In November 1933 Retired Major General Smedley Butler claimed that wealthy business leaders in the US were plotting to overthrow the President FDR. FDR was pushing through radical new legislation called the New Deal, which among other things, would pose new regulations on banks and increase the taxes on the wealthy from 52% to 63%. In 1933, General Butler met with Gerald MacGuire, a wealthy bond salesman for Murphy & Company who tried to enlist General Butler in a plot to overthrow FDR. With the backing of the business community including the Dupont Family, JP Morgan, Andrew Mellon , and the Remington Family, he promised General Butler 500,000 troops (made up of primarily veterans) and military equipment supplied by DuPont and Remington. The ultimate goal was to either install their own fascist leadership with sympathies toward the business community or to get FDR to reverse his positions on the New Deal.  The Coup never took place, General Butler testified in Congress as to the plot and those involved denied the allegations.  However, the committee investigating determined their was enough evidence available to determine the plot to be credible, but given the individuals involved, no charges were ever filed.

Why is this important? Last week, wealthy political activist, Grover Norquist gave an interview in which he indicated that if President Obama was allowed to let the Bush Tax Cuts on the wealthy expire, that he would push Republicans in Congress to Impeach the President. According to Article 2 - Section 4 of the United States Constitution, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”  Allowing the Bush Tax Cuts to expire does not sound like an impeachable offense, however,  Norquist will still call on his Republican allies to do it anyway. The reason the story above is important is that if allowed to happen, an impeachment of Obama for allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire would be tantamount to a military coup by the wealthy.