9-9-9 Debunked

Nobody would have guessed a year ago from today that former CEO of Godfather's Pizza Herman Cain would be trailing frontrunner Mitt Romney in the polls by only three percent. Much of the enthusiasm and support that has contributed to his surge in his polls is his catchy 9-9-9 plan. The 9-9-9 plan would implement a 9 percent income tax, a 9 percent sales tax, and a 9 percent business tax. The majority of tax credits as well as deductions and exemptions, the payroll tax, estate, and gift taxed would be eliminated under this plan. Cain and members of his campaign have said that the only exemptions on the income tax will be for charitable deductions as well as for undefined "empowerment" zones whose objective is to promote development in struggling inner-cities. At first, many people thought that this would revive our economy and trusted Cain to use his business experience to lead the way to economic prosperity.

However, people are now starting to look past this cant-miss slogan and are seeing the 9-9-9 plan for what it really is. Unlike the comments regarding his plan a month ago, the 9-9-9 plan is receiving much more criticism than appraisal. According to Jeanne Sahadi's article from money.cnn.com, a whopping 84% of U.S. households would pay more money under Cain's proposed tax policies, than they do under our current tax system. Households that make $30,000 or less would lose between 16% to 20% less in after-tax income than they do today. On the other hand, this plan would produce great benefits for those who make are fortunate enough to make seven figures. If implemented, the 9-9-9 plan would be highly beneficial for those who make $1 million or more annually with an average tax cut of $487,300.

As a result to the obvious favorability that this plan has for our nations most financially stable, many people are now raising awareness of unfair subject matter that the 9-9-9 plan really contains. However, the criticism of this plan is not only heard by those on the left of the spectrum. Several prominent members of the conservative movement have began to speak out against this plan claiming that it would be awful for our nation in this time of an economic recession. During this weeks debate in Las Vegas, Cain's opponents for the nomination wasted no time in attacking him through criticism of this plan that has been the main source of his success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OxnN2pxMAg   (video cannot be embedded)

Defending the plan that put him on the map has not been an easy task for Cain. As seen in the link provided above, his opponents have found the vulnerabilities that are embedded in the plan and waste no time in exposing them. When Cain has been asked about the evident flaws of his plan like Anderson Cooper did in the debate Tuesday, he claims that they are simply not true. However, that is hard to say since the implementation of this plan would be like pulling the carpet beneath the feet of lower-income household since they would now have to pay a federal income tax, which is something that they are exempt from doing under the current tax system. Clearly, Cain will have to find a better way to rebuttal these questions if he expects to hold his place in the polls, let alone move ahead of the frontrunner Mitt Romney.


Links used:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/oct/18/herman-cain/herman-cain-says-9-9-9-plan-does-not-raise-taxes-t/

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/18/news/economy/cain_999_plan/index.htm