9-9-9: The Big Idea Of 2012?

It’s way too early to predict who’s going to win the Republican nomination for president … but it’s not too early to start speculating on who’s got the inside track on the best Big Idea of the 2012 Campaign. That may well be former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive officer Herman Cain, whose campaign has gained serious traction on the strength of a single, impossible-to-forget proposal: We should establish a flat, loophole-free 9% income tax rate for everyone (including payments into Social Securiy and Medicare), cut the corporate tax rate to 9%, and establish a new national sales tax of 9%.

The idea, known as the 9-9-9 plan, has a number of interesting things going for it. First and foremost, according to this Washington Post blog, it can bring in roughly the same amount of tax revenue that the current loophole-ridden, impossibly complex tax “system” generates. Second, it would unleash a tidal wave of private-sector growth. Third, it’s fair. As Cain puts it, it’s a system under which “everyone has some skin in the game.”

This viral Cain campaign video concludes with some memorable words that recall the practice of tithing, or setting a tenth of one’s income aside for religious charity: “If 10% is good enough for God, then 9% should be just fine for the Federal Government.” It’s hard to disagree … and it’s also pretty hard to dispute that Cain’s proposal has tapped into a huge reservoir of (legitimate) public anger with Washington. I don’t know if that makes him the next President of the United States, but it does make him someone with a game-changing idea that voters are listening to. That means mainstream media should start listening more closely to Cain too … and it also means lawmakers should tell voters exactly where they stand on the 9-9-9 plan.

LINKS:
YouTube: 9-9-9: A Vision for Economic Growth
The Washington Times: CURL: Cain’s ‘9-9-9’ tax plan is fairer share