tonight's guest grover nor quist.o excited that i got to interview grover. i'm assuming i'm thinking of the right person. let's begin tonight with the internet. that magical series of tubes that al gore invented so he'd never have to leave the house to get porn. it's true. anyway, tweets and hash tags about this new viral sensation kony trending all week. rihanna talking about him. seacrest, the beebs, this guy kony is probably dropping some thick beef, joe. let's check it out. >> for 26 years kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel groups, the l.r.a. turning the girls into sex slaves and the boys into child soldiers. (laughing) >> jon: wow. wow. that song sucked. that's what happens when you get sick rolled. anyway, it turns out the hot new viral sensation is a 30- minute you-tube directed by jason russell condemning the human rights abuses of joseph kony, a war lord whose ugandan rebel group is infamous for its use of child soldiers, showing social media is an incredible source whether you are uncovering an

grover norquit.

what is the inner thinking of the gop special interest with norquist, grover norquist? are republicans scared? do you talk to your former colleagues about this? do you think republicans are scared? >> well, grover norquist has exerted a lot of influence because he has gotten pledges from many people not to raise taxes. and he is very weighty. and when you talk about raising taxes, that's very unpopular politically. so he's had a lot of influence with the congress. >> do you remember being scared of grover norquist when you were running for reelection? >> no, i don't remember being scared of grover norquist or anybody. >> steve, an independent in gaston, florida. go. you're up next. >> caller: yes, hello, greta. >> morning. >> caller: and senator spector. >> hello. >> caller: a pleasure talking with you. mitt romney accused rick santorum in one of his debates of supporting you which led to the obamacare. that was one thing that i wanted you to address. but most importantly, ten years ago i probably would have been a tea partier, you know, because i was the independent in

i said, well, ronald reagan raised taxes 11 times in his eight years, grover, what about that? and he said, i didn't like it at all. i said, well why do you think he did it? well, i don't know. very disappointed. >> he did it to make the country run. and this guy grover who was unknown three years ago, if not the fourth most powerful man in america, 95 percent of both house it is. >> rose: signed a mental. >> signed a pledge no taxes under any circumstances unless there is a commensurate cut or reduction in taxes. >> people who do say, i would be prepared perhaps to vote for a tax increase if i was -- if it was confirmed to me that i believe the congress would make the cuts in spending that i believe are necessary. >> yes. and we bought into that, that's why we said the spending cuts had to happen before you have the tax increases, or the tax reforms. >> rose: bought in the idea you have to lead. >> you can't get into one of these situations like reagan did where you have the i tax increases and never had the cuts. >> rose: he talked about that, i said look i gave a tax increas

. >> up next on book tv, grover norquist and john lodge jr. take a critical look at president obama's jobs and economic growth programs. this is just over an hour. >> good afternoon, everybody. welcome to our third newsmaker lunch for today. this is an ongoing series sponsored by the american spectator magazine and americans for tax reform. i'm jim enter from the american spectator, and we are here today to discuss a new book by grover norquist, public enemy number one of taxation in america, and the economist, john lott. over the next few months we will be hearing a lot of positive statistics from the president about how he is turning the economy around and deserves a second term on the basis of progress toward reducing unemployment and making all kinds of the economic situation better, moving us away from the great recession. the book that we are discussing today, however, paints a much different picture of the president's economic policies. it sums up very well the book's title, debacle. and i don't think a lot of their portrayals that the

and i said if you voted against this package because you were afraid of grover norquist shredding you to threads i lose all respect for you. >> no w just believe if u d what you are suggesting and get rid of the tax expenditure for employer deduction, employee healthcare that employers will look around and blink like a frog in a hailstorm and go to bloat, go to bloat, bloat, obama care and erskine and i looked at him and said that is an honest answer and it was an honest answer they feared getting rid of that in the tax expenditures, that they would bloat, they would all flee and make obama care bigger than it ever was. we were getting rid of all of the tax expenditures so we could broaden the base and simplify the code and used eight opinion of the code to reduce the deficit, about $100 billion a year so that's where we got our trillion dollars over ten years to reduce th the revenue but usd 92 percent of the money to reduce income tax rates that's how we took rates eight percent to seven at this thousand dollars, 14 percent to $210,000 and had a maximum rate of 23 percent and took t

