Posted on 10/13/2011 7:21:17 PM PDT by justsaynomore
Reagan Economist Breaks Down Cain's 999 Plan (Art Laffer)
(Excerpt) Read more at video.foxnews.com ...
Maybe so, but since everybody is supposed to be "equal", isn't that a possibility? This is America, if a person chooses to be poor or make bad decisions about their life; why does the responsibility fall back on those who have tried to do the right thing/s? After all, freedom isn't "free".
Sorry, but this argument is getting really old, especially when one considers the percentage of tax dollars consumed by the so-called "poor".
It will also create a much larger poor class. Lower middle will fall into poor. Middle will fall into lower middle. Think about that.
It is also a way to continue to tax the boomers who have literally paid into the system since the day they took that first teenage job. I’m looking forward to the day I DON’T have to pay in! I’ve been doing it since I was 15 years old. Now he wants to tax me 9% plus a 9% sales tax? I don’t think so.
I won’t support that. And just who are these “empowerment zones?” Why do I get the feeling he means Detriot? Sorry. Don’t like that either. There are plenty of unemployed people in the burbs and in flyover country, too.
There should be no tax on basic foods and drugs.
Great Video. Very Encouraging.
I’m not endorsing a national sales tax but I got an open mind about Cain’s plan, want to hear him out and further, admire that at least he’s got a plan, more than just political platitudes filled with empty air.
Playing Devil’s Advocate, I remind that SALES taxes get money from a lot of income that isn’t taxed as part of the federal income tax collection process.
Most important, DRUG MONEY! Also, prostitution, illegal gambling, money earned under the table.
For there might not be an employer there to catch your taxes before you take them home and spend them, there is a retailer who will charge you tax for stuff you BUY, no matter where the money came from that you’re using to pay.
It’s no trivial amount.
It’s a good interview. Art emphasized that this 9-9-9 tax structure lowers rates, broadens the tax base (more poeple pay taxes)The tax base is not about who or how many pay. The tax base is WHAT is taxed. A broad tax base taxes more stuff so you can be fooled into thinking you pay less because the rate is low.
I didn't see any exemptions in his plan. You will pay sales tax on things you've never paid tax on before...Like rent, drugs, food, haircuts, auto repair, plumber, lawn care...NOTHING is exempt.
Raising the tax from 9% to a mere 9.9% ("it's for the children") is a 10% tax increase.
Retirees living on fixed income will be hit with a NEW 9% tax on all their purchases, including medicine, utilities, food, clothing etc.
If you like that, so be it.
I’m not talking net effect (which I tend to agree with you both on), I’m talking electability.
Right now, Cain leads Obama. I want to keep it that way.
The country will get a 9% raise from the underground economy.
I’m sorry, but that is absurd. The economic depression wasn’t caused by our tax system. We have experienced periods of enormous growth WITH this tax system.
You could argue that a better tax system might improve our economic output, but the argument that, simply because we are currently in an economic downturn because of Obama policies, we have to change the tax code, sounds like “not letting a good crisis go to waste”.
Radicals take common negative occurances and pretend they are unique and require radical solutions.
Note that there has been over a DECADE of discussion on a plan that actually COULD be a boon to the eocnomy — but “9-9-9” isn’t that plan. It’s some compromise plan, which supposedly will be replaced by the real plan in the future.
We can pretend that 9-9-9 is the radical solution that saves us, but that sounds rediculous when we know it’s really just some intermediate, flawed plan that even Cain wants to replace with Fairtax, when he has the political will to do so.
I don’t know what you’re upset about.
In 1992, in the State of Oregon (a tax Hell), I was earning $35,000 per year and determined that with all the taxes I paid, it came to 53%. I was single, no children, and no deductions except myself.
So, you’re ticked off about 9%?
Today I have no job, no money, and am faced with perhaps having to live in a cardboard box. Oh, yeah, I pay no taxes.
The main thing about Herman Cain’s plan is that money for investment would be freed up. That means jobs. I sure could use one of those right now.
The underground durable goods economy would just grow. The same criminals that you speak of will find a way to profit.
