Exclusive: The Motion Picture Association posted a $4.2 million deficit in 2020, as the trade association adjusted to its traditional six-member roster, according to the latest tax filing with the Internal Revenue Service.
The loss is a contrast to 2019, when the trade association reported a $4.4 million surplus. Netflix was in its first full year as a member, but Fox Corp., which shed its film studio assets to Disney in 2018, still had an obligation to continue paying dues into the next year after it gave notice, according to a spokesperson.
Membership dues for 2020 were $51.4 million, compared to $62 million a year earlier, when there were essentially seven paying members. The MPA’s members are Warner Bros, Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Netflix, Paramount and Universal.
As a 501(c)6 nonprofit, the MPA and other trade associations are required to make public filings with the IRS each year, listing such things as revenue, salaries and contributions to other organizations and political committees.
The loss is a contrast to 2019, when the trade association reported a $4.4 million surplus. Netflix was in its first full year as a member, but Fox Corp., which shed its film studio assets to Disney in 2018, still had an obligation to continue paying dues into the next year after it gave notice, according to a spokesperson.
Membership dues for 2020 were $51.4 million, compared to $62 million a year earlier, when there were essentially seven paying members. The MPA’s members are Warner Bros, Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Netflix, Paramount and Universal.
As a 501(c)6 nonprofit, the MPA and other trade associations are required to make public filings with the IRS each year, listing such things as revenue, salaries and contributions to other organizations and political committees.
- 11/24/2021
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Reagans” is an unavoidable mirror. Matt Tyrnauer’s four-part series profiles a couple that held sway over a state and then a party and then the world, but the timeline very purposefully stops with their White House exit in 1989.
Even still, it’s nearly impossible to see the stances, coalitions, and maneuvers that helped Ronald Reagan ascend to the presidency as a precursor to what the United States has experienced over the last four years. The central question becomes: Does “The Reagans” feel so familiar because it’s being pitched to an audience living through 2020? Or are the echoes so unavoidable that any examination of the 1980s and what led to them can’t help but remind us of the headlines of the more recent past?
In practice, it’s a bit of both. Start looking for parallels to the now-outgoing administration and you’ll see them everywhere: disgruntled former employees writing tell-all memoirs,...
Even still, it’s nearly impossible to see the stances, coalitions, and maneuvers that helped Ronald Reagan ascend to the presidency as a precursor to what the United States has experienced over the last four years. The central question becomes: Does “The Reagans” feel so familiar because it’s being pitched to an audience living through 2020? Or are the echoes so unavoidable that any examination of the 1980s and what led to them can’t help but remind us of the headlines of the more recent past?
In practice, it’s a bit of both. Start looking for parallels to the now-outgoing administration and you’ll see them everywhere: disgruntled former employees writing tell-all memoirs,...
- 11/15/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Campaigning requires compassion. The same goes for governance. Neither Donald Trump nor anyone in his orbit have yet come to this realization, surviving instead on their stale brand of Fox News testosterone. Sure, that message still can draw a lot of (white) people on a frigid weekday evening, especially if you can bus them in yourself. But Trump also needs to have a plan to get them home, and, well? There’s the rub.
For more than an hour after his Tuesday-night rally ended on the tarmac at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield,...
For more than an hour after his Tuesday-night rally ended on the tarmac at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield,...
- 10/29/2020
- by Jamil Smith
- Rollingstone.com
Paul Erickson, the Gop operative and longtime boyfriend of criminal Russian national Maria Butina, has been indicted on 11 counts of federal wire fraud and money laundering, for what the U.S. Attorney’s office in South Dakota describes as a two-decade scheme to “defraud” investors and “personally enrich Erickson.” Each count is punishable by as many as 20 years in prison, meaning the 56-year-old is facing the potential of life behind bars. Erickson appeared in court Wednesday to plead not guilty; according to his attorney, Erickson is “free on his personal recognizance,...
- 2/7/2019
- by Tim Dickinson
- Rollingstone.com
The Green New Deal is suddenly on everyone’s lips. Freshman superstar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is championing it. The Gop’s anti-tax jihadi Grover Norquist is trashing it. But what is it? And where did it come from? And why were its backers protesting Nancy Pelosi?
Rolling Stone spoke to Varshini Prakash, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, the grassroots outfit that is partnering with a new generation of Democratic leaders to push the ambitious agenda to the fore. The Green New Deal has three pillars, according to Sunrise...
Rolling Stone spoke to Varshini Prakash, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, the grassroots outfit that is partnering with a new generation of Democratic leaders to push the ambitious agenda to the fore. The Green New Deal has three pillars, according to Sunrise...
- 1/7/2019
- by Tim Dickinson
- Rollingstone.com
Dennis Hof, the Las Vegas pimp at the center of HBO’s Cathouse reality series and a Republican candidate for the Nevada state assembly, has died at age 72.
