Anti-Tax Champion Grover Norquist To Speak At Duke Feb. 7
Started Taxpayer Protection Pledge that hundreds in Congress signed
Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, will speak at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy on Thursday, Feb. 7.
The free public talk and Q&A will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Fleishman Commons within the Sanford Building.
Seating is limited. Those wishing to confirm their interest in attending should click here.
Several public parking facilities are available along Science Drive on Duke’s West Campus. More information is here: https://parking.duke.edu/visitor.
For more than 30 years, Norquist has been one of the United States’ most influential unelected officials. He has continually worked to limit the size and cost of government, supporting tax reform that moves toward only taxing consumption.
Norquist is perhaps best known for his Taxpayer Protection Pledge, through which nearly 1,400 elected officials have made a written commitment to oppose all tax increases. In the recently completed 115th Congress, 212 House members and 45 senators signed the pledge.
The primary vehicle through which Norquist built this campaign is Americans for Tax Reform, an entity he started when only 29 years old at President Ronald Reagan’s request.
The group’s influence has grown significantly through the pledge and other ventures, such as the weekly convening of center-right political meetings each Wednesday in 40 states around the country. These meetings enable groups to develop strategies and messaging around center-right policies.
Norquist has also served as executive director of the national College Republicans.
The talk is sponsored by POLIS: Duke’s Center for Political Leadership, Innovation, and Service, and cosponsored by the Sanford School and by the Duke University Program in American Grand Strategy. POLIS Director Fritz Mayer will join Norquist on stage for this Q&A-style event.
“People can disagree whether Grover Norquist’s tax-cut policies are good for America,” Mayer said. “But it’s easy to argue that our country’s ongoing tax policy debate has been driven largely by him, due to the passion, discipline and persuasiveness he brings to this issue.”