(Update) Herman Cain’s Plan 9-9-9 from Outer Space

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I finally got around to viewing the most recent episode of "Survivor – GOP Presidential Primary" debate from Tuesday. I ought to get paid to have to suffer through such ignorant nonsense.

Herman Cain obviously believes he has discovered the secret to Ronald Reagan's success: "simple solutions to complex problems," or bumper sticker slogans substituting for sound policy.

He may be right, at least with respect to Tea-Publican voters who have been conditioned by conservative media to respond to simplistic bumper sticker slogans. Cain's recitation of "9-9-9" at the debate as if it was a holy incantation has led to his surge in national polls post-debate. NBC/WSJ poll: Cain now leads GOP pack; Herman Cain Takes Commanding Lead in PPP National Poll; Herman Cain Leads Republican Field In Zogby Poll.

“You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.” – Scott Adams (American Cartoonist, b.1957).

The best lines of the debate came from Cain's opponents mocking his "Plan 9-9-9 from Outer Space." Former Gov. Jon Huntsman mocked Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan at the debate, quipping "It's a catchy phrase, in fact I thought it was the price of a pizza." Huntsman: I thought Cain 9-9-9 plan was "price of pizza" – Political Hotsheet – CBS News.

As a matter of fact, the #1 "Pizza Package" at Godfather's is currently going for…$9.99.

But it was Rep. Michele Bachmann who went where one would expect a Dominionist extremist to go. I had been waiting to see who would be first to do this, and Bachmann did not disappoint:

Rep. Michele Bachmann also hammered Cain's plan, saying, "You turn the 9-9-9 plan upside down, and the devil's in the details," she said — suggesting that the plan was actually "6-6-6" — the "number of the beast" in the Bible.

We have a winner! This would be the funniest comedy on TV if these people were not actually serious.

As Steve Benen says, "Ideally, we could do what the political world has done for months: generally ignore this foolish gimmick. But when a policy idea — I use the phrase loosely — becomes the central focus of a debate for presidential candidates, it’s probably worth taking the time to look at it in a little more detail." Political Animal – Revisiting the ‘9-9-9’ nonsense:

What Cain calls his “9-9-9” economic plan is basically his approach to tax policy — he envisions a system with a 9% income tax, a 9% corporate tax, and a 9% sales tax. Chris Cillizza [a D.C. Media Villager of the worst kind] praised it this morning for its “beautiful, political simplicity.”

The bad news is, political simplicity notwithstanding, the plan doesn’t make any sense. Bruce Bartlett, a Republican economist and veteran of the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations, published an analysis of the plan yesterday, explaining that it would, as a practical matter, raise taxes on the poor considerably, make it more expensive for businesses to hire workers, and increase the deficit.

At a minimum, the Cain plan is a distributional monstrosity. The poor would pay more while the rich would have their taxes cut, with no guarantee that economic growth will increase and good reason to believe that the budget deficit will increase.

Even allowing for the poorly thought through promises routinely made on the campaign trail, Mr. Cain’s tax plan stands out as exceptionally ill conceived. 

Bruce Bartlett was the guest on this segment of The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell in which Cain's "Plan 9-9-9 from Outer Space" is eviscerated and left for dead.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Back to Steve Benen:

Michael Linden, the Center for American Progress’ director of tax and budget policy, ran the numbers on Cain’s plan and came to the same conclusion.

And while we’re at it, the “9-9-9” proposal, at least in its current form, also suffers from constitutional problems.

Wait, it gets better. Cain said he relied on “well-recognized economists that helped me to develop this 9-9-9 plan,” but he won’t tell us who they are. He said the plan has been “well studied,” but he won’t say by whom or what they found, specifically. Cain added that his campaign had an “independent firm … dynamically score” his plan, but he won’t share the results of the analysis.

This isn’t a policy; it’s a joke.

Well, now we do know who Cain relied on for his "Plan 9-9-9 from Outer Space" and he's not an economist. From Politico — Herman Cain's economic adviser is not an economist:

Herman Cain says his much-touted 9-9-9 plan is the product of extensive testing and thinking, but the only man he cited as involved with its research — Rich Lowrie of Cleveland, Ohio — is not a trained economist.

Instead, Lowrie — who’s the only economic adviser Cain has been willing to mention by name — is a wealth manager for a division of Wells Fargo and according to his LinkedIn page holds an accountancy degree from Case Western Reserve University. Lowrie also spent three years on the advisory board of the conservative third-party group Americans For Prosperity. [And there it is! The Koch brothers hiding in the shadows]

The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO was pressed for his circle of economic advisers at Tuesday’s debate in response to a question from moderator Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post.

“My advisers come from the American people. Now, I will have some experts. One of my experts that helped me to develop this is a gentleman by the name of Rich Lowrie out of Cleveland, Ohio,” Cain said during the debate. “He is an economist, and he has worked in the business of wealth creation most of his career.”

It looks like Herman Cain is not troubled by lying to voters and selling them snake oil. I guess the Pizza Man is just another Republican politician.