Norquist: Coburn ‘Lied His Way Into Office’

Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform, Sunday emailed to Politico a response to Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn’s claim that his group was a narrow "special interest" that doesn't represent American conservatives.

Norquist says Coburn backed away from a 2004 pledge to shun any tax hikes without dollar-for-dollar budget cuts; Coburn told David Gregory Sunday that he doesn't favor tax rate hikes but could agree to a "net" increase in revenues if done carefully.

"The pledge that Tom Coburn signed was to the citizens of Oklahoma. He made that promise in campaigning for Senate in Oklahoma," Norquist's email said.

"Coburn said on national TV today that he lied his way into office and will vote to raise taxes if he damn well feels like it, never mind what he promised the citizens of Oklahoma. Senator Coburn knows perfectly well that the pledge is not to any organization but to the citizens of his state. He lied to them, not to Americans for Tax Reform.

Before this recent television comment, Coburn told me personally in a phone call that he would not vote for a tax increase and repeated his commitment in writing in a public letter to me.”