Insight: Super committee had glimpse of elusive compromise http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7AL0E620111122?irpc=932

The issue of tax increases had been a red flag for Republican negotiators all year, especially as most Republican members of Congress – including all six on the debt panel – had signed an anti-tax pledge authored by the powerful Washington conservative Grover Norquist.

Remember when we lived in a country where Congress pledged loyalty to the Constitution, and not to lobbyists?  

No really, anyone remember that?

BTW, it is NOT just a coincidence it has turned into a police state over that same time period.  Just a natural result.