Posted on 11/06/2011 6:11:14 PM PST by SeekAndFind
We've steered away from this question for some time now, since so many other current events have seized the news cycle, but Herman Cain had a fairly long history of pontificating on the radio and writing editorial pieces before he began his current run for the presidency. When you generate that much material, you're bound to leave behind a few nuggets for your opponents to find. The case in point today, however, if a fairly glaring one. Highlighted by Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway, it’s noted that Mr. Cain may have written passionately about an idea which runs directly against one of the cornerstones of his platform.
I’ve noted before that Herman Cain’s history as a radio talk show host, public speaker, and op-ed columnist was likely to come back and bite him at some point. You simply cannot engage in a long career of speaking off the top of your head on various issues without saying something at some point that is going to annoy someone, or prove to be somewhat embarrassing to you should you ever decide to run for public office…
On November 21st, 2010 in a column at website call The New Voice, Herman Cain wrote this about a proposal made by the Simpson-Bowles Commission
The piece in question seems fairly damning in terms of the political dog and pony show. It has to do with the idea of a national sales tax, which as I’m sure you will recall, is one leg of his 9-9-9 plan.
The worst idea is a proposed national sales tax, which is a disguised VAT (value added tax) on top of everything we already pay in federal taxes…
First, we have a spending problem in Washington, D.C. not a revenue problem. The Commission claims their goal is to reduce the deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. The task force says its plan would save $6 trillion by 2020. It’s sort of like dueling promises that would never happen, because when has a proposed cut in Washington D.C. ever produced the intended savings over 10 years? Never!
Even worse is reason number two: In every country that has established a VAT with the promise of reducing their national debt, the VAT has eventually gone up or expanded on top of the existing tax structure. After discovering many of the tax grenades in the recently passed health care deform bill, which is already driving costs up and access down, it would be real easy for an overzealous bureaucrat to insert the language in the legislation “national retail and wholesale” tax.
It goes on from there in great detail, but I’ll leave it to you to read for yourselves. Essentially, it certainly appears to undermine one of the major aspects of his 9-9-9 plan. (Not coincidentally, the same one which his primary opponents, including both Perry and Romney have criticized at great length during the early debates.) In fact, the argument he makes in this editorial regarding the government eventually raising the tax is precisely the point his critics are making today. And this isn’t some dusty, musty piece from ancient history. It’s from last year. This not only calls into question Cain’s own commitment to his tax reform plan, but puts in play a “flip-flop” issue, which one certainly doesn’t need when running against Romney for frontrunner status.
This is only one item from the vast library of recorded radio shows and writings by Herman Cain. The media hasn’t had nearly enough time to dredge through the entire stash since he achieved frontrunner status. For the present they seem content to settle for the sexual harassment and campaign finance allegations which currently dominate the news. If Cain survives those with strong poll numbers, look for more nuggets like this to emerge over time.
He was in favor of the ‘Fair Tax’.
a national sales tax is unconstitutional. cain should be against it.
On T, T, & S he is against it.
Sunday is his day of rest.
Reading with comprehension is your friend. Cain's 999 national sales tax is not added to the current tax model. This is the kind of logic I expect from the DNC, for whom a sincerely misinformed statement is the same as a lie.
I wish people would learn the difference between a sales tax and VAT.
I’m in favor of replacing the income tax gradually with a national sales tax.
I believe the worst thing we’ve done is to let politicians control our income.
This must change if we are to regain our competitiveness and our freedom.
Do you pay both at time of purchase?
He was opposed to VAT. Those who do not understand the difference between VAT and Sales Tax are stupid.
I’m in favor of the Fair Tax.
I’ve promoted it as long as I’ve been on FR.
Some conservatives still don’t appear to realize surrendering our income to the federal government has put us on the road to insolvency.
We don’t know much government costs us. If we paid a sales tax, that cost would be reflected in everything we buy.
And I for one, would want to know if the price of government is worth it. An intelligent adult should know that government is not free.
Keep that in mind when politicians tell you a new program will cost you next to nothing. A sales tax would keep them honest.
Bingo. Flat national sales tax is the way to go.
This is a purposeful selective editing. He was NOT talking about the sales tax in 9-9-9. It amazes me when someone claims contradiction when within the same article it is VERY clear exactly what Herman Cain was talking about. Read the whole thing. This is more about the lack of comprehension of writer than any contradiction by Cain. Its like the stupid ‘Herman doesn’t know China has Nukes’ which is simply a lie Cain had not only written about nuclear proliferation as far back as 2005 and it was easy to find his very intelligent articles on China. The links can be found below.
http://www.rpvnetwork.org/profiles/blogs/hermain-cain-the-man-you-may-not-know
I’m getting really tired of what is becoming a dishonest narrative suggesting Cain must be stupid. They did the same thing to Palin, Angle and tried it with Paul and Rubio. The man is accomplished beyond anything comparable to these snide small jerks and for them to try to tear him down in such a way is pathetic.