Chuck Muth, Hof’s campaign manager in the state election, tweeted that Hof “died quietly in his sleep” and that his body was discovered this morning by porn star Ron Jeremy.
His death had earlier been confirmed by Nye County Sheriff Lt. David Boruchowitz, who told reporters that, preliminarily, there is no indication of foul play.
Just arrived on-scene at Love Ranch Vegas. Dennis died quietly in his sleep. Ron Jeremy found him this morning when he went to wake him to go to a meeting in Pahrump. Investigation still going on.
— Chuck Muth (@ChuckMuth) October 16, 2018
Boruchowitz said that Hof was found not breathing at his Love Ranch legal brothel Tuesday morning. Boruchowitz would not say where on the ranch Hof was found.
Chuck Muth, Hof’s campaign manager in the state election, tweeted that Hof “died quietly in his sleep” and that his body was discovered this morning by porn star Ron Jeremy.
His death had earlier been confirmed by Nye County Sheriff Lt. David Boruchowitz, who told reporters that, preliminarily, there is no indication of foul play.
Just arrived on-scene at Love Ranch Vegas. Dennis died quietly in his sleep. Ron Jeremy found him this morning when he went to wake him to go to a meeting in Pahrump. Investigation still going on.
— Chuck Muth (@ChuckMuth) October 16, 2018
Boruchowitz said that Hof was found not breathing at his Love Ranch legal brothel Tuesday morning. Boruchowitz would not say where on the ranch Hof was found.
- 10/16/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist came out strongly against White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon's reported position on raising taxes for the wealthy.
- 7/3/2017
- by Joe DePaolo
- Mediaite - TV
This week on Real Time with Bill Maher, Eva Longoria joins tax-reform campaigner Grover Norquist on the panel and Bill interviews foreign affairs expert Richard Haass and journalist John Avlon. With the Trump presidency off to a controversial and somewhat chaotic start, there is plenty for Maher and his guests to talk about. Yesterday Maher tweeted: “This is, pure and simple, #GovtByBrainfart. I wld need 6 hours on tomorrow night’s show to cover all the madness that went on this week.” Richard Haas is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and will weigh in on the week’s developments. With the Mexican...read more...
- 1/27/2017
- by James Wray
- Monsters and Critics
Lays out with calm, terrifying clarity how Us public universities are being turned into profit-making ventures at the expense of students and education. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
What is the purpose of higher education? It is to create good, well-rounded citizens or compliant corporate cogs? The public universities of the United States were founded on the former principle, but powerful forces today are trying to reshape them for the latter purpose… and they’re winning. In Starving the Beast, documentarian Steve Mims lays out with calm, terrifying clarity how the usual conservative villains — Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers play starring roles — are leading a concerted effort to transform taxpayer-funded institutes of learning and research into profit-making ventures in which students are consumers and universities are service providers. Out are tenure, academic freedom,...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
What is the purpose of higher education? It is to create good, well-rounded citizens or compliant corporate cogs? The public universities of the United States were founded on the former principle, but powerful forces today are trying to reshape them for the latter purpose… and they’re winning. In Starving the Beast, documentarian Steve Mims lays out with calm, terrifying clarity how the usual conservative villains — Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers play starring roles — are leading a concerted effort to transform taxpayer-funded institutes of learning and research into profit-making ventures in which students are consumers and universities are service providers. Out are tenure, academic freedom,...
- 9/9/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Go figure. I was recently wondering when we would start hearing about which big titles were playing in the main slots at the New York Film Festival. Then, yesterday morning we get word that the Opening Night spot at Nyff has been filled. That coveted position was announced to have been taken by Ava DuVernay and a surprise documentary of hers called The 13th. This will be the first documentary to play in this position, in the 54th incarnation of the fest. As the first Nyff opener to be a non fiction title, history has been made. Consider me very intrigued by this one. This has definitely shaken up how I expected Nyff to go, but that’s never a bad thing. DuVernay obviously broke through in a big way a few years back with Selma, and this seems like one that could only make her a higher profile and more diversely talented filmmaker.
- 7/20/2016
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces Ava DuVernay’s documentary The 13th as the Opening Night selection of the 54th New York Film Festival (September 30 – October 16), making its world premiere at Alice Tully Hall. The 13th is the first-ever nonfiction work to open the festival, and will debut on Netflix and open in a limited theatrical run on October 7.
Chronicling the history of racial inequality in the United States, The 13th examines how our country has produced the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with the majority of those imprisoned being African-American. The title of DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing film refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution—“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States . . . ” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass incarceration and...
Chronicling the history of racial inequality in the United States, The 13th examines how our country has produced the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with the majority of those imprisoned being African-American. The title of DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing film refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution—“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States . . . ” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass incarceration and...
