Colbert: Anti-tax pledge is eternal, ‘like a pact with the devil, or a gym membership’

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While other conservatives are abandoning Grover Norquist, Stephen Colbert said Tuesday he would stick by the anti-tax advocate — after all, a promise is a promise.

“An anti-tax pledge is eternal and unbreakable,” Colbert said. “It is like a pact with the devil, or a gym membership.”

More and more Republicans, he explained, are saying they’re willing to renege on the pledge they made to the founder of Americans for Tax Reform, because of the threat of sequestration, the series of budget cuts that would kick in at the start of 2013 because of the “fiscal cliff” arguments between President Barack Obama and lawmakers.

“It’s kind of like a Mexican standoff, without any Mexicans,” Colbert said.

As Obama and Republican lawmakers sparred over whether to raise taxes last year, he said, Congress solved the issue “by not solving it,” and punting it over to the 12-person “Super Congress.”

The special joint committee, he said, couldn’t fail because it was super, but, “unfortunately, it was also Congress, so it failed,” giving Obama the chance to follow through on his threat to increase taxes on the rich because he “promised” to do so and happened to “win” re-election.

“It’s like he’s totally disregarding my ‘dismissive finger quotes,’” he said, making dismissive finger quotes. “What part of ‘this’ don’t you understand, President ‘Obama’?”

Watch Colbert’s breakdown of the “fiscal cliff” imbroglio, aired Tuesday night on Comedy Central, below.