If you have a candidate you think is great make your damn case and quit being a coward trying to tear down a man who came from nothing and through his hard work and intelligence rose further than most of us will in a lifetime. Call him anything but calling him stupid or unelectable especially having Obama in the white house is just stupid.
Nope, read the books to find out how like those of us who made the effort and invested in our own education.
Here is Cain’s article in full:
Don’t be VAT stupid
November 21, 2010
By Herman Cain
There’s one message from the 2010 elections that many so-called policy makers, political elites and analysts did not hear. Namely, the American people are not as uninformed and stupid as they think we are.
President Obama’s Debt Commission and the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force have both floated its ideas for reducing our nation’s runaway national debt. As CNNMoney.com reports, both sets of ideas echo each other in broad strokes. And both sets of ideas could confuse and confound the leaves off a tree.
These ideas are a long way from becoming law, but they are generating, as intended, much discussion about the merits of each idea.
The worst idea is a proposed national sales tax, which is a disguised VAT (value added tax) on top of everything we already pay in federal taxes.
Here are three of the biggest reasons the national retail sales tax is the worst idea on the table.
First, we have a spending problem in Washington, D.C. not a revenue problem. The Commission claims their goal is to reduce the deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. The task force says its plan would save $6 trillion by 2020. It’s sort of like dueling promises that would never happen, because when has a proposed cut in Washington D.C. ever produced the intended savings over 10 years? Never!
Even worse is reason number two: In every country that has established a VAT with the promise of reducing their national debt, the VAT has eventually gone up or expanded on top of the existing tax structure. After discovering many of the tax grenades in the recently passed health care deform bill, which is already driving costs up and access down, it would be real easy for an overzealous bureaucrat to insert the language in the legislation “national retail and wholesale” tax.
For the liberal naysayers who say that would not happen, you lose! Just look at the Social Security system, Medicare and Medicaid. Over the years since their inception, taxes have gone up, benefits have gone down and they are still on a path of insolvency.
Both the Commission and the Task Force say very little about how costs would be contained, because that’s the real big bodacious problem. Even if their plans could achieve their stated goals over the next 10 years, the current administration and Congress have increased spending nearly $4 trillion in the last two years. And the only hope that it will slow down is the new change of control in the House of Representatives.
Giving the administration and Congress another tool to tax us and confuse us is like giving an alcoholic a key to the liquor store with no supervision, only to discover that he locks the door after he is safely inside.
A national retail sales tax on top of all the confusing and unfair taxes we have today is insane! It gives the out-of-control bureaucrats and politicians in denial one more tool to lie, deceive, manipulate and destroy this country.
The third reason the national retail sales tax on top of all the taxes we already pay is a bad idea, is that there is already proposed legislation that replaces all of the federal taxes we pay. It replaces all current revenue. It supercharges our national economic growth, and puts the power of taxation back into the hands of the people who spend their money.
It’s called the Fair Tax. It’s as easy to understand as ABC!
That’s the problem. It’s fair. It is simple and understandable. But the politicians and bureaucrats do not want to give people more control of their own money. That’s why even though the legislation has been introduced in every session of Congress since 1999, it has not advanced.
People are not stupid. Maybe they will hear us in 2012.
Every state has a sales tax. States that don’t have an income tax receive revenue from a sales tax. A federal sales tax would simply apply nationwide what already exists on the state level.
Exactly. Within this same article Cain clearly details what he means. He leaves no room for misunderstanding. This just shows what levels our mentally challenged contingent will go to. It’s not Cain’s fault their candidates can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.
he piece in question seems fairly damning in terms of the political dog and pony show. It has to do with the idea of a national sales tax, which as I’m sure you will recall, is one leg of his 9-9-9 plan.
The worst idea is a proposed national sales tax, which is a disguised VAT (value added tax) on top of everything we already pay in federal taxes…
First, we have a spending problem in Washington, D.C. not a revenue problem. The Commission claims their goal is to reduce the deficits by $4 trillion over the next decade. The task force says its plan would save $6 trillion by 2020. It’s sort of like dueling promises that would never happen, because when has a proposed cut in Washington D.C. ever produced the intended savings over 10 years? Never!
Even worse is reason number two: In every country that has established a VAT with the promise of reducing their national debt, the VAT has eventually gone up or expanded on top of the existing tax structure. After discovering many of the tax grenades in the recently passed health care deform bill, which is already driving costs up and access down, it would be real easy for an overzealous bureaucrat to insert the language in the legislation “national retail and wholesale” tax.
WELL WELL, SEEMS HE REALLY LIKES THE vat TAX NOW THAT HE HAS PROPOSED THAT ALONG WITH HIS SALES TAX.
I would like to see the federal tax system become like the tax systems in AK, FL, NH, SD, TN, TX and WY. They are states that have NO state income tax.
They do have a sales tax though.
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