Republicans bow to lobbyist master

Richard J. Mundy, Las Vegas

Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Everyone who enters federal service takes an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution and makes other promises, including the assurance that they take the oath “without any mental reservation, or purpose of evasion.” It’s unfortunate that many Republicans can’t live up to this because they have already made a pledge, one that doesn’t allow them to fulfill their oath.

All across America, many Republicans signed a pledge with a group called Americans for Tax Reform, headed by Grover Norquist, to never raise taxes. Never. So that is why Congress cannot agree. The Democrats want to raise the taxes for the 1 percent of Americans who are millionaires. Not for small business, or the 99 percent of the rest of us, just the millionaires. But since that would violate their pledge to the Tax Reform group, Republicans can’t raise the millionaires’ taxes.

The federal oath of office ends with the statement: “So help me God.” And if the Republicans stay with the pledge they took, rather than honoring the oath they took to support and defend our country, God help us.