Rapid Fire August 14, 2012: CCL/USML Merger Plans

• At a panel hosted by the Center for the National Interest, Grover Norquist argued against any tax increases to sustain what he views as an excessively interventionist foreign policy. Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, got many Republican congressmen to sign a pledge not to raise taxes. Some – Lindsay Graham comes to mind – are getting cold feet now that sequestration’s effect on defense budgets is getting close, but Norquist argues they are few and isolated.

• This comes as observers are trying to read what Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate means for defense budgets.