One analysis is from Freedomworks and it makes whole lot of sense. As in conservative commonsense.
Mr. Cain's 999 plan is on the right track with its goal of a lower, flatter, simpler, fairer, more transparent tax system. Nine percent would be a wonderful top rate for the income tax, compared to today's 35% top rate. And let's face it, abolishing the payroll tax and the death tax would simply be awesome.
But adding a national retail sales tax on top of the federal income tax (even a flat tax) is a bad idea, because it creates the infrastructure for a federal-level, European-style VAT.
And if Cain's 9% personal flat tax failed to remain flat (as happened with Ronald Reagan's promising but ultimately failed 1986 tax reform), we would end up with the worst of both worlds: a confiscatory income tax and a job-crushing VAT.
Paradoxically, then, if you want higher taxes and permanently bigger government, one way to get there would be to support Herman Cain's 999 plan!
Two rousing cheers, for boldness and imagination. And one bronx cheer, for a dangerous lack of foresight.
Just because Cain claims to be a conservative, doesn't mean he is one of us through and through. We FReepers have vetted Romney for years and more recently we vetted Rick Perry. Now its time to vet Herman Cain. Its necessary. Especially since he has no elective governing or legislative record whatsoever. Like Rush and Hannity, Cain has been a professional talk show host in recent years. That is not the resume of a GOP presidential candidate.
“because it creates the infrastructure for a federal-level, European-style VAT”
Well hot digity dog. It’s not a VAT but we secretly know that it will lead to VAT.
My sole point was that the claim that Cain was inconsistent in attacking VAT last year and advocating end-user sales tax now is specious.
Hammer away at his national sales tax if you wish and the other two as well.
Just don’t say that his sales tax is a VAT.
That it creates the infrastructure for a VAT is pretty flimsy. If he’s on record opposing VAT, it sounds like he may just know the difference between the two.
There’s a lot of people out there who want a VAT. Just don’t try to tell me that Cain’s one of them. Attack his 9-9-9 on merits. But your italicized expert analysts take a cheap shot with their “creates the infrastructure” line.
“We FReepers have vetted Romney for years and more recently we vetted Rick Perry. Now its time to vet Herman Cain. Its necessary. Especially since he has no elective governing or legislative record whatsoever. Like Rush and Hannity, Cain has been a professional talk show host in recent years. That is not the resume of a GOP presidential candidate.”
I’m all for commonsense vetting. I’m against circular firing squads by which FReepers destroy every candidate on the horizon.
You’re going to end up with Romney. You deserve him.
Who’s your guy? Who has survived your vetting so far??????
so there’s no one who meets your standards? Good luck with Obama’s second term.
I can live with Cain. He’s the only non-career politician in the whole bunch. How many times have we insisted that career politicians are the problem. The minute one becomes a serious contender though (how rarely that happens), we join the career politicians in shooting him down. They are laughing their a$$es off at us.
I can live with a number of the others. I just want to defeat Obama. And we ain’t gonna get there by the circular firing squad method.
Let’s keep this up. Fragment, split into a dozen conservativce factions, wait for Mr. Right on a White Horse to come charging in
while Romney sews it all in the next six weeks.
Where will all your hotshot expert vetting be then?
You are concerned about a national sales tax as the camel’s nose in the tent.
I’m scared to death of the endless sniping and fragmenting that conservatives do constantly.
There are no other liberals in the pool right now. Romney has it all to himself. Unless conservatives coalesce around someone,
Romney
is
our
nominee.
So, which of the others is your choice for us to unite around? Which one? Or do you only do demolition, not construction?
I agree. This stuff coming out about Cain is starting to creep me out.
Oh well, there is still Santorum or Bachmann.