The 9-9-9 express meets the Christie juggernaut
By Norman Leahy | Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 | PoliticsThere was another debate among the GOP presidential candidates last night and the reviews generally make it seem that Mr. Romney did just fine, thank you, and the surging Herman Cain did a pretty good job of it as well.
Newt Gingrich, as is his want, got a few headlines for wanting to throw Rep. Barnie Frank and former Sen. Chris Dodd in jail over their roles in the financial meltdown…which made me wonder whether Newt was gunning for the Ukranian presidential nomination.
And yes, the press masters of this debate decided former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson couldn’t participate because he’d only been invited to two previous events. For this special, sit-down debate, he needed to have been invited to three. I suspect the real reason is that Bloomberg and the Washington Post wouldn’t spring for a bigger table.
All this aside, Herman Cain does seem to be enjoying a renaissance, of sorts, and it’s largely because of his 9-9-9 tax plan. It’s easy to remember, and bears an almost eery resemblance to another, very successful plan to reduce taxes. Think about it for a moment. Three, three-syllable words that fit on a bumper sticker…
If you answered “No Car Tax,” go to the head of the class.
Cain’s plan isn’t exactly getting rave reviews from the DC conservatives. Too many opportunities for fiscal mischief in 9-9-9, and not nearly enough specifics.
Yep…sounds more like “No Car Tax” all the time.
Still, it’s got people talking. Unlike the Romney or Huntsman plans, it’s easy to remember even when you can’t recall, exactly, what it means or stands for. And that could spell trouble for the other candidates.
Or not. The other, pre-debate, happening that could solidify the smart money behind Mitt Romney was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s endorsement of the former Massachusetts governor. Immediately, the question was asked: does this mean Mitt might choose Chris as his running mate? Christie said no such deal was made, though Romney said that of course Christie would be on anyone’s short list.
Ah, the possibilities…they are almost Agnew-like in their dimensions (minus the venality and corruption). Christie talking straight and tough to the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio crowds. Christie reducing Joe Biden to a pile of dust and feathers in a vice presidential debate. Christie presiding over the Senate like Ralph Kramden (one of these days, Reid, one of these days…)
We shall see…though a smarter bet is to put your chips on Bob McDonnell in the veepstakes.
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About the author
Norm Leahy has written about Virginia and national politics online since 2002, beginning with One Man's Trash (OMT), and continuing through Bacon's Rebellion (both the blog and the e-zine), Sic Semper Tyrannis, NBC12's Decision Virginia, Richmond.com and Tertium Quids. He is the chief blogger at "The Score" and a producer of "The Score" radio show as well as being a Washington Post contributor.
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27 Responses to "The 9-9-9 express meets the Christie juggernaut"
Bob McDonnell is in the running for VP but Only if Romney is the nominee. (Christie would look foolish accepting the VP since that would break with his statements as much as running for Pres. He would also overshadow Romney don’t you think?) Romney desperately needs to shore himself up with conservatives. McDonnell would be the least controversial (most Romneyesque) way of doing that. However to be honest much as we Virginians like the Gov he would not energize the conservative base across the country for Romney the way some more visible Repubs would do IMO. I suppose it will depend how worried Romney feels next year if he becomes the nominee.
Agree. Plus, Christie would hardly “balance” the ticket with Romney being first chair. On the other hand, a more conservative Southern governor would pair well with a moderate New England Republican.
9-9-9 is far worse than the price of a pizza. That will never fly in Congress and is far worse of an idea than Steve Forbes’ flat tax proposal that never saw the light of day. It is pure gimmickry. Cain is enjoying his 15 minutes and will then flame out just as badly as Bachmann did–the more you get to know him, the less there is to like.
Hisroc, name One failure directly attributable to Cain in the private sector.. ONE.
Bob McD would be on my short list for vp regardless but If Cain is not the primary winner he will be too valuable as a veep in the general.
Turbo,
Name ONE success by Cain in the public sector…ONE.
“Name ONE success by Cain in the public sector…ONE.”
Sadly we can say the same of Obama and Romney. Of course Obama doesn’t have any private sector success either Lord knows. If that’s the standard Perry, Christie and Daniels probably win except that two of them aren’t running unfortunately
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204226204576599031274832242.html
valentinus,
I’m surprised at you. Look at Romney’s record as a moderate Republican governor with a hostile liberal Democratic state legislature in Taxachusetts.
Many, many successes in the public sector.
Cain is a populist political outsider who out smarted the establishment. Cain has depth and charisma the others lack. He also has the spine to stand up and fight Obama head on and win the center without alienating the base.
Turbo,
“Bachmann is a populist political outsider who out smarted the establishment. Bachmann has depth and charisma the others lack. She also has the spine to stand up and fight Obama head on and win the center without alienating the base.”
It sounds pretty silly, doesn’t it? And it will sound just as silly when Pizza Man crashes.
You Tea Party guys just continue to exist in a fictional world where up is down and left is right.
