As the "Occupy" protestors and rallyers all over the country and world demonstrate, it's safe to say that many Americans don't find our current economic situation as the best it could be. With the complexity and problematic nature of the federal tax system in it's current state, many groups feel it's time for the government to change its taxation system. Enter Herman Cain and his ""9-9-9" Plan.
As stated on his campaign site, the "9-9-9" Plan is a plan of, "...bold action [in order ] to truly stimulate the economy and renew America back to its greatness." It is actually the first phase of a two phase plan to get the economy back quickly, which involves the implementation of a single 9% Business and Individual Flat Tax as well a 9% National Sales Tax. This, according to Former Reagan Treasury official, Gary Robbins, will "...expand GDP by $2 Trillion," and, "create 6 million jobs..." This is funny seeing as another Reagan Administration official, Bruce Bartlett, claimed that, "At a minimum, the Cain Plan is a distributional monstrosity. The poor would pay more taxes while the rich would have their taxes cut..."
The simplicity of the plan and its potential benefits has excited many voters eager to cast away the tangled system of the past, but others still are skeptical of the plan that candidate Cain has proposed. "While on paper Cain is promising a tax cut, in reality tens of millions of lower-income Americans would face tax increases," Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post wrote discerning that most of the promised tax cuts would actually go to higher wage earners.
His fellow candidates were also very quick to dismiss the plan. "When you take the '9-9-9' Plan and you turn it upside down, I think the devil's in the details," said Michelle Bachmann during the New Hampshire debate. Former Utah Governor, Jon Huntsman, also found the name humorous remarking that he, "...thought it was the price of a pizza when [he] first heard about it."
Still, the biggest "critics" of the plan come from the gaming community. Many fans of Maxis' SimCity4 know that the default tax settings for a new city are almost identical to the tax system devised by Cain 8 years after the game's release. Coincidence? Highly likely, but if Cain's clean the streets initiative turns out to involve Godzilla demolishing half the city, then I'll start to get suspicious.
No matter what amount of flack Cain is receiving for his plan, it is good to see that the candidates are stepping up to the plate and providing the public with specific courses of action if they were to be elected. It demonstrates how serious they are for the position. It also in turn allowed Cain to propel himself to a frontrunner status these past two weeks which has put all the other candidates on edge. Although I may not agree with the plan Herman Cain has proposed, I still applaud him for his effort to create change to help our current financial situation. Maybe with support and cooperation on both ends and initiative like Cain's, we can finally move forward away from this economic state.
Visit CAIN'S SITE in order to read more on his plan
CLICK HERE to read Glenn Kessler's analysis of the plan
WATCH CAIN defend "9-9-9" on NBC
Maxis' Humorous response video to the PARALLELS
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