RE: If Herman Cain gets his 9-9-9 plan through, there will be, and then it can be raised.
If that’s the fear, then ANY PROPOSAL MADE TO REFORM OUR TAX CODE will have the same problem.
First of all, if the base assumption is that no matter how great an idea might be, DC politicians will find a way to corrupt it… why is the 999 plan singled out for special treatment?
What makes anyone think that Romney’s 87-page PDF Economic Plan won’t also be instantly corrupted and changed?
If the assumption is that Congresscritters will instantly transform it into a basket of giveaways and boondoggles? Or even a Flat Tax?
If the starting point of evaluating any policy proposal or plan is that Congress will get in there and mess it up, I honestly don’t see any reason to support any candidate on the basis of any issue. Because we’d have to assume that his/her great idea would just be transformed into a steaming pile of dung by Congress.
One particularly amazing critique of the 999 Plan theorized that we’d have President Cain coupled to a Democrat Congress, which would then result in the 999 plan becoming the 90-90-90 plan someday.
C’mon people; are we seriously contemplating that we’d all go to work trying to get the GOP nominee elected President, but skip out on all of the other races such that we’d end up with a GOP President and a Dem Congress?
The larger point — one which I’ve raised — is that the only way that the 999 plan (or any other plan on any other issue) is not transmogrified into some atrocity is the vigilance of the electorate.
There is simply no way to trust a politician — no matter whom, no matter what — to do the right thing time and again.
The only way we as a nation can defend our rights, get the policies we want, and prevent corruption by politicians is to be vigilant against such things and to keep up the pressure on all of them to do the right thing.
Thank you for a most excellent post. I’ve been wanting to say this all day but was unable to put together anything as succinct as your post.
I swear some of these people must have opposed GWB’s tax cuts because, after all, some future congress could increase the newly decreased rates to 40%, 50%, or infinity%!