Free Republic

"I'm not supposed to know anything about foreign policy," said Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain the other day after fumbling a question about President Obama's actions in Libya. "Because you run for president [people say] you need to have the answer. No, you don't! No, you don't!" His dearth of knowledge and interest in foreign policy was on full display in last night's GOP debate.... ...On the Patriot Act, Mr. Cain was even more hazy. "If there are some areas of the Patriot Act that we need to refine, I'm all for that. But I do not believe we ought...

Herman Cain has been gaining much traction with his 9-9-9 Plan, a bold proposal to replace our dysfunctional tax code with what could be a simpler, less invasive, and more economically stimulative alternative. While I don't agree with the full spectrum of Mr. Cain's policy choices, I applaud his courage on the tax front. Judging by his rising poll numbers, this appreciation is widely shared. However, the plan has deep flaws, the most glaring of which is its creation of a hidden payroll tax which represents a fourth “nine.” This serious pitfall has been unmentioned by Mr. Cain and overlooked...

Anyone up for paying $18,000 sales tax on the next $200,000 house you purchase? I didn’t think so. And for those of us who work our way up the ladder of success at the workplace that next promotion may require moving to another city or state another house and another $18,000 in sales tax. We are either going to become a nation of renters or go bust trying to move up the ladder of success. (Hell on the Middle Class) Cain’s 999 plan is really the 999 plus 10 plan. Maybe you forgot that you no longer have a Social...

Earlier this week, I noted some of the criticism of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan from conservative circles, Kevin Williamson of the National Review chalks it up as “wishful thinking that borders on fantasy,” while Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute doesn’t like that it keeps the income tax in the tax code.Dean Clancy, vice president of FreedomWorks — a leading tea party organization, sees good in the proposal; but notes that there are some glaring problems that could lay the precendent for bad tax policy in the future: The first problem is that it doesn’t get rid of the...