Posted on 10/22/2011 2:23:56 PM PDT by justsaynomore
Negotiations on the federal debt ceiling aren't aiming high enough, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said in the Quad-Cities on Monday, arguing he would like to see spending cuts go as high as $6 trillion over 10 years, two to three times the level now being contemplated.
Cain, the former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza, blamed President Barack Obama and Congress for allowing the debt ceiling talks to come down to the wire, saying it's a failure of leadership. In an interview, he rejected the idea negotiators should satisfy themselves with $2 trillion in cuts over 10 years.
"It's not enough," he said. "I'd like to see, over 10 years, somewhere in the range of $5-to-$6 trillion. And I happen to believe that it is perfectly doable if you do one of the things I have been advocating out here on this campaign journey. Restructure these programs. As long as we're talking about just cutting them and not restructuring them, then they're never going to get their hands around the whole issue of spending."
Over the weekend, a White House proposal to put together a $4 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling was rejected.
Republicans have said they won't go along with revenue increases, which Democrats are demanding. As a result, talks are centered on reducing spending by $2 trillion to $3 trillion. The debt ceiling is now at $14.3 trillion.
Cain was in Davenport as a guest speaker at the Scott County Republican Women's luncheon at Thunder Bay Grille.
He drew a sizeable crowd, and a handful of people said later they were impressed by his common touch.
"He makes sense," said Bill Edmond, a Davenport alderman and Republican activist. "We need more people who practice common sense" in Washington, D.C.
Cain said he would take federal Medicaid and education funds and send them to the states to give states more flexibility.
He also said he would cut corporate and payroll taxes and eliminate taxes on corporate profits now being held overseas in an effort to promote the economy.
Cain's stop in the Quad-Cities was one of two for the day. He also was going to Urbandale to open his state campaign headquarters.
He also took questions from the group Monday.
In answer to one man's complaint about how some people - "idiots," he called them - aren't educated about basic civics and how the government works, Cain drew laughs when he said the first step was to "save the saveable."
"I believe that what this gentleman is referring to represents what I call the clueless 50 percent," Cain said. "Unfortunately, a lot of them vote. That's the problem."
Cain said that could be combatted by conservatives turning out to vote next year - as some did not for John McCain in 2008 - and that the "pendulum has already started to shift" to draw independents and moderates away from Obama toward a better alternative.
"Things are beginning to shake out," he said. "I happen to believe we have the ability to get the right votes in the right places."
Read more: http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/government-and-politics/fc2ee288-abf4-11e0-a3d1-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1bXyoNy97
Cain has you suckered because he is a salesman. 6 trillion in cuts is to get you to go "WOW Cain is serious"
Yeah I heard it when he talked about his electric fence that kills Mexicans. He now touts Perry's border security plan almost to a T.
Cain has you suckered because he is a salesman. 6 trillion in cuts is to get you to go "WOW Cain is serious"
Yeah I heard it when he talked about his electric fence that kills Mexicans. He now touts Perry's border security plan almost to a T.
exactly, that’s just a start
How can we tell. His original 9-9-9 plan as outlined on his website did not contain sales tax exemptions for used items, did not exempt poor people from income tax, and did not penalize companies who did not operate in Opportunity Zones. So unless they were in the plan all along and he just plain forgot to include them on is website then he's been changing his plan on almost a daily basis.
If you could point out an actual case of the plan changing from the original proposal, as opposed to elements being fleshed out in public like the opportunity zones, then I would appreciate it.
See above.
Yeah. But this latest stunt about people below the poverty level living in the zones not paying income tax dates from yesterday. Maybe the day before.
Okay, so this is all assumptions on your part because you already don’t like him. Gotcha.
Oh wait fellas! I'm gonna build an electric fence that kills Mexicans and cut the budget by 6 trillion! Whooohooo! Yes sir!
A spending freeze would almost do what Cain is asking over 10 years.
You love the idea of him, not the reality of him.
am·nes·ty
[am-nuh-stee]
noun
1.
a general pardon for offenses, especially political offenses, against a government, often granted before any trial or conviction.
2.
Law. an act of forgiveness for past offenses, especially to a class of persons as a whole.
3.
a forgetting or overlooking of any past offense.
verb (used with object)
4.
to grant amnesty to; pardon.
If you can show me actual evidence of the plan changing, then please ping me.
I have been praying for Mr. Cain since the day he first said he was prayerfully considering running for President (spring of 2010) :-)
I am listening to a speech he gave in Arizona - I love this statement:
“Politicians propose what they think can get passed. Problem solvers propose what they think will fix the problem.”
Do you think Cain is for deporting illegals? Building a 2000 mile fence? Cutting 6 trillion from the budget?
Come on man! That is nonsense and Cain knows exactly what he needs to say to draw your support.
Perry never ever has been for amnesty and the only one accusing him of it is Romney. Bottom line and if you pretend to be for Cain but continue in the Romney lie, your suspect.
I agree, but let's not freeze it at Obama levels - too much Solyndra and union slush fund money - let's go back to fiscal 2008 (which didn't include TARP)
Amen to that.
I’m taking both Cain and Perry at their word. Cain wants to enforce existing laws, Perry wants to ignore them and make the invaders “guests” after they’ve broken into the place, letting them hold citizens’ jobs and depress citizens’ wages.
Your “boy” Ricky supported rewarding children of illegal aliens with tuition breaks at Texas Universities.
That is stuck in my craw, and I can neither swallow it nor cough it up.
When folks do something illegal - you don’t reward them (period).
Amen to that. The president doesn’t cut the budget. The president vetoes the budget. I want to know if he’s willing to shut down the government for an extended period to eliminate the deficit.
I wish he wasn't joking. I hope we close the border completely. Only people who go through the legal process of immigration should be allowed in this country.
Obama increased spending by 1.2billion over the 500 billion we had under Bush.
Cutting by 6 trillion over 10 years amounts to 600 billion a year.
That’s 1.2trillion a year in deficit spending remaining.
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