Earmarks and Taxes 101, by Grover Norquist

Love him or hate him, the guy's brilliant. Who else can explain, so succinctly and so lucidly, the political potency of earmarks and the importance, for Republicans, of not raising taxes?

Earmarks:

Earmarks have begun to make spend-too-much have a political cost. We're gonna spend three trillion dollars. My eyes glaze over.

We're gonna $200 million dollars on a bridge to nowhere ... That's bad. I understand that. You're insulting me. You're treating [taxpayers with disrespect.]

Taxes:

You can walk into the voting booth dead drunk, and vote for the R, and know that he or she will not raise your taxes. We've branded the Republican Party as the party that won't raise your taxes ...

Republicans who vote for tax increases ... damage the brand for everyone else.

Videos here.