us.cnn.com

Of course, Reagan championed lower tax rates, but he also signed off on a number of smaller tax hikes to help address revenue shortfalls and most importantly backed a bipartisan 1986 bill that closed loopholes as part of a simplification plan that raised revenues to help deal with the deficit.

This inconvenient fact is often denied by Norquist and other activists because it is their prime objection to attempts to find a “grand bargain” on deficits and debt, along the lines of the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson commission.

In pursuit of a reality check, take a look at this quote: “We’re going to close the unproductive tax loopholes that have allowed some of the truly wealthy to avoid paying their fair share. In theory, some of those loopholes were understandable, but in practice they sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying 10% of his salary, and that’s crazy. It’s time we stopped it.”

That might sound straight out of President Barack Obama “Buffett Tax” playbook — which conservatives routinely attack as “class warfare” — but in fact it is the sainted Reagan speaking in 1985.

Why do these morons care what Grover Norquist thinks? Seriously.