Herbert Cain and 9-9-9

Herbert Cain, who seems to be the latest candidate that the GOP far right is putting up against their party's begrudged front-runner Mitt Romney, has proposed a complete revamping of our national tax code. He would replace it with something he calls "9-9-9": a business flat tax of 9%, an individual flat income tax of 9%, and a national sales tax of 9%. I feel that this is an abysmally pro-wealthy, anti-poor and anti-middle class plan, epitomizing true class warfare, albeit against the needy on behalf of the rich. Businesses and the wealthy would pay even less than they already do, while the working poor would be doubly taxed: first, their already very low income and secondly, an oppressive sales tax. So I don't like Mr. Cain's proposal. But still...

In the last debate pitting the Republican candidates against each other, Cain received a large part of criticism from the others for his 9-9-9 tax plan. A couple, namely Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann, even had preplanned snide jokes to make about it (Huntsman compared "9-9-9" to a pizza promotion one might expect from Cain's company Godfather's Pizza, while Bachmann, in typical Michele Bachmann fashion, turned the numbers over and got the "evil" 666). Nobody but Cain liked his plan, naturally. But from where I am standing, at least this guy came up with SOMETHING oriented to generating revenue to help the federal government balance its budget. Everyone else gives me the impression of being too chicken to address taxation on an honest level.

I don't think our current tax code needs more regression. No, let's make it more progressive, not less, and make the very rich pay a reasonable (but not oppressively large) share of the burden. But Cain and his circle of fellow aspirants to the presidency have decided to tune out the hurting masses in favor of those who are already greatly prospering in the middle of these relatively lean economic times. The difference between Herbert Cain and the others in the pack, as I see it, is that the others are content with just attacking President Obama as he tries to help people and the economy while Cain actually came up with a specific counterproposal. Good for him, although I sincerely hope he never gets elected!