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Herman Cain's 999 Plan Draws Praise, Skepticism – Finance – CBN …

Cain's 999 plan is part of what's propelled him to the front of the GOP field. Although the plan is resonating with voters, it's drawing criticism from economists.

Publish Date: 10/15/2011 2:00

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/finance/2011/October/Herman-Cains-999-Plan-Draws-Praise-Skepticism/

Why I Support Herman Cain For President – Forbes

Neon Tommy

Why I Support Herman Cain For President Forbes The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. I have decided to support Herman Cain for president of the United States, and have joined his team of economic advisors. Central to my support are Cain's pro-growth … Cain's 999 Plan A Payoff For Koch SupportLez Get Real Interview with Presidential Candidate Herman CainRealClearPolitics Cain's 9-9-9 Plan: A Step In The Right DirectionNeon Tommy Patch.com -Daily Beast -OpEdNews all 5,377 news articles »

Herman Cain Wants To Kill Our Tax Code!

Herman Caine is the only GOP presidential candidate that wants to do it, and he’s rising super fast in the opinion polls!

The 999 Plan Isn’t Perfect

But like they say,

"Good should never be the enemy of the perfect" – Voltaire

and Rep. Paul Ryan just gave the plan a thumbs-up!

Art Laffer agrees and says,

"It would be far, far better than the current system".

*Arthur Betz Laffer is an American economist who first gained prominence during the Reagan administration as a member of Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board (1981–1989).

And Chris Chocola, the president of the free-market Club for Growth, calls it,

"A truly revolutionary tax reform that would amount to a massive job-creating tax cut on investments, savings and income".

What Is Caine’s 999 Plan?

A 9% income-tax rate.

A 9% value-added net sales tax rate on business.

And a 9% national sales tax overall.

The sales tax part has come under attack from both sides of the political spectrum with many conservatives worrying that it will start at 9% and gradually get raised, whilst a good number of Liberals oppose it because they say its regressivity will hurt middle- and low-income people.

* A regressive tax imposes a greater burden, relative to resources, on the poor than on the rich because there is an inverse relationship between the tax rate and the taxpayer’s ability to pay as measured by assets, consumption, or income.

Cain’s Rebuttal Of Sales Tax Criticism

Everybody below the poverty line will be exempt from the sales-tax and the sales of existing goods will be exempt.

The sales tax will pick up revenue and help to lower the rate for everybody, especially the middle class.

And Caine’s economic adviser, Rich Lowrie says that.

"The sales tax is a replacement tax, not an add-on tax like you’d find at the state level. This is a key point. All we are doing is pulling out taxes that are invisible. We’re cutting the rates. We’re putting them back in at lower rates".

Lowrie is referring to the payroll tax, which in the Cain plan will go from 15% to 9% which constitutes a net tax cut and a good deal more transparency regarding costs and prices that are embedded in the current code.

"The 9-9-9 plan will add $2 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product, create 6 million jobs, increase business investment by a third and lift wages by 10%. And if you fold all that growth together, federal revenues go up by 15%", said Lowrie,

Would It Work?

Such a gigantic drop in marginal tax rates for individuals, 35 to 9%, or to 18% including the sales tax, and for businesses also from 35 to 9% would supply an incredibly strong economy-wide growth incentive, and if you’re looking for proof, then you need go no further than the Harding-Coolidge-Mellon tax cuts of the 1920s, the John F. Kennedy tax cuts of the 1960s and the Ronald Reagan tax cuts of the 1980s.

Remember, too, that the Cain tax plan would eliminate the double-tax on saving and investment by removing capital gains, estates and dividends from the tax code.

Given the current economic malaise, which in large part can be traced to the weakened balance sheets and net worths of families suffering from the multi-year slump in stock prices and home values, increasing returns to saving and investment through a much lower marginal tax rate should boost asset values, and might be just what the doctor ordered.

As for businesses, not only would they get a globally super-competitive 9% tax rate, but they’d receive 100% expenses for new purchases of capital equipment.

Gary and Aldona Robbins who once worked at the treasury priced out the Cain plan on a static basis and discovered it to be revenue neutral.

And the models suggests a $26 trillion tax base yielding $2.3 trillion in revenue for a 9.1% overall rate.

No Federal Or State Tax But Just A Sales Tax

I’ve personally yet to have anybody to explain to me why simply having a sales tax instead of ALL the other taxes wouldn’t be fairer.

The rich would spend more than the poor and therefore pay more tax, and what could be simpler than that?!

Tax preparers understandably hate the idea of course because simply having just a sales tax would put around 100,000 out of work.

