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Godfather of Supply-Side Economics Supports Cain's '9-9-9' Plan
Human Events ^ | 10/12/11 | Tony Lee

Posted on 10/12/2011 6:50:02 PM PDT by justsaynomore

As businessman Herman Cain surges atop state and national polls and becomes a top-tier presidential contender, his signature "9-9-9" plan, which calls for a nine percent tax on income, a nine percent national sales tax, and a nine percent corporate income tax, has come under scrutiny from the right and the left.

Famed supply-side economist Art Laffer told HUMAN EVENTS that Cain's "9-9-9" plan was a pro-growth plan that would create the proper conditions for America's economy to grow and thrive again.

"Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan would be a vast improvement over the current tax system and a boon to the U.S. economy," Laffer told HUMAN EVENTS in a statement. "The goal of supply-side tax reform is always a broadening of the tax base and lowering of marginal tax rates."

Added Laffer: "Mr. Cain’s plan is simple, transparent, neutral with respect to capital and labor, and savings and consumption, and also greatly decreases the hidden costs of tax compliance. There is no doubt that economic growth would surge upon implementation of 9-9-9."

Laffer also said that "such a system provides the least avenues to avoid paying taxes, yet also maintains the strongest incentives for work effort, production, and investment."

At the GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Cain's plan received criticism from many of the candidates on stage.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said that Americans needed a plan that was "doable-doable-doable" when asked his opinion on Cain's "9-9-9" plan.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R.-Minn.) said that the "9-9-9" plan was not "a jobs plan," but was rather "a tax plan." Bachmann also complained of Congress getting another revenue stream from the plan and said, "you turn the 9-9-9 plan upside down, and the devil's in the details."

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said that the "9-9-9" plan was not a passable solution.

Further, Cain has been criticized from the left as well, as charges that his "9-9-9" plan is regressive have been made, charges that Cain has often refuted by citing that the payroll tax would be eliminated under his plan and used goods would not be levied sales taxes.

As Cain's profile increases and poll numbers rise, his opponents will attack him more fiercely over his "9-9-9" plan, but it looks like Cain has found an ally in Laffer, an economist who is more than respected by fiscal, pro-growth conservatives.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 666; 999; bipartisan; economists; hermancain; laffer; salestaxmoralabyss; socialists; tax; wellwellwell
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To: free me

So you prefer taxes that are instead hidden and make it look like businesses are responsible for them?


81 posted on 10/12/2011 9:14:02 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Fred
The chart is an eye opener. But I don't think we will get the chance to extend it out that far. Once about 60% of the country is on the dole, we are finished.

The producers will all be gone and the vast percentage of the working population will be service workers most of whom will probably be immigrants working for cash.

82 posted on 10/12/2011 9:16:41 PM PDT by Baynative (The penalty for not participating in politics is you will be governed by your inferiors.)
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To: Republican Wildcat

Yep, seems everyone favors tax reform as long as it doesn’t require reforming the current system.


83 posted on 10/12/2011 9:18:31 PM PDT by kevao
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To: Republican Wildcat

The plan sounds like it has merit. I’m not an economist. But, I’m a realist and I understand how big a lure the corrupt world of DeeCee can be with it’s immunity to the rules of law.


84 posted on 10/12/2011 9:20:07 PM PDT by Baynative (The penalty for not participating in politics is you will be governed by your inferiors.)
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To: bolobaby

Excellent post.


85 posted on 10/12/2011 9:22:17 PM PDT by kevao
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To: Baynative
What could possibly prevent 9-9-9 from becoming 12-12-12, then 16-16-16 as congress gets to tool with it over the years?

ELECTIONS !!

86 posted on 10/12/2011 9:27:15 PM PDT by 11th Commandment (http://www.thirty-thousand.org/)
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To: foxfield

Well, I’m a evangelical voter and I thought her 666 jab was a cheap shot too.