- 7/19/2016
- by Kellvin Chavez
- LRMonline.com
If the languid summer tentpole season has you down, fear not, as the promising fall slate is around the corner and today brings the first news of what we’ll see at the 2016 New York Film Festival. For the first time ever, a non-fiction film will open The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s festival: Ava DuVernay‘s The 13th. Her timely follow-up to Selma chronicles the history of racial inequality in the United States and will arrive on Netflix and in limited theaters shortly after its premiere at Nyff, on October 7.
“It is a true honor for me and my collaborators to premiere The 13th as the opening night selection of the New York Film Festival,” Ava DuVernay says. “This film was made as an answer to my own questions about how and why we have become the most incarcerated nation in the world, how and why we regard...
“It is a true honor for me and my collaborators to premiere The 13th as the opening night selection of the New York Film Festival,” Ava DuVernay says. “This film was made as an answer to my own questions about how and why we have become the most incarcerated nation in the world, how and why we regard...
- 7/19/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It is often lamented that contemporary political culture is covered too much like sports and entertainment. “Who won the day?” is more or less the credo of Politico, a site that treats former hall monitors like anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist like LeBron James — or, say, Paul Thomas Anderson. The priority for Fox News is making good television, and what makes good TV has not one thing to do with crafting and enacting policy that has a concrete effect on American life (Fox’s opposite number, MSNBC, has watched its ratings slide for several years, and yet keeps programming failing shows hosted by earnest center-left wonks). What works on non-scripted programming is conflict in which one massive ego prevails over another. Any substantive point any pundit makes is irrelevant — it’s the elegance with which a bon mot is deployed, or the savagery of a verbal salvo, that counts. For this state of affairs,...
- 8/19/2015
- by Rob Kemp
- The Playlist
David Gregory is getting back in the news game, this time digitally. Also read: ‘Meet the Press’ Pays Tribute to Ousted Moderator David Gregory The recently ousted “Meet the Press” moderator will join Yahoo's coverage of the midterm elections, the company announced Tuesday. Gregory will join host Katie Couric and contributors Matt Bai, Mike Allen, and political commentator Grover Norquist for network's coverage on November 4th. Also read: David Gregory Writing Book About Jewish Faith Gregory parted ways with “Meet” in August after months of gossip and speculation about his status amidst fledgling ratings. Since his departure, he's been at work on a book.
- 10/28/2014
- by Jordan Chariton
- The Wrap
Just in time for the actual midterm elections, the four Senators of Alpha House are back for another season today, doing whatever they can to hang on to their dignity and their jobs – fending off political opponents, magicians, reality show cameras, and comedy roasters. Start the binging right now.
Unlike other shows set in D.C., Alpha House is set against the backdrop of the current election season, where Obama is president and actual political stars, like Senator John McCain, David Axelrod, Grover Norquist and George Stephanopoulos, make appearances.
The real-life element is key to making the understated comedy work, according to executive producer Jonathan Alter, who is also a real-life NBC News contributor and veteran political journalist.
Enlisting members of both parties – in guest appearances and story lines – also helps drive the series. “It may be one of the only political endeavors getting bipartisan support,” says Alter.
But several...
Unlike other shows set in D.C., Alpha House is set against the backdrop of the current election season, where Obama is president and actual political stars, like Senator John McCain, David Axelrod, Grover Norquist and George Stephanopoulos, make appearances.
The real-life element is key to making the understated comedy work, according to executive producer Jonathan Alter, who is also a real-life NBC News contributor and veteran political journalist.
Enlisting members of both parties – in guest appearances and story lines – also helps drive the series. “It may be one of the only political endeavors getting bipartisan support,” says Alter.
But several...
- 10/24/2014
- Hollywonk
After Friday’s debut of Transparent, we’re excited to announce that more comedy is coming your way. The second season of Alpha House, one of Amazon’s first Original Series, returns Friday, October 24th – with all 10 episodes to be released at once.
This season the Senators of Alpha House are bracing for the midterm elections, and much like many of their real-life counterparts, their political futures are uncertain. Senator Biggs (John Goodman), Bettencourt (Clark Johnson) and Laffer (Matt Malloy) might have survived bruising primaries, but now they’re facing strong Democratic challengers and have to pull out all the stops to woo voters over to their side. Meanwhile, Senator Guzman (Mark Consuelos) is preparing for a 2016 bid for the presidency, a pursuit that might bring him into competition with one of his roommates.
Several familiar guest stars will also be returning this season, including Bill Murray, Amy Sedaris, Yara Martinez and Haley Joel Osment.
This season the Senators of Alpha House are bracing for the midterm elections, and much like many of their real-life counterparts, their political futures are uncertain. Senator Biggs (John Goodman), Bettencourt (Clark Johnson) and Laffer (Matt Malloy) might have survived bruising primaries, but now they’re facing strong Democratic challengers and have to pull out all the stops to woo voters over to their side. Meanwhile, Senator Guzman (Mark Consuelos) is preparing for a 2016 bid for the presidency, a pursuit that might bring him into competition with one of his roommates.
