Alan Simpson Goes Off On Grover Norquist

By Kenneth R. Bazinet

Remember when the left thought former Sen. Alan Simpson was the boogeyman?

Well, liberals were shown last night on “Last Word” on MSNBC that the Wyoming Republican is really just a mainstream conservative with no love for at least one Washington insider who has been accused of hijacking the Tea Party movement to pursue his own interests.

Simpson called anti-tax Americans for Tax Reform boss Grover Norquist a liar and accused him of blackmailing Republicans into opposing revenue streams as part of a formula to help save the increasingly doomed American economy.

He told host Lawrence O’Donnell people should look into Norquist’s background to see who is funding his enterprise. Our friends at the website Mediaite wrote up the segment and has a link to the interview with Simpson.

Along with Erskine Bowles, chief of staff in the Clinton White House, Simpson, chaired a special commission on deficit reduction. Ultimately, the commission’s recommendations were rejected by leaders in both parties, giving way to the ugly debt celling fight that many analysts contend will do little to save The American Rome.

The Simpson-Norquist feud is the latest example of the deepening division in the Republican Party since the emergence of the Tea Party.

Read more from Kenneth R. Bazinet at The Baz File