Grover Norquist: Trying To Stop Billionaires From Dodging Taxes Makes You A Nazi

THINK PROGRESS

After Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin avoided some $67 million in taxes by renouncing his American citizenship shortly before the company made its initial public offering, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the “Ex-Patriot” Act. The bill would make former citizens subject to the capital gains tax on U.S. investments and bar those who renounce citizenship for tax purposes from reentering the country.

To American for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, Schumer and Casey’s effort is akin to Nazism or South African apartheid, as The Hill reports:

“I think Schumer can probably find the legislation to do this. It existed in Germany in the 1930s and Rhodesia in the ’70s and in South Africa as well,” said Norquist. “He probably just plagiarized it and translated it from the original German.”
The Nazis infamously implemented a departure tax on Jews who tried to flee Germany before World War II. Schumer is Jewish.

“There’s already a law in the books George, but this is outrageous,” said Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), referencing Saverin’s tax avoidance. “If it’s necessary, sure I would support [the Ex-Patriot Act].” In the last few months, several House Republicans have broken with Norquist and the Americans for Tax Reform anti-tax pledge, which says that signers will never agree to any tax increase, for any reason.