Several familiar guest stars will also be returning this season, including Bill Murray, Amy Sedaris, Yara Martinez and Haley Joel Osment.
- 9/29/2014
- Hollywonk
Grover Norquist, the political advocate best known for his anti-tax positions, was a surprising attendee at the annual Burning Man cultural event in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
Grover Norquist At Burning Man
Norquist’s attendance at Burning Man caught many by surprise, as Burning Man is thought to be an event for more liberal-leaning individuals than the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. However, Norquist frequently took to Twitter during the weeklong event to sing its praises and counter the stereotypes associated with Burning Man.
Burning Man. 65,000 participants. 1000s of works of art. Anyone who walks through Bm and only notices nudity tells you only about himself.
— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) August 31, 2014
Burning Man sunrise 2014 pic.twitter.com/SoX7HVc1UA
— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) August 31, 2014
In fact, Norquist enjoyed it so much that he and his wife Samah Alrayyes Norquist are considering bringing their two children for the 2015 festivities.
Grover Norquist At Burning Man
Norquist’s attendance at Burning Man caught many by surprise, as Burning Man is thought to be an event for more liberal-leaning individuals than the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform. However, Norquist frequently took to Twitter during the weeklong event to sing its praises and counter the stereotypes associated with Burning Man.
Burning Man. 65,000 participants. 1000s of works of art. Anyone who walks through Bm and only notices nudity tells you only about himself.
— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) August 31, 2014
Burning Man sunrise 2014 pic.twitter.com/SoX7HVc1UA
— Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) August 31, 2014
In fact, Norquist enjoyed it so much that he and his wife Samah Alrayyes Norquist are considering bringing their two children for the 2015 festivities.
- 9/2/2014
- Uinterview
Hopefully, you've had a few minutes to play around with our Fall Entertainment Generator. But if you're looking for straight and simple lists of things to look out for by medium, we'll be breaking them out separately. Here's a look at fall movies. September 9/5 Frontera Michael Peña is a Mexican immigrant who didn’t kill Ed Harris’s wife but pays the price anyway. The Longest Week Jason Bateman stars as a trust-fund brat disinherited by his parents who manages to make Olivia Wilde fall for him anyway. 9/12 Dolphin Tale 2 The follow-up to the 2011 family hit about a dolphin with a prosthetic tail. No Good Deed Idris Elba is a handsome-but-evil home-invader dropping in on Taraji P. Henson. Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt? The trilogy concludes, with cameo appearances from Ron Paul, Glenn Beck, and Grover Norquist. The Drop The late James Gandolfini stars in a Brooklyn-based...
- 8/26/2014
- by Vulture Editors
- Vulture
The cast of the Netflix series of Marvel's "Daredevil" is beginning to take shape and it ... looks like the cast of a TV show. Which isn't a bad thing at all, just an observation, and at least with more recognizable names than whoever those people are on "Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." Anyway, Rosario Dawson is joining Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio in the show, with her role poetically described as that of "a dedicated young woman whose quest to heal the wounds of Hell's Kitchen brings blind attorney Matt Murdock unexpectedly crashing into her life, while her own journey forever alters the course of his battle against the injustices of this broken city." [THR] In case you're one of the five people who care about "Atlas Shrugged III," it will make room for Ron Paul, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Grover Norquist to make appearances, surely because they are integral,...
- 6/20/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Bruised by the defeat of an anti-piracy bill two years ago, Hollywood’s chief lobbying organization is giving more money to outside political groups that support Republican lawmakers. During the 2012 election cycle, the Motion Picture Association of America donated $200,000 to Americans for Tax Reform, an organization run by notorious Gop politico Grover Norquist, and $100,000 to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, another avowedly conservative group. Both groups spend millions in national elections to unseat Democrats. In total, the MPAA spent $2.4 million on grants to outside groups — some Republican, some Democrat. That is over 20-times what it spent in...
- 2/27/2014
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
You hear that? That’s (mostly) the sound of hope. President Obama delivered his annual State of the Union address on Jan. 28, touching on immigration reform, Congress relations, and gun control. And though it’s been tough sledding for Obama recently, judging by tweets from Katie Couric and Mia Farrow, he’s starting to regain that support!
The State of the Union is arguably the most important night in a president’s year. It’s when they can speak out against all the critics, lay out future goals, and inject the American people with a bit of hope. After a year full of turmoil, President Obama had his work cut out for him for the 2014 State of the Union Address on Jan. 28. But he gave a rousing speech that had stars like Katie Couric and Mia Farrow on his side.
State Of The Union Address: Celebs React To Barack Obama...
The State of the Union is arguably the most important night in a president’s year. It’s when they can speak out against all the critics, lay out future goals, and inject the American people with a bit of hope. After a year full of turmoil, President Obama had his work cut out for him for the 2014 State of the Union Address on Jan. 28. But he gave a rousing speech that had stars like Katie Couric and Mia Farrow on his side.