grover norquist, president for americans with tax reform. i don't think you've ever been on ore set, our temporary set while they build my set. >> no, not in new york, in d.c. p. >> in a diner. it improves dramatically but no food. it begins this morning with a massacre in afghanistan apparently by an american soldier and this morning as well. the taliban is vowing revenge. the soldiers from the joint base in washington state here's how it went down. door to door he went yesterday morning in kandahar province opening fire, i'll killing at least 16 people while they slept, many children. president karzai said the dead include 9 children, 3 women. and after the attacks the soldier then returned to his base and surrendered. president obama today offering his condolences. karzai, however, is furious. is calling the killings intentional and, quote, acts of terror and unforgivable. sarah is live for news kabul, afghanistan, this morning. hey, good morning to you. what's the latest on this? >> good morn, soledad. i just saw pretty gruesome images i

i'm talking about grover norquist.e's the author of "the taxpayer protection pledge" which seeks to oppose any net tax increases. it has been signed by 95% of republican congressmen and all but one of the original 2012 republican presidential candidates. grover norquist joins me now. >> good to be with you. >> so let me ask you -- >> sure. >> -- about the history of the last 20 or 30 years and ask you whether you feel some responsibility for this. here's how i see it. the republican party, under ronald reagan, subsequently under gingrich when confronting george bush sr., has pushed aggressively for cutting taxes, no new taxes, many of the kinds of things you've argued for. but it has been unable, for whatever reason, under republican majorities, under democratic majorities, under divided or shared government to cut spending. so what we have had is the kind of perfect expression of what the american people seem to want, which is low taxes but lots of government services, and there's only one way to square that circumsta

there was quite a backlash among middle class people against militant labor about point and graver grover cleveland would have been an illustration of this you will so got round about that time the clash in the hay market in chicago and with. with the shooting of an a case than the case another case throwing a bar none of the haymarket martyrs so there was quite a lot of. rather dramatic class struggle in the united states in the eighteen seventies a hundred eighty is and it certainly led some of the. upper class. middle class opinion to be very nervous about militant labor but you've got to remember the american business was led by the so-called robber barons at that time and there were also among the farming people you've got a radical movement not so much influenced by marx but which the the the socialists the marxists the internationalist they did warmly supporters and that was former radicalism the grange movement another type of communism what they call the communism of combined wealth they would very much against the large railroad companies for example which would go and take over

overlooked by many of the historians and it's worth paying attention to i remember reading one of grover cleveland's annual addresses state of the union addresses in which he specifically attacked communism that would have been eight hundred eighty s. what happened if i'm quite sure that what happened between eight hundred sixty s. and the eight hundred eighty s. that caused the of the american presidency to shift or and i'm misremembering i know you're remembering very correctly i think the immediate impact of the civil war was to give a big boost to labor and also marx's organization the international workers associate working men's association it had fifty chapters in different parts of the united states and it had thousands of members many of them became later famous trade union organizers and a lot of this activity led into the great general strike of eight hundred seventy seven it was mainly rail mum workers' strike but it was also supported by other types of work and it was repressed however very viciously hundred strikers lost their life and there was quite a backlash among middl

lobbyist grover norquist of president reagan should be scorned for raising taxes during his presidency with no. records that. reagan raised taxes one of them seven times eight times and george russian and lost the battle of new york that was not on purpose i mean the reagan didn't want to raise taxes he kept raising that eighty two eighty three eighty five on the list you think i mean so would you have run somebody against him you know did the good news is your route one he hadn't signed the pledge so while norquist wants to impeach president obama for raising taxes and he had some kludgy there president reagan gets a free pass just because he didn't sign norquist ridiculous pledge forcing lawmakers to respect the pledge before the constitution that's piri piri. so aside from a pet chimpanzee that starred with him in the film bedtime for bonzo that ronald reagan have the president obama doesn't have a track congress that cares about fixing the economy instead of one of cessed with making him a one term president. this week the united states senate will begin debate on a highway transpo