HisRoc,
Taxachusetts is a bit of an anachronism these days as MA has controlled tax rises over the past few decades. They export their liberalism to the Feds but have been more circumspect in recent years at home at least prior to Deval Patrick. There have been a number of moderate Republican governors of the state formerly known as Taxachusetts recently i.e. Weld, Cellucci and Jane Swift in addition to Romney. You are welcome to look the others up by way of comparison. I often visited relatives in MA and saw them all in action so to speak. Romney did not stand out among them; not that he was disgraceful. But his principal legacy includes Romneycare, a very poor law admittedly made worse by the Dems there.
Ok maybe I was a bit harsh but your implied contention that he was unusually effective in MA is not accurate IMO. A superb businessman though, no arguments there.
ONE example of a private sector success by Obama – his book. Just saying.
Of real concern is the fact that anyone who releases a 9-9-9 tax plan is actually leading the polls in the Republican Primary. What does that say about the state of the Republican Party? Does anyone, anywhere think that 9-9-9 would A)be enacted, or B)work? The plan is as much a gimmick as the 5-5-5 deal it copied. Hey, turn it upside down and the Devil’s in the details.
One more thing, I’d be curious to know what percentage of the employees at Godfather’s Pizza have health insurance or earn a living wage.
Of course, as the author of Turbo’s link points out:
“But after watching the American Idol system we’ve fallen into for discovering a president—with opinion polls, tongue slips and media caprice deciding front-runners and even presidents—I’m rewriting my presidential-selection software.”
So I’d say Cain has a chance, but we’re all screwed.
Herman Cain has something the other candidates lack.Cain has a no BS plan.The reason Cain is gaining support is people like his ideas.If the DC Republican establishment doesn’t like it well that just might be a good thing.
“ONE example of a private sector success by Obama – his book. Just saying.”
Did he write it???
Whether or not he did, he used a public office which he was currently holding for private gain. Something that would be viewed as unethical if he was a regular government worker I believe. (Something he compounded by signing a lucrative book deal days before the 2008 election to evade Oval office ethics rules.) And yes he’s not the only one. Just saying.
Any person who supported Obama really gave up their credibility on candidate qualifications. I have always maintained that Presidents should be generals, big state governors or secretaries of state.
Obama: “I don’t think Ethics was my favorite subject.”
As I was reading the latest comments in this thread, CNN just had an interesting factoid on: exactly four years ago today, guess who was leading in the polls for the Republican nomination? Rudolph Giulliani followed closely by Fred Thompson. John McCain was 10 percentage points back. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Yeah and we all see how well that worked out.
It ain’t over til the votes are counted – including those of the dear departed in Dem cities.
val,
The Election Day motto in Chicago: “Bring out your dead.”
Red Baron,
Do you suppose Caribou Barbie had anything to do with it or was it simply a reaction by moderates to Republican deficit spending? After all, the Dems swept Congress two years earlier.
Cain becomes the GOP nomination. Obama runs on the phrase: “Read my lips, no new taxes!” Wouldn’t that be amazing.
So the Tea Party is in love with a Federal Reserve insider because he is good at shilling pizza pie plans? Well don’t be surprised when he introduces you to a foot long sausage.
You all miss the point: the rates on Cain’s 9-9-9 don’t matter as much as how it simplifies the tax code. I agree: after negotiations with Congress, President Cain would be more likely be left with 7-10-10. Simplifying the tax code both boosts business and helps curb the special interests in DC, who no longer would have their tax breaks from the existing code.
On VP, how about a Cain – Romney ticket?
How about a Cain McDonnell ticket?
Turbo,
Problematic in that they’re both from the South, but it worked for Clinton – Gore.
I fear a Cain-Newt ticket
@ Henry,
How do you think consumer spending would be affected by a 9% sales tax. What would that do to our economy?
Also, what would it do to states that currently depend on a sales tax for their revenues? Would states be forced to implement an income tax or would we be paying a 14% sales tax in Virginia?
I don’t see anyone asking these questions or looking at the consequences. They need to be asked, these and many more, and I think answers are needed. If it smells like a gimmick…
ToR,
That’s part of why I stated 9-9-9 would be more likely to come out of Congress as 7-10-10: I can’t see Congress enacting a 9% national Sales Tax. Put income taxes at 10% and calculating your taxes is as simple as moving the decimal one place left.
The irony (and hypocrisy) shouldn’t be lost that some of the very people attacking Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan are supporters of the un-Fair Tax, which would impose a much higher national sales tax.
Why does the monstrosity that is our current Federal tax code continue to exist? The vested interests want to retain their loopholes, exemptions, etc. The only way to tame the monster is to send the current code to the shredder.
On Virginia and the states, Federal tax reform would probably force them to reform their own tax codes. Show me someone silly enough to defend Virginia’s tax code, and I’ll show you a fool. BPOL? The coyote tax? The Car Tax remainder and reimbursements to localities? It’s utterly absurd!
Those who have reformed tax codes elsewhere will tell you that you tax two things, and two things only: spending and income. That’s exactly what Cain’s 9-9-9 does, and that’s why it’s a huge step forward.
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