What Could Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan Mean For You?

I simply wouldn’t be able to survive this.

World New Tonight — YOU ARE WRONG — the manufacturer will past the savings they get by not having to pay $$$$ in employment tax and taxes on the raw goods to make the product. So you will NOT pay more on the products you buy. Hopefully — like the Fair Tax — the 9 – 9- 9 plan would consider the poverty level but I have not heard. Also — I totally agree with getting rid of loop holes in our tax system which includes ‘child tax deduction’. If you have children — you might want to make sure you can afford them first. Can you please research the information you report more thoroughly. Thank you!

“9-9-9 Plan Would Almost Double Taxes on Middle Class” – The Note

I’m glad attention is finally being brought to bear on Herman Cain’s ridiculous “999 Plan”. This man’s proposals would be an absolute disaster for the American economy. I am flabbergasted that Mr. Cain would be foolish enough to propose an idea which would disproportionately burden millions of working class Americans, while Feeding the (Big Government) Pig with more taxation than any conservative has advocated in the past half century. Cain is an absolute sham and would likely have been roasted by now were it not for his inspirational life story as a minority “rags to riches” conservative.

How does a family of four (two children) receive $4000 child tax credit. I believe it’s only $2000, $1000 per child. Thus, not much of a difference in taxes.

The 9% flat tax would at least treat everybody the same and we would get rid of a lot of headaches with the IRS. also on the sales tax 9% if everyone was requide to pay on only new items, excluding Food, medicane and items to grow your crops for food in the ag buisness, just like now, think of all the crimanals , iligal people that would have to then pay taxes. If someone does not want to pay the sales tax the resale of used items would greatly increase and the landfills would not fill up solving another problem.

There is one reason and one reason only the GOP are looking for a way to trick the American population into “dismantling” Social Security. Currently your employer is required to match FICA contributions. If you pay 4K a year in your “payroll” tax (FICA) your employer matches your 4K. Getting rid of the FICA tax would be a trillion dollar tax cut windfall for multi-national corporations. If you really believe the “job creators” would use that money to hire Americans in America you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten years. You will have NOTHING in your golden years unless your employer “voluntarily” (and we all know how that goes) provides you with a small match to a 401K plan. So if you work a minimum wage, no benefit job like Wal-Mart you need to start planning with your children which one you will live with until the end of life because if the corporate owned GOP has it’s way, it will either be that or if you can afford one, a van down by the river.

Cain also wants to get rid of Social Security and leave it to the states, cities, and churches to help people and the elderly. Look closer at this plan Americans…..

And at least if future Presidents or Congress did try to increase the tax rates it would be transparent which is a huge difference in the way it is done now.

This report is either a lie or incorrect. I would think that ABC News would get their facts straight before denouncing the ONLY plan on the table. No one else will even consider putting their cards on the table … even President Obama. The simple math of 9-9-9 accounts for the saving of employee tax… you left that out…by mistake or on purpose. You also left out the fact that the 9% sales tax is ONLY for NEW goods and not resold goods such as used cars or furniture. You left that out by mistake or ON PURPOSE. Either way you should be ashamed of misleading your readers to push your own agenda. Mr. Cain is the only leader running for office.. and that includes President Obama. Everyone else is lets say.. .a Politician… excuse me for that vulgar language. A Politician is someone who will tell you what you want to hear to gain your vote. A leader will tell you what is best …even if it hurts your feelings. ABC news please quite playing to the Democrat and Republican machines and return to being reporters of the news. Your audience is smart and capable of making their own decisions if you give them the straight information.

I think there is a error in this article. Just using the example of substituting the 9% sales tax on the 50,000 in place of the 7%. The 9% is on the sales, things people buy, not the gross income figure.

“for reference purposes. ABC News is not responsible for the content ” At least they got thier disclaimer correct.

Come on ABC News, check you sources first. Cain has already clarified that his sales tax would EXCLUDE food, clothing and basic necessities. He also stated that the 9% flat tax would go into effect after the poverty level of income. Thus you whole premise is wrong.

If you want to try to discredit his plan, research your facts first.

With 4 kids its hard to scrape by on 50,000 but lets face it thats the governments problem. Why don’t we change the example to 50,000 with 9 kids since everyone is talking 9′s.

SINCE WHEN DOES 50K A YEAR FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR MAKE YOU MIDDLE CLASS?!?

You may try to change your life now even the life before is well. But many people want to have another new found, a new kind of dating feeling. ——Agedate-С ò M—— is a great pl-ace for sing-les to get to know each other, and talk about work, sports, life, relationship, or more. I can assure you that your will be happy here.

