[normy]

“I believe in empowerment zones. Most of the unemployed black Americans in this country are in these mostly economically depressed areas. It could be, and I’m only using this as an example, because we haven’t finished establishing the parameters yet. Instead of in a designated empowerment zone, it being 9-9-9, it could be, as an example only, 3-3-3.

What this does, because you have a lot of African-Americans located in cities like Detroit, disproportionately, it would encourage businesses to stay in business there or to move there. It would encourage people to work there, because if you live in the empowerment zone, you’re going to pay a smaller percentage in taxes.” Herman Cain CNN Oct. 14th

Nope, no social engineering here.

[toast]

I’m not going to argue with you on the empowerment zones. That is the only part of the 999 plan that I don’t like.

We conservatives keep saying that 50% of people don’t pay taxes. It isn’t true. They don’t pay income tax but there are a lot of other taxes they do pay. The largest of which is the corporate taxes hidden in the price of goods. Most poor people are just too stupid to know when they are being taxed. They want to tax the rich, evil, oil companies and they want to punish Walmart for making so much money but don’t realize they are screwing themselves over.

[fightinJAG]

I think your apparent definition of “social engineering” misses the mark.

Oh, and as an aside, on those opportunity zones: when the plan was posted on Cain’s website it listed the things a locale would have to do to be eligible for OZ status. Those things included abolishing minimum wage laws and implementing right-to-work policies. No unions!

In my view, that result would be a pretty good trade-off. It also pretty much guarantees that the unions will fight and fight and fight against ever letting their town be designated an OZ.