Just as simple as the plan George McGovern had in 1972. His plan was to give most people a tax credit for $1000 dollars. I could have used a grand in '72, but hey, he lost.
OK, Herman Cain's plan is a bit less simple. It's based on a revision of tax codes to allow for a 9% personal income tax, a 9% business income tax, and a 9% national sales tax, hence '9-9-9'. (I wonder if anyone on the religious right has made the connection that 999 turned upside down is '666'. Oops, did I let the cat out of the bag ?)
So why 999? Why not 10-9-9, or 10-10-10? Why not 888 or 898 or 899 or 998? ( That last would connect well with classic Ducati superbike fans). Is it entirely arbitrary? Were the numbers pulled out of a hat? Whose hat?
I am not saying the plan might not work. I don't have the economic credentials to make that prediction. I'm just pondering the toss-off nature of the numbers. And I'm a bit concerned about that last one - the 9% national sales tax.
Here in California we have a state income tax that is about 10% for the top tier of earners. The sales tax where I sit is 8.75%. Does this mean that Mr. Cain's plan will give the top tier of CA earners a total income tax of 19% (presumably no loopholes) and all sales in CA will get taxed to the tune of 17.75%? I can live with that 19% on income, but nearly 18% for sales? What will that do to sales of big-ticket items like cars? Almost a Value Added Tax (VAT), isn't it?
I have my doubts this will fly if closely examined by those it will affect. Which means those of us already in the mid-tax brackets - the plan won't decrease our taxes much, and it might actually increase them, but it will boost the cost of purchases significantly. The folks this will help are corporations, the big income earners, and those individuals who incorporate themselves - they will have substantially lower income taxes, and sales tax won't be as burdensome to those with plenty of cash to throw about.
Which all goes to the point I firmly believe: Mr Cain's 999 plan is a devious scheme to fool the average guy and gal into thinking it is a reform of the tax code to make life simpler, when it's really just a simpler, more straightforward way for the rich to get richer and the rest of us to get soaked. It will hurt the 99 percenters more than the current system, while the one percenters get another huge break.
The joke of it all is that it's a ruse. The one percenters won't vote for it either. Because at base it is crackpot, and they know it.
Mr. Cain may have sold a ton of pizzas, but his latest 'topping' is a poisonous addition to the political discourse.
Like George McGovern in 1972, Herman Cain won't win, since simple plans only fool a few, or fool the many for only a short time.
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3 comments:
Damn you're good.
Got right down to it.
Bachmann already whipped out the "666" allusion.
I've heard that Cain said us middle to poor folk can avoid the sales tax by buying used. Even used food. Maybe apocryphal.
A caller into KRXA talk this morning liked the plan, but was very concerned that the sales tax would extend to real estate. That would further de-value sale prices by 9%...
I think all the clowns riding in the Republican Primary Clown Car are stooges. IMO we will see a real candidate show up in April or May. Salvation.
I'm thinking Jeb Bush.
Well, I am a little Bushed Out after Shrub's two terms, but, hell, why not? If ultimately the Republicans need a Bush, then better it be a real one like Jeb than a simulacrum like Perry.
Ah. Yes. Bushed out TOTALLY. But "Salvation" as in salvation for the distressed Old-Line Republicans who may be wondering (Wandering?) what happened to their sane, stable party... Have you seen Bachmann's eyes? They're sparkly because the little demons are perched in her pupils, looking right... out... at you. :)
The vacuum in the area of "progressive republican" is HUGE! I'd even run for Congress, but my past would discount my candidacy. Not a responsible youth.
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