Looks like we have a winner, folks! (chuckle, chuckle)

9-9-9 or is it really 6-6-6? Herman Cain is an idiot.

Obama demands – SHARED SACRIFICE!! More then 50% of Americans PAY NO FEDERAL TAXES and it’s time to spread their wealth!! The top 1% pay almost 40% of federal taxes – that is UNAMERICAN AND UNFAIR!! SHARED SACRIFICE!! ….regardless, the 999 plan sounds great in a speech, just like the flat tax, but both are nonstarters for many boring, technical reasons.

This article is a fraud. ABC cannot be trusted. They have misrepresented the 999 plan and blatantly demagogued many aspects of it. Please do the research for yourself. Please read up on economics (specifically the work of Milton Friedman). Please educate yourself as this will possibly be the most important election our country has ever faced. Do not take anything the mainstream media says at face value. Do not be a sheep in the heard.

This is an additive tax rate, not a flat tax. If all loopholes are gone then this will be on the value of the corporation not it’s profits. There goes any dividends from stocks and any hope of increased values on 401ks. Now take another 9% out of what little income you get after that, and hey another 9% when you spend your money. Equals minimum of 27% but under certain cercumstances it would quadruple to 108% .That just killed the economy, even if these were the best of times.

If you truly believe that corporations will voluntarily pass their 10-15% savings in tax on to consumers, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Are you really that naïve? Corporations will just devalue tjhe cost of their goods to lower their tax, not lower their retail prices, then accumulate even more profit, all the while shipping more and more manufacturing jobs to third-world economies where $10 a day is quadruple their average income and where they make things laced with poisons and heavy metals. Until there is a fundamental change in basic corporate philosophy, to one that values the employee and not the extortionist stockholder, we will continue to slide toward a system of corporate ogliarchy – if we haven’t already reached that point, that is. When will Americans wake the **** up and realize that WE are responsible for standing by and allowing this to happen? Why aren’t you looking for MADE IN USA labels at wallyworld? Why are you allowing corporate America to bend you over and rape you for every last penny you have to your name? It doesn’t matter if we elect Cain, Romney, Obama or any of the other idiots trying to become president. They don’t run this country and you’re a complete fool if you think anyone you’ve elected gives a rat’s behind what you think. What do you think the Occupy movement is all about? Take back your country, take back your jobs, don’t buy cheap crap made overseas and for god’s sake actually think for yourselves for a change!

Cain ought to go back to what he knows best – Pizza.

simpler is better. Problem is that all the schemers don’t like it because you can’t hide behind it. Personally I would pay more tax to rid our society of a bankrupt tax code and loop hole greed. We the people need to wake up.

we have a problem..i think the was answer is to look at the constitution and see what it says.
i will as a single person pay my 9K for taxes but those who want children, pay up and especially if they are special needs. we all know that hearing aids are expensive, so why do you want to have tax payers responsible for it.

What’s with the Demos always using the term “Working People”? I own several businesses and I’m pretty wealthy but I work 65 plus hours a week. Holidays… working. Summer time… no vaca. My staff, whom I respect and pay well are never required to work over 40 hours. I am not complaining but they always seem to think business owners are smoking fat cigars on the yacht.

To ATP: Katrina was the expose of how corrupted by business our gov’ts are, from the city all the way to DC. And if that didn’t convince is, the BP fiasco should have. I still want Tony Hayward strung up by his balls.

Also, to everyone else: Cain cannot get rid of the Social Security Retirement program. No president, no congress, not even the Almighty Himself can take it away. It is an irrevocable trust and as such cannot be shut down by anything other that the complete demise of the United States government. They can change the withholding and they can change the payment, but they cannot shut it down. Cain needs to stop basing everuthing on the price of pizza and actuially learn banking law.

Speaking of which, I worked for Godfather’s at one point. Did you know that the most expensive menu pizza, one that retailed for $23, cost the company $2.25 including labor and overhead? Tell me Cain isn’t in it for the money.

It looks like Cain has his campaign interns working hard to discredit reality. LOL

Cain assumes that companies will lower their prices if their corporate tax rate is reduced; however, there are some problems with that assumption. 1)Companies that sent their manufacturing out of the country to save money did NOT lower their prices (for example Levi and Maytag). He assumes that these same companies will suddenly see the light of public good and lower their prices by at least 9%? Sure [snark]. 2)Wouldn’t a sudden decrease in prices be seen as deflation by the Federal Reserve and their ilk? Cain doesn’t want to dismantle the Fed, so they would still be around to scream and holler about the evils of deflation, and who knows what they would do to counter it; they still hold the power of our currency, and interest rates, in their grubby little paws.