An “Act of War”: Obama’s Destruction of the U.S. Energy Industry …

Kevin Mooney tabulates the damage that the Obama administration is doing to the Gulf economy, and to the energy industry generally: Ten oil rigs have left the Gulf of Mexico since the Obama Administration imposed a …

Publish Date: 08/23/2011 22:10

http://mayrantandrave.com/2011/08/23/an-act-of-war-obamas-destruction-of-the-u-s-energy-industry/

Bob Chapman: Obama's Deliberate Destruction of America …

1 comment to Bob Chapman: Obama's Deliberate Destruction of America. David. October 1, 2011 at 9:41 am · Reply. I am going to have to agree with Chapman. I think the destruction of America has been a deliberate attempt. …

Publish Date: 10/01/2011 6:51

http://sgtreport.com/2011/09/bob-chapman-obamas-deliberate-destruction-of-america/

As promised, the Obama administration fundamentally transformed America!

America is now in serious decline.

Income is lower.

Unemployment is higher.

Jobs are fewer.

Government is much larger.

Federal spending is way up.

America’s global economic status is way down.

The world-view of our country and our economy is in the pits!

And perhaps worse still, hardly anyone sees any sign of economic recovery or improvement.

Let’s look at the Labor Department data on the number of Americans 16 and older unemployed for 52 weeks or more during the five most recent recessions:

1976   750,000

1982 1,600,000

1994 1,200,000

2004 1,100,000

2010 4,300,000

Total government spending averaged about 19% of gross domestic product from 1996 to 2007 and rose to about 21% in 2008 but in the three years of the Obama administration it soared to 25%.

Why Did It Happen?

The Obama administration is focused on its increasing control of health care, propping up labor unions, increasing taxes, and expanding the scope and size of government.

In the first 70 years of the 20th century, American and European economic growth increased together, but then the Europeans shifted toward socialism, and their growth lagged.

And America is rapidly moving toward the European model, and we are starting to see its detrimental impact.

President Obama’s recent spending and tax policy proposals would only make things worse.

He wants to increase the federal deficit by increasing spending and providing some targeted, but short term, payroll tax cuts.

And this is at a time when we need to bring the federal deficit down and fast!

Obama’s Plan

Although Obama’s plan would actually increase the deficit by $447 billion over the next year or two, Obama says his increase will be "paid for", and to do it, he’s proposed a series of permanent tax increases.

But America’s economy is already facing two significant tax increases.

The first will be the end of the Bush tax cuts in December 2012.

And because of ObamaCare, starting in 2013 taxpayers making more than $200,000 will pay an additional 3.8% on investment and interest income.

The Near End Of Giving To Charity?

The new Obama proposals include reduced itemized deductions allowed for any individuals earning more than $200,000 a year ($250,000 for married couples) and included in that proposal, is a government plan that would take some of the money that would have gone to charity and instead funnel it to federal government spending.

The Effect Of Tax Increases

Tax rate increases more often than not bring in reduced tax dollars!

The Cato Institute’s Alan Reynolds demonstrated in his recent Wall Street Journal piece that the 28% tax rate on long-term capital gains brought in $36.9 billion a year from 1987 to 1997, while the current 15% rate in 2004 to 2007 brought in $96.8 billion per year.

Did Obama Change His Tune?

Last December when the president extended the Bush tax cuts, he acknowledged that tax hikes both slow economic growth and deter job creation, something he seems to have forgotten!

The higher taxes on energy producers are particularly discouraging, given the importance of energy to our economic recovery and the administration’s continued clampdown on energy production.

Can It Get Any Worse?

Sadly, "Yes".

In another measure that is counterproductive to economic growth, the Obama plan includes extending benefits for the long-term unemployed, even though studies show that long term employment benefits raise the unemployment rate from 0.5 to 1.5 percentage points.

President Obama has said that:

"Everything in [his new] bill will be paid for", and that it "will not add to the deficit".

But it will be paid for in the future, and the president is effectively saying that we should add some more to the deficit now in return for promises of future spending.

The Bottom Line

None of the administration’s programs bode well for the good or for the future of America or its people.

American Enterprise Institute’s Director of economic policy Kevin Hassett said earlier this month:

"The Obama administration’s position throughout this recovery has been that the U.S. can have the highest corporate tax on earth, a big regulatory crackdown, and a vast expansion of labor-union power and still expect a positive jobs story because of cash-for-clunkers and green jobs. This jobs report indicates how much damage that view has done".

In the end, the newest Obama proposals are proof that his recent centrist posturing was just that, posturing.

The new proposals are a continuation of the old Obama New Party (read communist) policies, and they are policies that sadly have extended the recession, stifled economic growth, and will for some years to come, weaken America!