Many Romney supporters have argued that Obama is engaged in a 鈥渃lass war鈥� against the rich. Warren Buffett says that there is a class war going on, and it is being waged and won by some in the rich class.
Grover Norquist is the head of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), an organization that is purportedly funded principally by members of the rich class who want to keep their taxes low. ATR has a Taxpayer Protection Pledge pursuant to which legislators 鈥渃ommit themselves in writing to oppose all tax increases.鈥� What about the Pledge of Allegiance to America?
To confront the mounting debts and deficits and do what鈥檚 best for America (not just the rich), lawmakers need the flexibility to raise revenue as circumstances demand. Pledges like Mr. Norquist鈥檚 not only stymie compromise and fuel gridlock in Washington, they undermine debt-reduction and economic recovery.
As one who had the privilege of serving this country as a captain in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, it is my opinion that these 鈥淕rover pledgers鈥� have in substance converted the Pledge of Allegiance to America into a pledge to 鈥渙ne nation under Grover, indivisible, with liberty and justice for the rich.鈥� Unfortunately, both Governor Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan are Grover pledgers. Sadly, through their support of only tax reform that is revenue neutral, the Romney economic heavyweights are tools in the class war and enablers of these Grover Pledgers.
Sam Thompson is a professor of law and director of the Center for the Study of Mergers and Acquisitions at Penn State University Dickinson School of Law. He is the former head of the tax department of a large Chicago law firm and dean of the University of Miami School of Law. His most recent book is
