Posted on 10/20/2011 9:28:22 PM PDT by justsaynomore
Taking aim at minimum wage laws, union protections, and even local building codes, Herman Cain has put the finishing touches on the last missing piece of his signature 9-9-9 plan an elaborate proposal to create opportunity zones in inner-city America that the GOP presidential candidate will unveil during a major campaign appearance in Detroit on Friday morning.
Cain hinted at the move during Tuesday nights GOP debate in Las Vegas. He and his aides hope the details they provide about their plans to encourage growth in impoverished areas will deflect the surge of recent criticism branding 9-9-9 as unfair to the poor.
But details about the opportunity zone proposal, as obtained in advance by Fox News, will likely make 9-9-9 more, not less, controversial, particularly with organized labor.
To qualify for zone status under Cains plan, a given jurisdiction will have to enact policies the unions consider anathema such as the elimination of the minimum wage, the provision of school vouchers, or the declaration of a zone as a right-to-work area.
Leading figures in organized labor swiftly attacked the Cain proposal.
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa told Fox News in an emailed statement: Herman Cains Opportunity Zones appear to be an opportunity for corporate America to exploit workers and turn the United States into a third-world country.
"It's tough to take anything like that seriously, snapped AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who spoke to Fox News on the sidelines of a union event in Washington. Look, workers are working hard and their wages have stagnated. To have Herman Cain, a serious contender on the Republican side, make a statement like that that he wants to further lower wages, he wants to do away with the minimum wage it's almost laughable."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/20/cain-adds-to-plan-angering-unions/#ixzz1bO19yspl
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Go Bachmann.
“Maybe, well see. Ill settle for Cain or Bachmann as nominee, but I truly believe Perry would have the best shot in the General Election.”
Maybe against Biden...but it will probably be Hillary (or Obama).
Anyway, we already had Bush-43, I think the base doesn’t want another Republican president that has to be taught what conservatism is.
“Perry will take Iowa, South Carolina, and the Tea Party.”
LOL. And just how does Perry get back the ‘heartless’ Tea Party people?
I wonder how many Perrybot Freepers will.
Thank you, that was insightful.
That’s a good one but my favorite Cain quote to date is” “Stupid people are ruining America.”
I can understand the minimum wage and right to work part. But what does school vouchers have to do with improving an area’s economic climate? It’s using his tax plan for social engineering, something that the Democrats love to do. What next? Opportunity Zones can’t have mosques? Or a Planned Parenthood Office? And if the Democrats get back in, will it be Opportunity Zones can’t have fast food outlets? It’s getting idiotic.
Bump
Which he promptly back-tracked on with some sort of lame qualifier that he was talking only about those picketing on Wall Street.
I’ve been a Cain supporter this whole time but I believe many of us are turning into something akin to Palinbots. Let’s have robust debate but also be nice.
The plan is revolutionary if you really think about it. It’s a good thing to run on.
This really stops me and makes me re-think this whole Cain thing, b/c there's no doubt that Hoffa is truly concerned about American prosperity and American superiority...
Cain should take it a step further and have the Davis Bacon act repealed.
Check out these calculators:
Income Calculator (Excel Spreadsheet) and Sales Tax Calculator.
According to these I'll save a bundle. I'm all for 9-9-9.
Who’s your candidate?
I agree it’s revolutionary and radical and although I am a Cain supporter, I’ll admit I’m scared to death of it. But my fear, like many of Cain’s detractors, is based on what the left may do. I fear that a future lib congress could raise the sales tax and I fear that 999 gives the left ammo for the general election.
However, I think radical tax reform is needed and I think Cain is the only candidate that will seriously address that. I also think if a plan, such as 999 is enacted, it would be a dagger in the heart to the class warfare tactics of the Liberal Progressive movement. The battleground for Right vs Left is set for the big fight and we have the high ground. The question I ask myself is: Do we squander this advantage out of fear of the left or do we fight the battle based on the courage that conservative principles will prevail in the end?
Wow. Great answers.
I think this is a backdoor way of doing that.
I’m not sure I agree with the opportunity zones either, because I don’t want the government picking winners and losers.
It seems though, that Cain’s approach is to say if a state meets certain critera (right to work, eliminate minimum wage, school vouchers) then the area autmaticly becomes an opportunity zone.
What’s to keep say Alabama from doing that all over the state, and making the entire state an “opportunity zone”?
This the carrot/stick approach the fed govt. always uses to get the states to do something. I’m not sure I agree with it, but at least it’s not the federal govt picking winners or losers.
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