Herman Cain

It's Sunday and the desert is quiet.

I spent part of the day watching several Herman Cain interview videos and researching the details of his 999 plan. At one point, an interviewer asked him about China. He responded. "The solution to the China problem is to outgrow them." He explained that his 999 plan would help because it allows a corporation to deduct expenses for tax purposes, only if the expenses, "the cost of goods sold" if you will, are from American firms. If the expenses are for goods purchased from China, they are not deductible and the corporation taxes would increase. For practical purposes, this is similar to imposing a 9% surcharge on goods purchased from China.

Cain speaks and acts like a main street executive rather than a wall street executive. His appearance includes a visible dose of strong self-confidence mixed with a, "I swept the floors in a Burger King franchise," flavor that is ingratiating.  I watched him adroitly field questions from a crowd of approximately 20 media people on his tax program and his other ideas. I was impressed. He was very "matter of fact" in his responses, never condescending, but made his points clear. He does not respond like a politician with an attempt to keep one foot on both sides of the track, eyes looking in both directions.

He reminded me of Harry Truman. I watched one commentator try to challenge him on his programs. He responded with numbers and explanations that made sense and were easy to understand. Cain may have Obama's oratorical skills coupled with Gingrich's excellent debate skills all wrapped up in a blanket of innovative ideas developed from years working real jobs to make a living.. Truman was a tailor.

A few months ago, I liked Huntsman's resume too. Unfortunately, Huntsman has been unable to launch any genuine program that has any traction.  Cain has. Cain's plan is easy to understand. Romney criticized it because he said it was too simple. Cain defended it on the basis that Americans could understand it. He further explained that what is the point of a tax code that is riddled with sneak-a-tax exceptions. And I may add, Americans will never understand the 72,000 pages of current tax code.

As an example of issues I have with the tax code, consider the following situation.  I am 68. I receive social security and medicare benefits based on my contributions to these funds or the last 48 years. I am also self employed and still have to pay 15.2% of my self employment income for social security and medicare, as well as reduce my social security benefits for still working. The logic is a mystery.

Back to Cain for closing, the 9% is not paid on the sale of used homes or used cars. Also, the 15.2% self employment tax and the 15.2% social security and medicare tax paid 50% by corporations and 50% by employees will go away.