Herman Cain Gets Defensive Over 999 Tax Plan (Now that he's surging, the scrutiny comes)

Christian Post ^ | 10/10/2011 | Stephanie Samuels

[rarestia]

No no, I don’t see it as a burden. I’d rather have these ingrate wards of the state paying a consumption tax rather than getting a free ride.

[Polybius]

9-9-9 will get through Congress?? Yeh right. It’s nothing more than a concept. Why not 888? Why not 10-10-10?? Why not 10-9-8???

Why?

Because the the 9-9-9 Plan is nothing more than a catchy sound bite and Cain knows exactly what kind of sound bites sell a pizza or anything else.

"Who cares if it tastes like cardboard? It is 9.99!"

Even the Brits working for the other pizza chain know this Most Gimmicky of all Sound Bite Tricks.

Cain is not working to secure the nomination right now. He is working to secure his position as "the next Sarah Palin" in Barnes & Noble book sales, to jack up his speaking fees and to maybe get his own TV show on FOX News.

Cain Campaign: Selling a Candidate or Selling Books?

The same warning signs that Sarah Palin was not considering a serious Presidential run are there for Cain:

1.) No attempts at serious fund-raising
2.) No courting of the major donors
3.) Hardly any staff
4.) A schedule that is heavy on promoting business interests and light in campaign events.
5.) Focuses on creating media headlines rather than on the dull but very necessary logistics of a campaign.
6.) All of this will be rationalized away by claims of brilliant Sun Tzu strategy as he "rewrites the rules".

"Amateurs talk about strategy and professionals talk about logistics." ..... Omar Bradley

For months, I warned that Sarah Palin was not going to mount a serious run and I gave the reasons above. In short, "All Talk - No Logistics." In the end, all the thousands of "PDS!" arrows that came my way did not change the fact that I was right and those who allowed their emotions to cloud their reasoning are now still shocked, shocked that Sarah Palin never mounted a serious Presidential run.

Now, as Yogi Berra once said, "It's deja vu all over again" as the same group of people emotionally jump on "The Cain Train" and emotionally respond to Sound Bites designed to appeal to knee-jerk emotionalism rather than careful study of the issues.

"999! 999! 999!"

"No Fence in the middle of the friggin' desert = ( Israel/Perry) coddles (terrorist infiltrators/illegal aliens)!"

Behind the $9.99 Sound Bites, there is nothing but a cardboard pizza with snake oil sauce.

==================================

Fox’s Chris Wallace Grills Herman Cain Over Tax Proposals In His ’999 Plan’

Cain argued that the plan was, truly, not just his, pointing out “I had some of the best economists in the country help me develop this plan.” He explained that they analyzed government revenues collected from income taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains taxes, etc., and asked how much we would need to reduce in order to balance the budget. Yet despite Cain’s claim that he had noted economists working on the plan with him, Wallace pointed out no one is specifically mentioned on Cain’s website.

After some prodding by Wallace, Cain explained, “I’m not at liberty to mention their names,” adding that he doesn’t want “to compromise their confidentiality.” Wallace wondered if it was such a great plan, why would none of these economists be willing to let Cain mention their names publicly?

==================================

In the end, Herman Cain will cash in on book sales, high speaking fees and maybe even a FOX News contract like Sarah and Huckabee got.

As far as the GOP nomination is concerned, Cain is doing everything he can, by constantly attacking Perry while treating Romney with kid gloves, to hand the GOP nomination over to Mitt Romney.

This Mitt Romney:

VIDEO clips of Romney/Kennedy Debates: Liberals For Romney - More Liberal than Ted Kennedy

The same Mitt Romney that Cain is leaving the major donors to while he concentrates on selling his books at Barnes & Noble book signing all through October.

Romney Rounds Up Backing Among Key G.O.P. Donors

The same Mitt Romney that Cain supported in 2008:

HERMAN CAIN'S ENDORSEMENT OF MITT ROMNEY PUBLISHED IN THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION TWO DAYS PRIOR TO SUPER TUESDAY, 2008

The same Mitt Romney that Cain still supports today:

Herman Cain said Wednesday that he would be unable to support Rick Perry for president if the Texas governor were to eventually win the party's nomination. .... The former businessman said, for instance, that he could support former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney....

[SoJoCo]

To claim it adds to your existing burden is incorrect because you would be paying less Federal taxes over all.

So...you're saying that there would be a law that says that reductions in federal taxes paid must be returned to the customer in the form of lower prices? Otherwise how can you say with such certainty that the reduced federal tax costs won't go towards the corporation's bottom line?

[MNJohnnie]

That criticism about a sales tax applies even more to the current tax code

Th current political establishment can raise the existing tax rate 20-40-80% at any time.

It would actually be harder under 9-9-9 to raise taxes since you could not hide the tax hike. Everyone pays so everyone knows in a 9-9-9 plan a tax hike would mean they personally pay more.

[MNJohnnie]

Lying again I see.

For example: What he put down would tax SS benefits at 9%, just as everything else as income.

SS benefits are all ready taxed and at way more then 9%. So spare us the fraudulent posting and knowing demagoguery.

Why do you waste your time? You demonstrated on thread after thread a welded shut mind. You cannot even be bothered to learn even the most basic facts about 9-9-9. All you can do is race from thread to thread and lie about it.

So spare us the fraudulent posturing and knowingly misleading on 9-9-9. The facts have been explained to your dozens of times yet here you come, continuing to lie about it.

