If You Signed Norquist's Tax Pledge, There's a Way Out Re "For Tax Pledge and Its Author, a Test of Time" (front page, Nov. 20), about Republican legislators struggling with the implications of having signed Grover Norquist's anti-tax-increase pledge: First, signing such a pledge is irresponsible. To say there are no circumstances under which a tax increase could be justified is foolish. Second, there is a loophole in the pledge. Under its literal language, a signer agrees to "oppose" any efforts to increase taxes but does not irrevocably commit to voting against them. A signer could vigorously "oppose" a tax increase and yet vote for it as part of a compromise resolution. Responsible economists agree that the country's fiscal problems will have to be solved by a mix of revenue increases and spending cuts. I hope that the legislators who have signed Mr. Norquist's "pledge" will agree when Congress finally addresses our fiscal problems. The writer is a former chairman of the American Bar Association's Taxation Section. There is only one pledge any politician should sign: I pledge to act in the best interests of my constituents and the people of the United States as a whole. I pledge not to sign any other pledges. PHILIP TYMON Guerneville, Calif., Nov. 21, 2012