State Of The Union Address: Celebs React To Barack Obama...
- 1/29/2014
- by Andrew Gruttadaro
- HollywoodLife
So let's talk last week's "Real Time with Bill Maher." Republican anti-tax, anti-choice activist Grover Norquist and former Gop Congressman Connie Mack of Florida had their carefully coiffed hair blow back a bit when gay blogger Dan Savage went on a tear about gay parents and their children. He told Maher, “I’m always telling people who say two men can’t make a baby, ‘Anything is possible for God.’ I’m going to keep inseminating my husband and keep my fingers crossed.” Real Time with Bill Maher continues its 11th season Friday, July 26 (10:00-11:00 p.m. live Et/tape-delayed Pt), exclusively on HBO, with an instant replay at 11:00 p.m. following the live presentation. This week Bill hosts women’s rights activist...
- 7/23/2013
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
San Diego County Clerk sues to reinstate Prop 8, Magic Mike Musical signs writers and composers, Catching Fire burns up Comic Con
Henry Cavill will return in the Man of Steel sequel, but he’s bringing a friend – Batman! Yes, they’re ready to reboot the bat, and bring him face to face with Superman. There wasn’t the expected announcement (only rumor) that it would be followed by a Flash movie, then Justice League, but it does appear to be moving in that direction.
The House failed to include the Student Non Discrimination Act in their version of the Education bill, voting it down in committee 5-7. Snda is modeled on Title IX and would effectively bar discrimination in schools. The Senate version currently under consideration includes Snda.
Fresh on the news that there would be a Family Guy/The Simpsons crossover in fall 2014 come the news that Futurama will...
Henry Cavill will return in the Man of Steel sequel, but he’s bringing a friend – Batman! Yes, they’re ready to reboot the bat, and bring him face to face with Superman. There wasn’t the expected announcement (only rumor) that it would be followed by a Flash movie, then Justice League, but it does appear to be moving in that direction.
The House failed to include the Student Non Discrimination Act in their version of the Education bill, voting it down in committee 5-7. Snda is modeled on Title IX and would effectively bar discrimination in schools. The Senate version currently under consideration includes Snda.
Fresh on the news that there would be a Family Guy/The Simpsons crossover in fall 2014 come the news that Futurama will...
- 7/21/2013
- by Ed Kennedy
- The Backlot
On TV this Friday: Surf’s up in Disney Channel’s Teen Beach Movie, Aziz Ansari parks it at Comedy Bang! Bang!, the Treehouse Master creates wedded bliss in the season finale and Continuum courts disaster. As a supplement to TVLine’s original features, here are seven programs to keep on your radar tonight.
8 pm Teen Beach Movie (Disney Channel) | Ross Lynch (Austin & Ally) and Maia Mitchell (The Fosters) star as teen sweethearts who find themselves swept into a retro surf musical movie called Wet Side Story. Their efforts to find a way back to 2013 are complicated by the romantic...
8 pm Teen Beach Movie (Disney Channel) | Ross Lynch (Austin & Ally) and Maia Mitchell (The Fosters) star as teen sweethearts who find themselves swept into a retro surf musical movie called Wet Side Story. Their efforts to find a way back to 2013 are complicated by the romantic...
- 7/19/2013
- by Kimberly Roots
- TVLine.com
We love Friday night on HBO as Bill Maher's chat sessions always delivers. This week, on July 19 (10:00-11:00 p.m. live Et/tape-delayed Pt), exclusively on HBO, with an instant replay at 11:00 p.m., Maher brings us Killer whale trainer John Hargrove as the top-of-show interview guest; Columnist Dan Savage is the mid-show interview guest. The roundtable guests are journalist Rula Jebreal, former Fla. Rep. Connie Mack and tax reform advocate Grover Norquist. Norquist will be a good guest. He recently told Newsmax: .Immigration is America's number one economic asset...The rest of the world can't do that. We can have every smart person we want, every high-skilled person we want. .A lot of young people just starting out unskilled .
- 7/17/2013
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
We love Friday night on HBO as Bill Maher's chat sessions always delivers. This week, on July 19 (10:00-11:00 p.m. live Et/tape-delayed Pt), exclusively on HBO, with an instant replay at 11:00 p.m., Maher brings us Killer whale trainer John Hargrove as the top-of-show interview guest; Columnist Dan Savage is the mid-show interview guest. The roundtable guests are journalist Rula Jebreal, former Fla. Rep. Connie Mack and tax reform advocate Grover Norquist. Norquist will be a good guest. He recently told Newsmax: .Immigration is America's number one economic asset...The rest of the world can't do that. We can have every smart person we want, every high-skilled person we want. .A lot of young people just starting out unskilled .