I’ve lost a lot of respect for Bachmann


87 posted on 10/12/2011 9:28:35 PM PDT by Southnsoul
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To: justsaynomore

[ Because everyone is paying, if they try to raise the rates, there will be public outcry. The very though of raising taxes on the poor is like a built in boobytrap.

Cain will ask Congress to put in 2/3 majorit rules to keep from changing rates - if they will is another question. It has been done, historically. ]

Hell I have a better idea, Make it require a 2/3 vote to RAISE the taxes and a 51% vote to LOWER the taxes!!!!!!


88 posted on 10/12/2011 9:33:31 PM PDT by GraceG
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To: jgge

You realize most Americans pay a FICA tax of almost 7% with no deductions...


89 posted on 10/12/2011 9:33:44 PM PDT by 11th Commandment (http://www.thirty-thousand.org/)
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To: 11th Commandment

[ What could possibly prevent 9-9-9 from becoming 12-12-12, then 16-16-16 as congress gets to tool with it over the years?

ELECTIONS !! ]

Under 999 raising the rate would be political SUICIDE!!! Where as now thousands of pages of tax code can be pushed through all the confusion and the average joe sits there and goes, huh?

Skin in the game is what makes it work.

You see the British weren’t smart enough to write tax code like we have now 200 years ago, had they written the code like it is now we would still be a British colony. The code now “HIDES” a lot of really gets taxed from the consumer and worker and places extra burdens on the producer.

The current tax code is a propaganda Tool of the left. The poor and middle class get a “refund” from the government while the business owners get the shaft. and the people getting the refund don’t realize they have been swindled for some of their money and continue to vote “Progressive”.


90 posted on 10/12/2011 9:38:29 PM PDT by GraceG
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To: justsaynomore

Well that thread got hi-jacked pretty quickly. I’m not sure there was even a single post that dealt with the subject of the article: Art Laffer—the father of supply side economics, the economist that designed Ronald Reagan’s economic plan that pulled us out of the Jimmy Carter recession and set us on the path of 20 years of economic prosperity—just endorsed...Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan.

This thread should probably be reposted, since it got hi-jacked.


91 posted on 10/12/2011 9:38:48 PM PDT by Brookhaven (999 Tax Calculator: http://goo.gl/AHsjH)
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To: Baynative
What could possibly prevent 9-9-9 from becoming 12-12-12, then 16-16-16 as congress gets to tool with it over the years?

What prevented FDR from making it 95%? Nada. The Progressives planned Prohibition to destroy the excise tax and usher in the income tax - their ultimate goal. Once we ratified that our fate was sealed. If Cain gets 9-9-9 and the economy soars, it will create a massive political wave to leave it alone. At least until the next bubble.

92 posted on 10/12/2011 9:39:45 PM PDT by montag813
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To: Donnafrflorida
To bring up 666 against Cain was really ugly.

He is a very decent man with a love for Christ. Bachmann may have thought it cute, but it was beyond the pale. She is a smart lady who wastes it.

93 posted on 10/12/2011 9:41:07 PM PDT by montag813
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To: bolobaby

[ Oh, I’m clear. I’m clear that you don’t understand that democrats can raise ANY tax by ANY name.

If there is NO national sales tax to raise, they’ll simply look for other taxes to raise.

So it’s a straw argument. While there would be “nothing preventing” the democrats from raising a national sales tax because it exists, there is NOTHING preventing the democrats from raising the income tax - BECAUSE IT EXISTS.

Don’t you get it? It’s six of one, half dozen of another! The argument you are making is a complete canard - a total straw argument.

What you fail to realize is that the tax code is so incredibly byzantine now that the democrats SNEAK tax increases in constantly. With a 9-9-9 plan and nothing else, they wouldn’t be able to sneak anything in. It would be clear as day. That way, changes can be properly resisted.

I’ll take clarity any day of the week over the ridiculous mess we have now. Don’t you see? That’s what Cain’s plan offers: clarity.

So not only is your argument a straw one, it’s actually counterintuitive. Under the current plan it is EASIER to quietly raise taxes. Under Cain’s plan, it isn’t as easy.