[MNJohnnie]

That same criticism applies even more so to the current system

There is nothing at all stopping "the parliament of whores" from raising income tax rates any time they choose.

It would actually be harder to raise taxes under 9-9-9. Everyone pays so everyone knows any tax hike will personally effect them

[Polybius]

Cain’s 999 plan from his web site

What the heck are those “Empowerment Zones” shown on the upper right of the second page?

What are they?

They are exactly what Sarah Palin describes as "Crony Capitalism":

Government bureaucrats determining Winners and Losers in the market place.

Imagine how Democrat controlled Congresses will allot those "Empowerment Zones". Conservative states will be stripped of “Empowerment Zones” and liberal states will be rewarded with “Empowerment Zones”.

The incentives for political corruption will be huge.

[Grunthor]

Gee, I guess he’ll just have to cut government spending. I remember when that used to be a good thing.

[Sprite518]

Bingo and well said...

Can’t believer there are FREEPERS that would defend the current Communist Progressive tax code over this 999 plan.

THAT MEANS THEY AGREE WITH ALL THE SPENDING THE GOVERNMENT CURRENTLY DOES....

What does that tell you about their conservative credentials?

[samtheman]

I didn’t post anything from any website.

I just asked a question.

What’s the matter, you don’t like questions?

[jla]

Everyone would pay only the 9pc sales tax. Congress could/would raise the personal & corp rates without alienating the former, thus allaying their base support, (especially Dems).

[MNJohnnie]

Yes, learn some basic Economics and Business.

It's called Supply and Demand and Competition

I make product A. I decide NOT to pass on the savings I get by a reduced tax rate but instead decide to add it to the bottom line.

Well as "part of the corporate bottom line" the money still goes back into the economy since Corp profits either are paid out as dividends to stockholders; (Think about your 401K or Union Pension fund that where most stock holders are at) or as Corp purchases of goods and service; or go into bank accounts and get loan out to businesses that need to expand.

So even if I do NOT lower prices, it improves the over all health of the US economy thus creating more jobs and economic activity thus more opportunity.

But that is fantasy land because I am going to have to give back that tax break or go out of business.

If I sit on that tax break, guess what my competitors do? Corporation B decides to cut it's prices 10% rather then sit on that income tax break. I start losing sales because my product is now considerablly more expenseive. The other competitor Corp C is going to cut it 25% to undercut us both on price. This continues on and on and on. So now I am forced to cut my prices to stay competitive or lost market share. I could cling to my tax break but I lose more money by losing sales then I gain holding on to my current price structure. Eventually I either have to compete via price or go bankrupt

[Polybius]

Perry’s supporters want to point to the Texas economic miracle. Texas is funded by a sales tax, ....

In case you did not notice, 45 States in the Union have a Sales Tax.

The issue is whether you want to give the Federal Government BOTH an Income Tax AND a Sales Tax which is exactly what 999 proposes.

For the first time, Cain wants to let the National Sales Tax genie out of the bottle.

For me, that will mean that my considerable life saving over 30 years that have ALREADY been Income Taxed when I earned and saved that money will then be taxed AGAIN when I spend those saved dollars.

Cain has completely ignored every single current saver in America. The cornerstones of old American financial values, responsibility and savings, will be obscenely DOUBLE TAXED because Cain has not even bothered to think about this issue.

As Beagle8U described it on another thread:

"The 9-9-9 Plan looks like it was scribbled on a cocktail napkin after several jiggers of Scotch."

[Beagle8U]

You need to break the pills in half.

[left that other site]

If he did not defend his plan, the press would call him indecisive, or worse, cowardly.

If he DOES defend his plan, the press calls him “defensive”.

I saw the interaction at the Values Voters Summit. It looked very positive to me.

[Steven Tyler]

There is one problem with any tax, the Liberal impulse to raise such tax.
The problem is not limited to Cain’s 9%.9%.9%

[SoJoCo]

Rather then turn the company around and save it from bankruptcy by laying off some people, you two would rather he end up bankrupting the company. Odd how you over look the fact that would of been forcing EVERYONE into the unemployment line.

Bloomberg did an article on Cain's time at Godfather a while back. There seems to be some...embellishments in his version of his time at Godfather's. For example, it cannot be independently confirmed that Godfather's was losing money when he took over and was making money the next year. What is not open for dispute is that Cain closed hundreds of Godfather outlets and he did it for sound business reasons - many people had bought franchises who never should have been allowed to and closing them down cut costs and improved business for the remaining stores. He did lay people off. He did change menus and offerings to cut costs. But it's interesting to note what he did with those savings. As the article points out, Cain used those savings to increase margins and improve the divisions bottom line. He did not pass those savings on in the form of lower prices. So why should we believe that every other CEO in the U.S. will be less business savvy than Cain was, and will not use the reduced costs of business taxes to improve their own corporate margins? Why should lower taxes be any different from any other corporate cost-cutting?

Link

[MNJohnnie]

If you don’t like your lying being pointed out, stop doing it.

[DTxAg]

SS benefits are all ready taxed and at way more then 9%.

Incorrect. Social Security benefits are only taxed as income if you have other income.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=179091,00.html

Generally, if Social Security benefits were your only income for 2010, your benefits are not taxable and you probably do not need to file a federal income tax return.

[independent in tx]

“Apparently only the non professionals like Cain have to present actual plans and ideas.”

That’s because one can go look at State results of the Governor candidates.