I thought ABC was starting to come around and be the peoples media instead of the liberal media but this is about as biased as it gets. How sad for them!
By the way there are simple solution to the problem.
789 depending on income
789 depending on size of business
789 depending on the product Essentials like food @7%, Non essentials @8% and luxury items @9%
Just play with the numbers some. Besides no matter what they say the democrats will have to raise taxes to maintain this spending addiction.

Wow this was so disappointing! Many people will watch this and believe this to be fact. ABC News you just lost a viewer.

By all means, let’s scrap Social Security and Medicare. Let’s just ignore why those programs were started in the first place. We should be paying more to fund those programs, not less. Taxes are lower than they have been in decades; that’s not working. 50% of Americans do not pay federal taxes because they don’t actually make enough to owe them. By all means, let’s cut the taxes that I pay and ask those 50% to pay instead.

Tyler, this 9-9-9 thing is pie in the sky. Cain “hopes” that businesses will lower their prices if their costs are reduced (which historically hasn’t been the case); Cain “hopes” that Congress and future presidents will not take advantage of the new revenue stream presented in the national sales tax he proposes; Cain presents himself as a man with good intentions who won’t try to raise the 9-9-9 during his tenure and “hopes” you and I will believe him. Cr@p. When is a politician lying? When his lips are moving.

Actually, this is alot worse than what’s been covered here..the State tax is ‘liquid’ means if your state gives out handouts to big business, you get that tax raised state level to ‘pay’ for it. DO NOT be fooled..this is just more of the GOP handout to the rich. This time they are trying to do it with a slight of hand by trying to make it look ‘balanced’…it’s not. If you want the middle class to survive, run from these candidates..they are doing NOTHING that support the poor and middle class.

Wow. What a total lie in favor of propaganda. Figures.

According to the CBO’s webpage titled, “Data on the Distribution of Federal Taxes and Household Income,” I fall into the middle quintile (I’m middle class), with an average BEFORE-TAXES HOUSEHOLD INCOME of $60,700.

According to that same webpage, I’m currently paying a Total Federal Effective Tax Rate of 14.2%, therefore, my taxes are $8,620, and my AFTER-TAX income is $52,080 (=$60,700 – $8,620). THAT IS $52,080 that I can spend without worrying about the federal government taking any more money out of that amount.

Now, under Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, I would be paying 9% federal income taxes, which means that my income taxes would be $5,463 and my AFTER-INCOME TAX income would equal $55,237. However, that $55,237 would STILL be subject to a 9% federal sales tax depending on how I use that money.

So, under Herman Cain’s plan, I would now have an inherent “break-even” threshold, i.e., a point of spending which, if I exceed that point, I will actually be paying more federal taxes under his system than under the current system. For my case, that threshold will be $35,078, which equals the difference between how much I paid in income taxes under the current system against how much I would pay in income taxes under Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, divided by 9%.

BREAK-EVEN THRESHOLD = ($8,620 – $5,463) / .09
………………………………… = $3,157 / .09
………………………………… = $35,078

So, under the current tax system, I’m free to spend $52,080 of my money, however I want to, WITHOUT having to worry about any further federal taxes. And under Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, if I spend anything over $35,078 of my after-income-tax income ($55,237) on purchases, I’ll actually be paying more in taxes under his system than I am now under the current system.

In effect, what Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan does is set an inherent purchase limit on how much I use of my remaining after-income-tax income. I’m limited to $35,078 if I want to benefit from his plan. If I spend more than $35,078 in a year, I’m actually paying more in taxes than I am now.

LOL! …. And this plan, “somehow”, is supposed to get me to spend my money to help improve the economy? ….. Are you joking Mr. Cain?

Wow I take real issue with this supposed ‘fact check’

the fact is people at the lowest spectrum pay no taxes at all – and in fact receive a net surplus from the tax system through income transfers known as the earned income tax credits – among other things.

By the math if they owed even $1 of taxes – they’d have an infinite, percentage wise tax increase.

That’s Cain’s whole point – is to give them skin in the game…everyone becomes a tax payer, not as we have today, tax payers – and tax leaches.

You also make another assumption – that behavior doesn’t change at all – and I doubt that. Behavior would change. With such a high rate of sales tax, you’d see less sales, even among lower income families. Bartering, trading.

I know, I’m in that group you are describing – last year I planted a garden – that’s a reduction in purchased food – that cuts state sales tax revenues from my budget – in addition to just cutting the food budget as a whole.

