to starve government. It needs a promise to defend reality itself.
Here is the pledge that belongs at the center of a healthy democracy.
Truth and Integrity Pledge
"A politician must promise to never raise taxes. Ever.
Not on corporations.
Not on the wealthy.
Not in emergencies.
Not for war.
Not for infrastructure.
Not even if voters overwhelmingly support it."
Never raise taxes under any circumstance
In spirit anyway, this has led us beyond Citizens United, to the diminution of SCOTUS, the Republican Party, and to Donald Trump as our worst ever POTUS, TWICE.
Citizens United: Never restrict big money under any circumstance.
If Republicans can pledge never to raise taxes, then Democrats and all parties and all public servants should pledge always to tell the truth. Spin has always existed in politics, but when deception became the primary strategy… when propaganda replaced policy… when outright lies became the norm… that was the moment America jumped the shark.
We need a Truth Pledge.
A commitment to facts in campaigns and in public office.
An American Truth and Integrity Pledge:
I pledge to tell the truth, correct the record, and defend reality. Democracy demands nothing less.More clearly and less succinctly:
I pledge that all statements I make to the public, to the press, and in any official capacity will be truthful to the best of my knowledge.
I pledge to correct any false or misleading statements I make as soon as I become aware of the error.
I pledge never to knowingly spread disinformation, conspiracy theories, or propaganda designed to deceive or manipulate the public.
I pledge that disagreement is not dishonesty and that facts matter more than partisanship.
I pledge to honor the public trust and remember that democracy cannot survive without a shared reality.
Signed: ___________
Date: ___________
Two Pledges. Two Paths.
The Taxpayer Protection Pledge weakened government’s ability to serve the nation.
The Truth and Integrity Pledge strengthens the principle that makes the nation possible.
One serves money.
The other serves democracy.
Truth before tribe.
Reality before rhetoric.
Democracy before deception.
The choice is simple. The future is not.
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