Why on earth did Americans For Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist take No. 14 seed Valparaiso to the Final Four in his NCAA Bracket? Because of taxes, natch. Over on the Americans For Tax Reform Pinterest page, which is a thing that is happening in contemporary America, Norquist explains how he derived his Final Four picks for the 2013 NCAA Men’s College Basketball tournament. To his credit, Norquist’s bracket probably involved goodly more research than yours or mine did…. Fealty to this system forces Norquist to make a range of odd picks — Liberty over Louisville, Florida Gulf Coast University over Georgetown….
This is the time of year when millions of Americans obsess over their NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament brackets. Fans use all manner of methods, from thorough research to picking teams based on which mascot they think would win a bar fight. I think I can safely wager that NO ONE has ever filled out their brackets by comparing the lowest top marginal income tax rate in each team’s home state. Until now, that is. Thats’ exactly the criteria used by anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist, who probably doesn’t go to the bathroom without calculating the political impact of going #1 or #2.
It’s a thoroughly silly and pointless exercise. I suspect Norquist is tremendously impressed with his own self-professed brilliance. Despite Norquist’s pride in his “accomplishment,” not everything is, can, or even should be political. Frankly, this is just silly. I’m not at all certain what Norquist is trying to prove, except perhaps to demonstrate that he really needs to lighten up and not take himself so seriously.
Let this be a lesson to you: Don’t be that guy.