person is controlling the april agenda of the united states of america right now and his name is groverared lobbyist as head of americans for tax reform. has gotten the majority of congress to sign an oath saying they will not raise taxes under any circumstances ever. jesus christ, that's a lot of people. to find out the lifetime pledge his subs sworn to him i sat down with his lordship in the book lined power bunker. >> the whole point of the pledge is it's a public commitment not to raise taxes. >> >> is there a scenario in which would you be comfortable with someone raising taxes. >> no. >> right now the federal government sends 4% of g.d.p. on defense. >> natural disaster. >> your house is knocked down and the federal government raises your taxes and that makes you better off. >> beard flu? >> not familiar with that. >> what about the rise of the apes? >> if the -- look, the la did you get mate. >> if the chimps took over would you be comfortable? >> we would prefer that not to happen but -- >>ç well -- >> i think raising taxes would not stop that. >> the pledge is so rigid that ev

you were ahead of senator schumer and grover norquist. what makes you so powerful i washington? >> i wish you said was not the head of chuck schumumer. that wld be a prlem. washington need people to transition from the private sect to the public s sector.r. i think our firm es that better than anyone in washington. anne who has been around as long a as we have knows how to do that well. >> you are considered on of f the more interesting characters of washington. i i woulbe remiss i if i did not point out your family pedigree. your father was one of the most powerful majority leaders in the history of the house before he ssed a away in an airplane accident. heas seceded by your momother o was one of the e mostowerful womemen in congress. your sister took the path of media. yotook the path of law school. when you got o of laschool there were only 100 registerered lobbyists. what made you see that as your future? >> i grew up in politics. i had great respect for politicians. i wi the rest of the couountry have as much r respect as i have for politicians. i wanted to be in that game

i want to move to grover norquist's pledge to never raise taxes in any form. you have signed that pledge. are you aware that there republicans now in the house who are abandoning that pledge saying it's absolutely absurd and ridiculous in the current economic climate. >> that's unfortunate that republican who is signed the pledge and said this is my conviction and i will stick to this and make the federal government work for the american people, it's unfortunate that their words are smoke in the wind. we cannot abandon or raise taxes, mr. o'donnell. that gets the federal government more latitude to be more intrusive in the private market. we have to make a stand and make it stand now. otherwise federal governments will run all over the american people and it doesn't matter if you are republican or democrat. it will kill the economy and we can't have it. >> joe, like grover norquist, you are a posed to closing any of the giant corporate tax loopholes in the tax code or any of the personal income tax loopholes because that's what the pledge does. that's why othe

on monday our guest will be grover norquist. i don't know what we'll talk about. maybe taxes, i don't know. we'll see. her is your moment of zen. >> taco bell is debutting a dorito taco made with a dorito nacho cheese taco shell. >> the cheese shell compliments the tacoes ingredients very well. >> i just had my first bite and am enjoying it. captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: thank you so much. welcome to the show, everybody. welcome to the report. >> stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! >> that's too much. (cheers and applause) thank you for joining us, everybody. folks, i don't have to tell you, like all americans, i'm concerned about the rising price of gas. last weekend i had to cancel my annual lawn fire where i write out my springtime resolutions in gasoline on my lawn. too bad this area's resolution was going to be to conserve more gas. (laughter) well, whenever i need advice on the oil market i turn to fox news, home of conservative rising star and fox news contributor eric bol

i've got people worried about it now, they don't want to raise taxes because grover says no. >> i say, look, when coburn takes six billion out of the ethanol and grover calls it -- [inaudible] he calls it ludicrous, tom did, and i call it descent -- deceptive. >> yeah. tom's helping on this, so's -- [inaudible] i'm gaining ground. >> pick up a vote or two. [laughter] >> ann is in there. sam tondson said -- donald said he would -- [inaudible conversations] >> i didn't write this book. i don't get any money out of this. no. the money all goes to the author. i don't get any. [laughter] no, it's true. >> thank you so much, sir. >> you're very welcome. okay. >> senator, i used to work with michael saunders in senator think monday's -- thurmond's office, and we are big fans of yours. >> i needed them in my line of work. >> it's so nice to see you, and i can't wait to read it. >> well, i didn't write it, but it's a good book. >> well, i hope we can get you to sign it -- >> oh, yes, i will. i signed a whole bunch. >> we are getting one for his mom and dad. thank you, senator, it's great to se

