[adfgadfgaery]

Grover Norquist wants to cut government spending. It's difficult to do that directly because people often like government services. Instead he suggests cutting taxes. This is easier to sell to the public because no one likes paying taxes. This will drive the government into debt, forcing spending cuts due to the risk of default. This plan is called "starving the beast".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast

For this plan to work, people have to really hate paying taxes. So, despite the fact that Norquist and his allies often talk about things like "reducing the burden on the taypayer", they have in fact acted to make paying taxes as unpleasant an experience as possible. This means deliberately underfunding the IRS and ensuring filing taxes is slow, complicated, and expensive.

He is also the architect of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which is endorsed by the vast majority of Republican politicians currently in office. The pledge prohibits them from supporting any legislation that would increase taxes on people or corporations. The idea of "starving the beast" has been endorsed in as many words by a number of politicians, including George W. Bush.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_for_Tax_Reform#Taxpa...

Any time a Republican politician starts talking about reducing the deficit, know that they are lying. Over 95% of them have publicly signed a pledge meant to deliberately increase the deficit. This isn't a conspiracy theory. The plans are public.

[refurb]

This seems like an internet meme and a "just so" story that once you dig turns out not to be true (the "let's make it more complex" part).

Sources would be nice.

[adfgadfgaery]

I don't have a source of him saying that's why he opposed return-free taxes. This article has links to the statements of his organization:

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax...

His stated reasons are so fantastically stupid that I can't imagine them being legitimate. Return-free filing is the best tool we have to achieve his claimed goals of reducing the complexity and confusion of tax season. Can you think of an innocent explanation for his opposition?

[imtringued]

> Grover Norquist wants to cut government spending. It's difficult to do that directly because people often like government services.

Reminds me of Grafton where the population didn't care about cutting government services and only cared about lower taxes. Liberals all over the country moved there and it ended with bear attacks because everyone was disposing their trash incorrectly and the only policeman in town had a broken down car.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21534416/free-state-...