Don’t have to sell it to innumerates - have to sell it to INDEPENDENTS. This ain’t economics, it’s politics. Right now, Mr. Cain has put a plan on the table that everyone is talking about. Whether or not it’s perfect economics, it’s damned good politics, and he’s reaping the rewards of being shrewd and thinking differently. Those are two of the qualities that Independent voters will be attracted to, in their search for the Not-Obama in 2012.
Laffer’s endorsement of 999 is huge.
During those times, we never had anywhere near the number of non-federal-taxpaying voters we have today. Currently 49% do not pay federal income taxes. That number increases every year.
Do you understand what will happen in a few years when the 49% become the 51%??? When those who pay taxes become a permanent minority at the ballot box?
I'm tired of explaining this to people. So why don't you tell me what the future holds when a *majority* of voters no longer pay any federal income taxes? Who do you think will win every election? What do you think government spending and tax policies will be? Will they be the kind of policies that will ever lead to "enormous growth"?
I studied Economics with Laffer when he was teaching at University of Chicago and I trust him. I know first-hand that he knows what he is talking about, but I still have reservations.
I don’t trust the government to drop the other taxes, the invisible taxes, for good. It would be too easy to sneak them back in. Even if they do drop the taxes, business is so scared, they will be afraid to drop prices. Look at what happens with gas prices. They go up fast on prices rises, and go down a lot more slowly when the price drops. I don’t buy that we will save money net.
I think it is morally wrong to tax food. Even greedy NY doesn’t tax healthy unprocessed foods.
I think it is right that those who do not pay taxes because they are earning money under the table or by illegal means and not reporting it and those who are scamming the system in various ways should pay, and the sales tax would compensate a bit.
That said, we are nearing retirement and soon will be living off savings. This money has been taxed when we earned it, taxed again when we invested it, and now will be taxed again when we spend it? We are paying 8% NY sales tax. Another 9% would make things way too expensive. Cutting back on new purchases does not create jobs.
We have worked hard all our lives to have what we have now and are just getting by. I don’t like the current setup, but I am nervous about adding new taxes. I don’t trust the current Congress. I don’t trust future Congresses to do what is best for We the People.
This is a complex issue that Cain is trying to make simple. The real point is that he is willing to look at creative ideas and different tactics to make long-term change. That is why I am for Cain in spite of the 999. I don’t think that is something he can get through if elected, and I think of the available candidates he has had the most business experience, and that is what is needed now: the understanding of how to turn the country around financially.
“...can he win with that kind of plan, once the MSM gets a hold of it?”
He can if we vote! I feel like Herman Cain is the seemingly normal American on the stage. That aspect alone is comforting these days.
Beuhler.... Beuhler
True. Which is why politicians and cronies will fight this plan in a big way -- mostly by spreading misinformation.
I believe the plan reduces the payroll tax which is 15.3 percent, half paid by workers, half by employers. Of course, Cain hasn’t said how that 9 percent will be divided. Cain is supposed to release more details as he didn’t release the final plan. It’s a smart move to see what the critics say first.
Workers all across America and across multiple generations have been disrupted by this or that change. Aerospace and farm workers, telephone operators, automotive workers, bank tellers, even going back to blacksmiths and buggy makers.
Books will still need keeping, dollars will still need investing, state taxes will still need doing. There will be plenty of opportunities.
Those tens of thousands should not treated like a protected class while hundreds of millions of others suffer the ill effects of the current code.
I agree with you on the taxation of food, CA doesn't do that either, but some states actually do. If Cain really plans to tax food, which isn't clear from his site, that's a huge hill to climb.
Many prices will drop because consumers will demand it. Markets will figure these things out just like it did on whether to charge for internet access per-hour or flat rate.
Folks seem to be very afraid of change. They'd rather suffer under the current tax code, no matter how despicable it is because it's old and familiar. They don't care how much hidden taxation there is. As long as they aren't faced with it directly they'll happily pay. Cain's plan threatens to expose it all in the bright hard light of day. There'll be no more political cockroach taxation scurrying around in the shadows.
We'll have 300 million real taxpayers eyeing 435 members of congress to keep the rates in line.
I expect we'll find out more detail in time that will address many of our concerns. Laffer, for example, mentioned a support provision for those below poverty.
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