Posted on 10/18/2011 12:28:10 PM PDT by Brookhaven
Economist Stephen Moore, one of the architects of presidential contender Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan, said Cain needs to rework a critical component of the plan.
Cain’s plan would replace the current tax structure with a 9 percent corporate tax rate, a 9 percent personal income tax rate and a 9 percent federal sales tax. But speaking on Larry Kudlow’s radio show on Saturday, Moore said the sales tax should be replaced with a 9 percent payroll tax.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that the American people and the voters do not want a national sales tax,” he said. “[Cain’s] going to have to replace that national sales tax with a 9 percent payroll tax. And if you do that, it’s a total winner.”
The plan has been under fire from both the left and the right since Cain’s recent surge in the polls. Democrats say the plan would lower the tax burden on the wealthy while increasing the burden on the middle class, and Republicans say the sales tax opens an additional revenue stream for the federal government to abuse.
“I’m surprised how hostile people are to the sales tax,” Moore continued. “When we designed this plan, I thought people would go along with the 9 percent sales tax. But the point is they won’t. And why not just do a payroll tax? It’s the devil we know.”
At the last Republican debate, in New Hampshire, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann said that if you turn the 9-9-9 plan upside down, “the devil is in the details.”
Moore, who developed the plan with economist Arthur Laffer and Wells Fargo wealth manager Rich Lowrie, said he would advise Cain to drop the sales tax, but that the plan was solid otherwise.
“I want to be very, very clear on this,” he said. “I am not bearish on this plan. If you could put in place the 9-9-9 plan, oh my God, it would be like steroids in the economy. … You would have a million jobs a month if we put this in place. … I love the concept of it … but the American people will not go for a national sales tax. They’re just afraid of it.”
Umm, there already is a 9% payroll tax since payroll is no longer a business deduction outside of those empowerment zones. The payroll would then be subject to the 9% corporate tax.
New 9-9-9?
(1) Replace the current 15.3% payroll tax with a 9% payroll tax
(2) Flat 9% business income tax
(3) Falt 9% personal income tax
Is this a better or worse proposal?
=================
November 21, 2010, By Herman Cain
"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. ......
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. ....
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, ...."
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.
Make that Flat, not Falt (fat fingers)!
The SEE a sales tax, and understand just how much Uncle Sugar's free stuff is costing them.
He is talking about an ADD ON tax which is a VAT
The 9% in Cain’s plan is NOT a VAT - it is a Point of Sale tax.
I agree, I think a sales tax is better, because people have control over it, and it’s 100% visible.
The main critisicm to this point though, has been on the sales tax portion.
Remember, it was a proposal. It’s not written in stone.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that the American people and the voters do not want a national sales tax,”
The structure of the 9% sales tax always bothered me a bit, this new version still needs scrutiny, however. Does this mean that the employee get’s taxed twice?
It taxes only the working class and not the bums and illegals on welfare like a sales tax would.
Dudes, stop getting this thread off track.
We’re talking about the modified version proposed by one of the 999 creators. It doesn’t contain a sales tax or VAT.
If you want to disucss the sales tax, go to another thread. Let’s keep this on on subject.
How about if we -
1) Drop the income tax altogether (It is poison to a free republic.)
2) Replace it with NOTHING.
3) Shrink the size of government to fit what revenues are left from duties, posts and excise taxes (That’s all we had before 1913. We did just fine up until then.)
With no more big government to nanny the people, each man would have to be responsible for himself, his actions, and their consequences.
The important thing about this story is that both Arthuir Laffer and Steve Moore are credited with working with Cain on developing this plan. That is news to me as the MSM has been saying Cain got the idea from the computer game SimCity and an accountant from Cleveland named Lowrie.
Cain has thuis far refused to disclose his economic team, but if it is true that Laffer and Moore have been working with Cain for awhile now on 9-9-9, it is a VERY BIG deal. It means he has been able to attract substantive people to his campaign.
I happened to catch that interview. It was pretty good. The danger with 9-9-9 is that it will become 20-20-20
So please provide proof that its a VAT tax, do you even understand what a VAT tax is?
“People don’t SEE a payroll tax, so they don’t feel it.”
Whatchu-talkin-bout?!
I “see” my payroll tax everytime I’m asked to produce my gross income on credit requests. And tend think to myself, ‘Man, if my take home pay were this much, I’d have more money to do more...or absolutely nothing with’.
That argument has been beaten to death, time to leave that horse carcass be.
IF they take away the sales tax portion - you eliminate people paying into the system that don’t currently.
Illegal immigrants, underground economy, tax dodgers, foreign visitors to the US, etc.
How are you going to get the “poor” to pay 18%. Have you seen how the left is having fits over 9%?
If there is any change to this plan - I believe the only thing would be to take the sales tax off food and medicine.
Guys, don’t talk him into dropping any more of the plan because then the Dems will be ALL over it because then it becomes ‘Plan 9’...
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