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thanks for posting this.

Say what you will about 9-9-9, the state tax issue is just David Gregroyesque in sheer stupidity. I was just horrified by the responses of many of the other candidates, some of whom I like, with this kind of knee jerk idiotic response. Cain was fair, but not great, in calling them out on it. His apples and oranges response was correct, but not complete. He could have won the day bigtime.

Bachmann, who grates on me a lot, actually made the legit case with her point about where to draw the line on the final point of sale to apply the 9%. But even that got drowned out by the kindergarten objections.

To me, the plan was attacked irrationally and defended poorly. So nothing was accomplished.

... the plan was attacked irrationally and defended poorly.

Exactly! Ergo, it was even worse than nothing accomplished. Herman needs to have his responses crafted by Art Laffer and stop merely saying 'go to my website'.

Yep. I am far from sanguine about Cain's 9-9-9 plan, far from sanguine, but Romney et al's attack based on there being state sales taxes was intellectually dishonest--not the only lie Mitt got caught in last night (I am specifically referring to his claim that he got the "mandate idea" from Newt).

The "state sales tax" issue is a complete red herring--you pay that in addition to the federal income tax and payroll tax, just as you would pay it in addition to any national sales tax--the net result is a zeroing out of any net outlay (or nearly so).

Cain was Cain's worst enemy last night. His "apples and oranges" argument was almost incoherent. I understood what he was trying to say, but he did a very poor job of explaining it and his saying again and again, "go to my website and read my explanation," while perfectly reasonable, is not a way to win a debate or to score points--and as distasteful as having to "score points" in a debate like this is, it does matter. Appearances matter, the ability to articulate clearly and concisely what you believe and what you advocate matters. Each stumble matters--as we have seen with Rick Perry's rise and fall.

To me, the plan was attacked irrationally and defended poorly. So nothing was accomplished.

True. Cain kept referring to his website. Doesn't work in a debate. Romney was a complete sophist on the sales tax. Cain was incomplete in telling Romney Nevadans presently pay federal taxes that his plan would replace.