I haven’t seen ANY plan from any other candidate that proposes this kind of bold simplification of the tax code. And yet people like you call it a bad thing. It’s mind-numbing. ]

NAILED IT!

[ I haven’t seen ANY plan from any other candidate that proposes this kind of bold simplification of the tax code. And yet people like you call it a bad thing. It’s mind-numbing. ]

http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2011/07/2011-number-of-pages-in-us-tax-code.html

All any other GOP Candidate would have to do is propose cutting the amount of tax code in HALF each year for their four year term and I would go for them over Cain.

BUT THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING!!!!!

You know why this is, because a simple tax code would take away all the loopholes people from BOTH parties have written into the code for their Political donors.


94 posted on 10/12/2011 9:42:27 PM PDT by GraceG
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To: SeekAndFind
>>>>>>This is not about you or me...

Right. This about Cain's tax plan which imo, is a gimmick to attract voters. Its plain dumb. Take out the sales tax and may be then we can talk. Otherwise, its a moot point. No one will buy into it. Frankly, without the sales tax component the entire plan falls apart and that is fine with me.

>>>>>>in favor of a Fair Tax in the longer term..

A national consumption tax or national sales will never happen. The Fair Tax is going nowhere. Thank God.

A return to Reagan era tax rates, c.1988 would be a better option. A flat tax would be the best option.

95 posted on 10/12/2011 9:42:32 PM PDT by Reagan Man ("In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.")
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To: justsaynomore
WAIT! Are you saying that Arthur Laffer is no longer a Liberal? Wow! Whoda thunkit?
96 posted on 10/12/2011 9:42:43 PM PDT by April Lexington (Study the Constitution so you know what they are taking away!)
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To: justsaynomore
I hereby declare, now that Palin turned out to be a FLIRT, that I support Herman Cain. That is all...
97 posted on 10/12/2011 9:44:14 PM PDT by April Lexington (Study the Constitution so you know what they are taking away!)
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To: Reagan Man
A return to Reagan era tax rates, c.1988 would be a better option. A flat tax would be the best option.

I happen to support a 10% National Sales Tax because then, every poor non-tax paying slob in America will be paying their FAIR SHARE. Time to screw the poor, fellow capitalists!!!! BWAHAHAHHAHAHA!

98 posted on 10/12/2011 9:46:20 PM PDT by April Lexington (Study the Constitution so you know what they are taking away!)
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To: casablanca

He does not turn 6 taxes to three. He institutes a new tax and lowers some other tax rates. Unless he can get through a constitutional amendment barring some taxes all he has done is lowered the rate of some taxes to zero. That rate can just as easily be raised when the Dims get back in power.

For whatever reason the American public have not stood for a broad national sales tax. If Cain were to open that door with out barring the door other taxes, he is just a taxer in my view.

As for Laffer, the argument has never been economic here. Everyone knows the Cain plan would be good for the economy IF instituted as he wishes, ie 9-9-9. The issue is political economy or public choice. Is it smart to give the Dims another tax to raise that they have not been able to enact previously. Or put another way is it smart to follow the European model of taxation of having national broad sales [VAT] tax along with a national income tax.

In this respect Cain is very much like Obama. Cain is seeking to get the US to follow the European model of taxation as Obama has sought to get the US to follow the European model of government expenditure and regulation. The Dims love the idea of the European model of taxation of course and plan to get the rates to European levels asap upon regaining power.


99 posted on 10/12/2011 9:51:41 PM PDT by JLS (How to turn a recession into a depression: elect a Dem president with a big majorities in Congress)
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To: Reagan Man
Cain's 999 tax plan is nothing more than a gimmick. It expands the federal tax system by adding a national sales tax to the mix.

You make a lot of sense, Reagan Man,

Keep it up and you may be accused of being a Paulbot! </sarc>

100 posted on 10/12/2011 9:56:14 PM PDT by logician2u
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