grover norquist says your tax plan is pro-growth and common sense.tself used words like failed leadership and punting to describe the president. i just wonder whether you are trying to take leadership or whether this is a really a partisan plits cal document. >> it is a plan for future because we don't think the president's led on this issue by virtue of the fact he's given us four budgets with $4 trillion deficits and literally no proposal to get this debt under control. >> when you talk about two tax brackets, the 10% and 25%, on an absolute basis, assuming anyone in the 5% bracket or lower goes to the 10% and everyone else goes to the 25%. i'm assuming that's what it is. but the wealthy would get the bigger cut on an absolute basis. clearly. >> we're also saying take away their tax shelters. don't forget, there are effective tax rates. the people in the top two tax brackets get almost all of the write-office, almost all of the tax shelters. if you're a wealthy person and you park your money in a tax shelter, it is taxed at zero. if we take away th

on monday our guest will be grover norquist. i don't know what we'll talk about.don't know. we'll see. her is your moment of zen. >> taco bell is debutting a dorito taco made with a dorito nacho cheese taco shell. >> the cheese shell compliments the tacoes ingredients very well. >> i just had my first bite and am enjoying it.

on monday our guest will be grover norquist. i don't know what we'll talk about.e. her is your moment of zen. >> taco bell is

the sexual fundamentalists kind of took control and really are dictating to people you know like grover norquist and the koch brothers what they have to agree to in order to secure their votes it's extraordinary you you you've talked about this in the context of sex a couple of times but isn't this really not about sex as a social activity it's really about. that's that's a good question i've been really struggling to figure out whether the religious fundamentalism that takes a very negative view of sex and takes this idea of the gods order falls apart on less the family is order with the husband and father in control of the wife and children and whether that is what this is really driving it or it is this kind of fear of women's power and women's equality i mean the certainly the consequences of it all and reproductive rights women are very constrained in what they can do in the public arena i'd like to get into the partisan nature of this and how this is shaking out right after the break war conversations with great minds with dr nancy okon write up of those. you know sometimes you se

grover norquist, who doesn't believe in economic base multipliers, who came up with this no tax thing, what, in seventh grade? and all these stuff. and i hear these republicans always just parroting exactly what is coming off the media. and it doesn't seem like they have any voice or opinions of their own. and i'm telling my friends who are republicans, this is burying your party, because when you start getting people and listening to people that are so far to the right, you know, you have to win the independents. you're never going to get anywhere. you're going to end up with romney. you're going to end up with santorums. you're not going to end up with jeb bushs in their party, and they're basically eating themselves up doing this, because people like me look at santorum as you were saying and go what in the world are. are we draconian? i don't know. you help me out with this. >> don't insult the draconians. santorum, you're insulting the draconians when you're comparing santorum to the draconians. listen. we're doing without a lot of people. we just lost olympia snowe. that's a big

also, grover norquist will join us, robert f. kennedy jr., and in a few minutes, ceo of the national urban league. and top stories of the morning, including sarah palin releasing her own version of "game change" the movie. but first, here's bill karins with a check on the forecast. >>> of course, the big story over the weekend with the tornado outbreak on friday and saturday morning, a surreal scene this morning. i want to show you pictures out of henryville, indiana. this was hit by the ef-4. it snowed last night and now have about 2 inches of snow on the ground in this area. just incredible that now they have to deal with this. and that snow will be gone. but just surreal. i don't know if i remember seeing snow in areas just hit by a tornado. let's show you a recap from the big tornado outbreak. one of the biggest ever in march history. 79 tornadoes is how many estimated by dr. greg forbes. 43 of those are confirmed tornadoes, and we're going to get more confirmations over the next day or two. that area of snow is moving throug

item 12 pined for those days so for them is about introspect grover norquist is ideology. you are at heretic and republican in name only and you just don't see that attitude. now that extends to republican views you are not as orthodox as i am on israel, where the affordable care act. this is his contribution to the republican party who formed it more than beginning -- ronald reagan. today's republican party is more of an error to jerry falwell than ronald reagan. >> host: very interesting. the parties replace national conventions. >> host: talk about his religious faith especially someone who could not talk to him directly. >> his father was agnostic, of bootlegger and very successful businessman of five . [laughter] his moghter] his mother was about but clearly the junior partner in the at attended local college and one day talking to his members his group of fellows and said i want to hear preaching like my mom used to listen on the radio. they said go over to park avenue baptist church. they said go there there is also pretty girls. there was cnf and he converted that