Gosh Merc, I thought you were more attuned to the machinations of GOP politics.
Here's a link back to when the Republicans were, according to John Boehner,
going to come to agreement on the July, 2011 debt ceiling bill,
which included the lapse of the Bush Tax Cuts.
The press interviewed Norquist about the Norquist/ATR pledge,
and how he would respond if someone voted to allow the Bush Tax Cuts to lapse.
That link includes the "official ATR position statement",
and a recording of the interview in which Norquist says he
"... would denounce him as a tax raiser and a bad guy"
Within hours, Republicans got the message.
Boehner's agreement floundered, and he was embarrassed
time and again by the GOP sheep changing direction
and
reneging on Boehner's previous agreements.