The 60 Minutes piece on Norquist was informative...and scary.

Norquist is a lobbyist. But because he has organized his lobbying firm as a not-for-profit, he is not obligated by law to reveal the sources of the millions of dollars of funding that he receives. Who could they be? He would have us believe that he is simply an ultra-conservative who opposes any form of tax increase.

But one must wonder: is Norquist simply a high-minded conservative? Who else might be funding his lobbying firm with the millions of dollars necessary for him to maintain such control on the Congress? Rich folks or corporations who want to keep tax rates and loopholes in place? Foreign governments who want to weaken or destroy the U.S. economy and position in the world? The whole scenario makes it difficult for me to believe that Norquist is simply a well-meaning uber-conservative.

By his own admission wants to reduce the size of the federal government to what it was in 1900. He says that programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, funding for education, almost all of the regulatory agencies, and so forth, should be eliminated and replaced by programs and means developed by the private sector. (Where he stands on the Defense Department is an interesting question that went unaddressed in the 60 Minutes interview. We didn't have much of a Defense Department in 1900.)

What's more important and raises my underlying question is his iron-fisted control of 279 members of Congress. That's the majority, 52% of the 535 who we elected to represent us. I don't remember the precise breakdown, but that number contains virtually all the Republican members of the House and a substatial number of GOP Senators, including all those in Republican leadership positions. He was described in the piece as the most powerful man in America. More powerful than any of the Congressional leaders or even the POTUS.

After watching the piece I wondered WHY is Norquist so powerful? He gains his power by offering campaign financing to GOP candidates and members who agree to sign his promise to never, ever or in any way raise taxes. If any of those 279 elected representatives violate that pledge to him, he selects other candidates to run against the "promise violators" and finances their election to replace the member who reneged on the pledge made to him. He has been very successful in doing so.

Basically, on fiscal matters, Norquist controls the majority of the U.S. Congress.

I asked myself, why do elected members of Congress permit themselves to be so beholden to an admitted lobbyist? His power comes from the GOP members who agree to sign his pledge and then not violate it. Someone is giving him enough money to essentially buy their votes and their loyalty. Those 279 members of the Congress who have signed his pledge are beholden to Norquist, not the people who elected them as their representative. They cannot govern the country responsibly, they cannot compromise on the question of increasing revenues to the Treasury, unless they choose to face the threat that Norquist will oppose them, get them replaced in the Congress.

So the answer to my WHY question is that Norquist's power comes from the members of Congress themselves. Those 279 seats they fill are apparently such attractive and lucrative positions that they don't dare cross Norquist. They are willingly more beholden to Norquist than those who elected them as their representative. Grover Norquist has bought and paid for the majority of votes in the U.S. Congress on tax matters.

Folks, this may be one of the most scary exposés that I've ever seen reported in the media. Why it hasn't gotten more attention is beyond me. But clearly, on fiscal matters there is one man--Grover Norquist--who controls 52% of the U.S. Congress in the way they might address and vote on the things necessary to address the dire fiscal crisis facing the country. He willingly admits that conformance to his pledge is more important than even the fiscal health of the country.

This is UNBELIEVABLE!