“What's hurting the U.S. economy is total government spending. The deficit is an indicator that the government is spending so much money that it can't even get around to stealing all of the money that it wants to spend. But the tip of the iceberg is not what hit the Titanic - it was the 90 percent of the iceberg under water.”

American political activist and anti-tax advocate

Grover Norquist is an American political activist and anti-tax advocate. He is the founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, and has been a prominent Republican voice in fiscal politics. He is best known for promoting the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a commitment by lawmakers to oppose tax increases, including higher marginal rates and changes that cut deductions or credits without offsetting rate cuts. Before the November 2012 election, the pledge had been signed by 95% of Republican members of Congress and by all but one candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.