Jonathan Alter: Norquist’s Anti-Tax Pledge ‘Helped to Wreck’ the U.S.

Wednesday night on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter claimed that Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge “has helped to wreck the United States. The discussion centered around New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s decision to sign the pledge, and Jeb Bush’s refusal to do so. Alter declared the pledge “is about the worst kind of public policy for the reasons you just heard...[i]t’s terribly destructive.” James Traub of Foreign Policy had suggested earlier that the pledge puts politicians in a box and does not allow them to respond effectively to political situations: “And you have to take this anti-reality pledge that says no thing can happen that will cause me to change my mind. That's a foolish thing to say but if you don't say it you are cooked.”