"I care more about this country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge," Mr Chambliss told Georgia television station WMAZ on Thursday. - PHOTO: REUTERSWASHINGTON
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 24, 2012
US Senator Saxby Chambliss this week became the latest Republican lawmaker to loosen his ties to Grover Norquist, the anti-tax lobbyist famous for getting elected officials to sign a "taxpayer protection pledge."
The rebellion, albeit a modest one, comes as Republicans prepare to negotiate with Democrats and President Barack Obama on a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff - some US$600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to start jolting the economy at the beginning of 2013.
"I care more about this country than I do about a 20-year-old pledge," Mr Chambliss told Georgia television station WMAZ on Thursday. "If we do it his way, then we'll continue in debt, and I just have a disagreement with him about that."
Mr Chambliss, who represents Georgia, is a member of the so-called Gang of Eight group of senators, a bipartisan alliance working for deficit reduction, formed last year when the country was on the verge of default thanks to a partisan battle over raising the country's borrowing limit.
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