- 7/17/2013
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
Ann Coulter and anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist got into a heated discussion on CNBC's The Kudlow Report on Friday over immigration reform. Norquist made the economic argument in favor of immigration reform, while Coulter said immigrants rely too much on the welfare state and would not give back to the economy. She told Norquist that allowing immigrants into the United States doesn't benefit average Americans, just businesses that "benefit from slave labor."...
- 4/13/2013
- by Josh Feldman
- Mediaite - TV
What CNN billed as a segment featuring two political opposites, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-vt) and Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, agreeing about their opposition to President Barack Obama’s budget proposal quickly descended into a heated argument on Thursday. The pair agreed that the president’s budget was potentially disastrous, but they sharply differed over why that was the case.
- 4/11/2013
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist believes Republicans will hold President Obama on such a tight fiscal leash that he will have no choice but to launch unnecessary wars against small countries in order to fulfill his desire to spend more money. Appearing on C-span’s Washington Journal this morning, the Americans for Tax Reform founder made the Wag the Dog-esque prediction while discussing how the Gop will make sure Obama is fiscally restrained during his final four years as president.
- 12/13/2012
- by Andrew Kirell
- Mediaite - TV
Americans for Tax Reform chief Grover Norquist joined Alex Wagner on MSNBC’s Now to discuss the current status of negotiations between President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans to avoid the upcoming fiscal cliff. Norquist told the MSNBC host that he thinks President Obama is overplaying his hand in these negotiations, as he did in his first term, and Obama will cede the political advantage to Republicans because he “doesn’t have the mandate he thinks he does.”...
- 12/4/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
Various and sundry thoughts from the mind of Mindy this week:
The USS Enterprise (Cvn-65), the eighth U.S. Navy vessel to bear that name, was decommissioned this week after 50 years of service. The world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier made her maiden voyage on January 12, 1962 and her first mission was tracking and monitoring the first orbital flight of Project Mercury, with Lt. Col. John Glenn aboard the Friendship 7 capsule. In popular culture, the Enterprise was the home base of Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) in Top Gun, with the late director Tony Scott filming and incorporating flight deck operations into the film, and it was the flagship of the U.S. Navy fleet participating in The Hunt For Red October.
Then, of course, there is Star Trek – and did you know that Gene Roddenberry’s original starship name was the USS Yorktown? But the fame and status of...
The USS Enterprise (Cvn-65), the eighth U.S. Navy vessel to bear that name, was decommissioned this week after 50 years of service. The world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier made her maiden voyage on January 12, 1962 and her first mission was tracking and monitoring the first orbital flight of Project Mercury, with Lt. Col. John Glenn aboard the Friendship 7 capsule. In popular culture, the Enterprise was the home base of Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) in Top Gun, with the late director Tony Scott filming and incorporating flight deck operations into the film, and it was the flagship of the U.S. Navy fleet participating in The Hunt For Red October.
Then, of course, there is Star Trek – and did you know that Gene Roddenberry’s original starship name was the USS Yorktown? But the fame and status of...
- 12/3/2012
- by Mindy Newell
- Comicmix.com
Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist warned the panelists on Sunday’s Meet The Press that the regulation and taxes which are part of President Barack Obama’s health care reform legislation are due to be implemented in Obama’s second term. In combination with the tax increases he is seeking as a resolution to the fiscal cliff, Norquist said that he believes “Tea Party 2 will dwarf Tea Party 1.”...
- 12/2/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
On Tuesday, the Morning Joe crew sought to answer the question, "Is Grover finally over?" In response to those consistently criticizing Grover Norquist, Joe Scarborough drove home his own point about the polarizing man behind the pledge not to vote to increase taxes. Norquist isn't the "bad guy," Scarborough said. And he'll only be over when Americans decide they aren't taxed enough.
- 11/27/2012
- by Meenal Vamburkar
- Mediaite - TV
During a rather tense interview with CNN's Piers Morgan this evening, conservative activist Grover Norquist blasted the various prominent Republican lawmakers who have expressed a willingness to break his long-standing anti-tax pledge in the name of achieving a compromise to avoid the "fiscal cliff." In particular, Norquist took a shot at Rep. Peter King (R-ny), accusing the congressman of trying to "weasel" out of a career-long commitment to the pledge.
- 11/27/2012
- by Andrew Kirell
- Mediaite - TV
While Republicans in Congress are doing everything they can to distance themselves from Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge while still appearing sufficiently conservative, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-al) is mostly sticking by it. On Fox News this morning, Sessions told Martha MacCallum, "I signed it and I absolutely believe we don't have to raise taxes now." But Sessions let some hints of compromise show when he added, "we've got to deal with the crisis we face. We've got to deal with the political reality of the president's victory."...
