look, it's 9-9-9. it's simple and elegant and f*ck poor people anyway.

That's a whole page for each 9. It's got to be good.

President Cain to dissolve the USDA and implement his personal food pyramid.

/$9.99 is a good deal on pizza, not a method for running a country.

Herman Cain's now-famous "9-9-9" tax plan was crafted by a rank-and-file investment adviser working at a Wells Fargo branch in an affluent rural Ohio town with a population of about 6,000 people.

According to Richard Lowrie's LinkedIn profile, his education tops out with a Bachelor of Science in accountancy from Case Western University. He has no formal training in economics, and there is no indication that he has ever worked on public policy. According to that same profile, Lowrie's political experience includes working on the board of advisers for Americans For Prosperity, a hardline conservative outfit founded by the Koch Brothers, until 2008. In 2011, the group ran into trouble for posting fake eviction notices on the doors of Detroit families. Lowrie's LinkedIn profile also says he works on the volunteer advisory panel for the American Conservative Union.

Link (new window)

We should totally take Herman Cain's candidacy seriously.

i just don't understand the need to make the impossible argument that it isn't regressive. why not just own it - "yes, it will punish poor people for being poor, but that will motivate them to stop being poor and will also force them to put some 'skin in the game'(tm)"

Cain even said food and clothing would not be exempt from the 9 percent national sales tax

Would churches lose their tax-exempt status?

For Cain's 9-9-9 tax to work, he'd have to get elected. Somehow, I think that's a lot less likely than his idiotic tax plan working.

es, it does sound fair because of the other point I'm about to make. If they need to buy a car or a home or some hard goods that are used, they pay no taxes.

See? No problem. All they have to do is buy used food, this way they won't pay taxes on it.

Flab: es, it does sound fair because of the other point I'm about to make. If they need to buy a car or a home or some hard goods that are used, they pay no taxes.

See? No problem. All they have to do is buy used food, this way they won't pay taxes on it.

at what point does an item become used? if food is sold wholesale to a grocery, is it used when it is resold at retail?

Flab: es, it does sound fair because of the other point I'm about to make. If they need to buy a car or a home or some hard goods that are used, they pay no taxes.

See? No problem. All they have to do is buy used food, this way they won't pay taxes on it.

also, "let them eat my sh*t" doesn't have the same ring as "let them eat cake"

thomps: look, it's 9-9-9. it's simple and elegant and f*ck poor people anyway.

Seriously. If you can't look at that tax and see how horrendously regressive it is, I don't know what to tell you. Even a flat tax is less regressive than this 9-9-9 bullshiat.

thomps: at what point does an item become used? if food is sold wholesale to a grocery, is it used when it is resold at retail?

I was going for "post consumption", but you found a nice little loophole in my plan... Damn you.

thomps: also, "let them eat my sh*t" doesn't have the same ring as "let them eat cake"

Exactly. The Human Centipede was not made for the same audiences as Marie-Antoinette.

GoodyearPimp: Not to sound out of line, but don't the poor ALREADY pay the same tax as the rich for food (in places where food is taxed)?

not for to fund the federal government. and typically not for food.

Yes, 999 is a great idea...let's drastically reduce the taxes paid by the wealthy (bringing them down something like 20 or more percentage points), and increase the taxes paid by the poor (which are typically below 9%). Oh, and on top of it, let's increase the sales tax for those people who spend more of their income (the poor).

I applaud Charlie Rose for not succumbing to the temptation to facepalm on national TV.

IrateShadow: Maybe poor people should stop being poor if they want their problems to go away.

That's basically what Cain said last night.

Dusk-You-n-Me: According to Richard Lowrie's LinkedIn profile, his education tops out with a Bachelor of Science in accountancy from Case Western University. He has no formal training in economics, and there is no indication that he has ever worked on public policy. According to that same profile, Lowrie's political experience includes working on the board of advisers for Americans For Prosperity, a hardline conservative outfit founded by the Koch Brothers, until 2008. In 2011, the group ran into trouble for posting fake eviction notices on the doors of Detroit families. Lowrie's LinkedIn profile also says he works on the volunteer advisory panel for the American Conservative Union.

Link (new window)

And before someone arrive to scream "HUFFPO!!!", here's a very similar article from the Los Angeles Times (new window).

Gee, I wonder why incredibly wealthy bankers would devise a system like this:

•It ends the Payroll Tax completely - a permanent holiday!
•Zero capital gains tax
•Ends the Death Tax.
•Eliminates double taxation of dividends
•Business Flat Tax - 9%
◦Gross income less all investments, all purchases from other businesses and all dividends paid to shareholders.
◦Empowerment Zones will offer additional deductions for payroll employed in the zone.
•Individual Flat Tax - 9%.
◦Gross income less charitable deductions.
◦Empowerment Zones will offer additional deductions for those living and/or working in the zone.
•National Sales Tax - 9%."

Don't ask me what "the zone" is. This is all taken from Herman Cain's own website., which includes clear descriptions like:

"•The Fair Tax makes our exported goods and services the most competitively internationally than any other tax system."

The link goes to Herman Cain's website, because he doesn't cite any sources or documents for these claims. He just wants "you" to believe it because:

But come on. Three pizzas for under 30 bucks? That's a pretty solid deal.

chimp_ninja: •Eliminates double taxation of dividends

Oh dear god.

DamnYankees: But come on. Three pizzas for under 30 bucks? That's a pretty solid deal.

That deal only applies to rich people.

Just call it what it is...

Tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans off set by tax increases on the poor and middle classes.

It's more of the same old shiat from the Greedy Old Plutocrats party.