- 11/26/2012
- by Matt Wilstein
- Mediaite - TV
With Republicans in the Congress set to raise taxes and break Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform pledge, many in the media are questioning whether lawmakers should be bound by pledges to outside groups in the first place. Now, Fox & Friends host Gretchen Carlson is joining their ranks. On Monday, Carlson said that she thought Norquist’s pledge has made it difficult for Republicans to govern.
- 11/26/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
During the panel round of ABC's This Week, ABC News senior political analyst and former Bush/Cheney adviser Matthew Dowd took a few strong shots at Grover Norquist, calling the anti-tax activist an "impediment to good government" and mocking that the only good thing about the outspoken conservative is that he shares a name with a particular Sesame Street character.
- 11/25/2012
- by Andrew Kirell
- Mediaite - TV
On Wednesday, Republican senator Saxby Chambliss said he would brush aside his support of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge created by conservative activist Grover Norquist in order to work on tackling the debt problem. Chambliss dismissed the "20-year-old pledge" and said he cares more about the economy than he does about Norquist. Norquist responded on CNN tonight, finding it odd that Chambliss would target him specifically when the Americans for Tax Reform pledge is a promise not to him, but to a politician's constituents.
- 11/24/2012
- by Josh Feldman
- Mediaite - TV
Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist appeared on Monday's Starting Point, making his case for extending tax cuts. "There’s a compromise to be made," he told host Soledad O'Brien. "Maybe we don’t get as much in spending restraint as the Republicans want, but raising taxes on a little bit, doesn’t solve the problem of the massive spending problem that we have. Doesn’t get spending down, it just raises taxes."...
- 11/12/2012
- by Alex Alvarez
- Mediaite - TV
On Wednesday, President of the Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, took on a caller on C-span who accused him of “gloating” over getting politicians to sign his pledge not to increase taxes while in office. Norquist challenged the caller, saying that the lobbyists in Washington D.C. are strongly opposed to keeping taxes low because they want to finance their interests which is why the “pledge is important.”...
- 6/13/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
Since Obama took office, the Gop has been relentlessly using the national debt as a justification for their proposed policies of severe spending cuts. But how did we get a debt crisis in the first place? By spending money like a coke fiend, George W. Bush squandered our national surplus on Iraq, Medicare Part D, and, most importantly, his fabled tax cuts; the debt Gop hates so much is entirely the consequence of their own economic policies.
In 2000, the Congressional Budget Office forecasted that there would be a six trillion dollar surplus accumulated by the end of the decade. This was based on the surplus in 2001, the result of the Dot Com bubble and Clinton’s tax raises. (Funny how Clinton presided over a growing economy and increasing taxes. Does tax guru Grover Norquist have a rebuttal?)
Rubbing his hands together at that forecast, Bush Jr. decided to snatch the...
In 2000, the Congressional Budget Office forecasted that there would be a six trillion dollar surplus accumulated by the end of the decade. This was based on the surplus in 2001, the result of the Dot Com bubble and Clinton’s tax raises. (Funny how Clinton presided over a growing economy and increasing taxes. Does tax guru Grover Norquist have a rebuttal?)
Rubbing his hands together at that forecast, Bush Jr. decided to snatch the...
- 6/12/2012
- by Joe Hines
- Celebsology
PoliticOlogy has been following the slow erosion of support for Grover Norquist's tax pledge—a commitment that a legislator will not vote for any tax increase, including the closing of loopholes or reductions, or suffer withering primary attacks from Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform.
In a political season that's become very dangerous for incumbents—see Lugar, Dick—Gop members have been tripping over themselves to sign the pledge. The result was last fall's debt ceiling debacle, in which Republicans were unable to budge on any form of compromise involving revenue; America's credit grade was lowered, and so was the Gop's legislative and popular momentum.
That last part must have caught the attention of some in the party. First, a slew of up-and-coming Republican House candidates indicated that they would not sign the pledge. Next, Jeb Bush, who never signed the pledge while in office (his tenure was a...
In a political season that's become very dangerous for incumbents—see Lugar, Dick—Gop members have been tripping over themselves to sign the pledge. The result was last fall's debt ceiling debacle, in which Republicans were unable to budge on any form of compromise involving revenue; America's credit grade was lowered, and so was the Gop's legislative and popular momentum.
That last part must have caught the attention of some in the party. First, a slew of up-and-coming Republican House candidates indicated that they would not sign the pledge. Next, Jeb Bush, who never signed the pledge while in office (his tenure was a...
- 6/12/2012
- by Evan McMurry
- Celebsology
On Wednesday, MSNBC’s host of Hardball, Chris Matthews, delved into why he believes the prospect of Mitt Romney as president is something to “fear,” because he believes the former Massachusetts governor is not all that interested in politics or the issues that motivate political commentators. Matthews says that he doubts that if Romney were not running for President that he would be consuming political debate by “watching this network at night.” Furthermore, Matthews says that Romney is a “useful tool” for Republican opinion leaders like Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist or Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol.
- 5/2/2012
- by Noah Rothman
- Mediaite - TV
Anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist has a powerful grip on Congress with a majority of Republican lawmakers signing his pledge to never raise taxes under any situation. In an interview, The Daily Show's Samantha Bee held Norquist's feet to the fire over any scenario in which he would raise taxes. "Is there a scenario in which you would be comfortable with someone raising taxes?" Bee pressed. "No," Norquist answered. Bee went through an entire laundry list of potential science-fiction level nightmare propositions that would move him to raise taxes: war, natural disaster, "beard flu" and even the rising of the apes! The answer was still no.
- 2/29/2012
- by James Crugnale
- Mediaite - TV
Tax reduction crusader Grover Norquist took the helm at Cpac earlier this evening with a fiery speech reminding Cpac attendees to keep their eye on the ball in reducing taxes and giving them a game plan as to how to promote conservatism to the best of their ability. The plan included plenty of what one would expect: refusing to sit at the table with Democrats to increase taxes and going on a state by state plan to flip Democratic leadership in each of the "fifty of fifty-seven states, who's counting?"...
- 2/11/2012
- by Frances Martel
- Mediaite - TV
Grover Norquist targeted actress Lindsay Lohan for "costing all taxpayers so much money" on Americans For Tax Reform's annual "Naughty and Nice List."
In an interview with Newsmax released Sunday, Norquist expanded on the "naughty" on his organization's list. "Oh dear, there's so many. I mean, [President Barack] Obama for killing too many jobs. Lindsay Lohan for costing all taxpayers so much money every time she goes to court -- or forgets to go to court. We have Frank Wolf, a Republican who called for 2 trillion dollars in tax increases -- that was unfortunate," he said. He added the super committee to the list for trying to raise taxes.
(Video above via Newsmax.)
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) blasted Norquist on the House floor last October for being "a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code" because of the Atr Taxpayer Protection Pledge not to raise taxes. Wolf added that he didn't "support...
In an interview with Newsmax released Sunday, Norquist expanded on the "naughty" on his organization's list. "Oh dear, there's so many. I mean, [President Barack] Obama for killing too many jobs. Lindsay Lohan for costing all taxpayers so much money every time she goes to court -- or forgets to go to court. We have Frank Wolf, a Republican who called for 2 trillion dollars in tax increases -- that was unfortunate," he said. He added the super committee to the list for trying to raise taxes.
(Video above via Newsmax.)
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) blasted Norquist on the House floor last October for being "a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code" because of the Atr Taxpayer Protection Pledge not to raise taxes. Wolf added that he didn't "support...
- 12/27/2011
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
The man who has been catapulted into the spotlight as the single most important political character in the collapse of the Congressional Supercommittee on the budget is still saying no to any and all taxes. Grover Norquist the Americans for Tax Reform head who, despite not being a public servant or member of the media, keeps having fingers pointed at him for pulling the strings in the Republican Congress was on Meet the Press today and explained, once again, that his tax pledge was not with him but "the American people"...
- 11/27/2011
- by Frances Martel
- Mediaite - TV
Addressing the Super Committee's inability to come to a consensus regarding much-needed budget cuts, Tuesday's Morning Joe panel mulled over what role President Barack Obama played in the talks demise, or what role he should have played. Early on in the show, host Mika Brzezinski, noted that, for all the attention Americans for Tax Reform's Grover Norquist has been given in the press, "both sides failed." Host Joe Scarborough called into the show and offered his perspective.
- 11/22/2011
- by Alex Alvarez
- Mediaite - TV
Who is Grover Norquist? The anti-tax personality has seemingly blown up into a Republican superstar/Democratic bogeyman out of nowhere, as some members of the committee blame his organization, Americans for Tax Reform, and the pledge many Republicans signed not to raise taxes for the committee's failure. Norquist appeared on The Situation Room today in response to the super-committee's failure and his alleged role in the affair, which he couldn't help but call "sort of funny."...
- 11/22/2011
- by Frances Martel
- Mediaite - TV
Former Senator Alan Simpson appeared on Your World with Neil Cavuto to answer back to anti-tax lobbyist Grover Norquist's rebuke that he was a 'senile drunk', criticizing Norquist's opposition to eliminating ethanol subsides, which Senator Tom Coburn championed. "I'm not obsessed with Grover, he says I've been saying I've been calling his answering machine! I don't call his answering machine. Hell, I don't call anything that he's connected with. I don't need to! He's as much a smart aleck as I am," Simpson quipped. "He called [Senator] Coburn's activity there a tax increase, and Coburn used the word 'ludicrous' -- I used word "deceptive," and I will continue to use that. You can't get where we have to go by taxing your way out of this baby or cutting spending your way out of this, baby. You have to have a plan. We've worked for ten months on this baby,...
- 11/14/2011
- by James Crugnale
- Mediaite - TV
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