Cains idea might need a few tweeks from a straight 9-9-9 – like collecting just a bit more revenue overall, but its a good idea to set us down the path of reforming the tax system.

(p.s. I’m voting for Ron Paul, but…I don’t think your story did much justice to Cain’s idea, and was quite a misleading response)..

Enough already. Seriously, when am i going to hear this kind of outrage in favor of personal accountability and accepting responsibility for one’s actions? Im sick to death of you people calling me greedy because i want to keep 50% of my “wealth” for my own family! Yes, my total family income is now being taxed at over half of what I’ve earned when you add up sales tax, state tax, property tax, luxury taxes, federal taxes. And, THAT’S NOT ENOUGH FOR SOME OF YOU?!!! I was a lifelong democrat up until about a year ago. I happily paid my taxes accepting my social and moral responsibility to help those less fortunate than I. But, witnessing your increasing demand for a bigger piece of me has disgusted me. How about you just thank me instead for the school lunches, tuition help, vaccine outreach, section 8 housing, and those big screens and computers sitting in your rented homes and apartments? Or, I know….even better, how about GIVING BACK something for what you get for free? How about you doing 30 minutes of school traffic control before going to work, or volunteering to clean parks and beaches on a weekend? I’ve got a million ideas for you because I am out there doing all this in addition to paying my “fair share”. Did I mention that I also work full time? So, go ahead, hit me with your million and one excuses for why you can’t or won’t do any of this. Thats what youre all best at – excuses!!

All in know is what i feel when im late getting out the door for a meeting, stop at a red light to allow a woman with 3 kids in tow and another in the oven, and it reminds me, “oops, I worked through my kids’ entire childhood! When and how did that happen?”, the inequities are undeniable. When my son’s college roommate is getting his tuition paid through government assistance, and i am shelling out 3500./mth, and the roommate brags about the checks he gets once a month that allowed him to purchase the big screen he is setting up for all of them, something is burning out in me. Or, Christmas time, again scrambling to get back on the job, i’m thinking about all the great deals i cant afford because we cant even afford gifts for family, and i drive buy a Best Buy only to see a line comprised of people i know are already recipients of my tax money wrapped around the building to buy the latest electronic gadgets on sale, im more disgusted every year. Dont even get me started on those occasional trips to the emergency room and what I’ve witnessed there!

OH, and FYI, I think the wife and I might be considered ‘rich’ but I certainly have no problem in paying more taxes if the rest of us (rich folks) do as well.

Did I mention that I also work full time? —I’m sorry, but, who doesn’t? Want a prize. So do I. Who doesn’t work constantly? everyone does. You’re not so special.

Yeah, and you’re right> Horrible idea to tax the guy exercising his option to buy a big screen or any other optional item. Much more fair to put even more tax burden on the person who actually gets up every morning and goes to work. While i think the tea party people and most republicans are a bunch of greed driven nuts, I’m beginning to think the only difference between the two parties (generally speaking, of course) is a pay check and a degree.

I think the math must be wrong. This family pays 3400 in income tax and 4000 in Social Security tax. That’s $7400 total. Under 9-9-9, they pay $4500 in income tax and you estimated 2000 in sales tax – that’s 6500- so they pay about $1000 less and get a lot more in their take-home pay.

The economists who are bashing this are smoking dope with Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.
9-9-9 works out for everyone. It gives those with a smaller salary a bump in net income.
base it on 100 dollars.

current tax system: take $100 – 17% income tax = 83. spend $50 + 8% sales tax = 54,
83 – 54 = 29

9-9-9 tax system take $100 – 9% income tax = 91 spend $50 + 17% sales tax = 58.5,
91 – 58.5 = 32.5

It works!

Folks, if you think for one minute that corporations would invest any savings in taxes on America or create jobs, or lower prices, here’s a reality check as an example. Gap clothing makes their “Gap” clothes in Haiti and abroad. They pay workers 3-5 bucks a day there, ship the clothes back to America where you will pay the same price or more now than what you always paid for them. Example, a pair of Jeans sells for 50 bucks prior to being made abroad. Being made abroad and shipped by to the USA, that pair of Jeans now sells for…60 bucks. So where’s the savings? Where are the jobs created in the USA? Where did they invest all that money saved in taxes? Here’s where…they invest that money ABROAD. There are NO USA jobs created. They took the tax savings and fatten their profits. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is about corporate greed. They will take the money and run. That is the reason why they shipped the jobs overseas in the first place. Anyone who thinks this 999 plans has merits needs their heads examined. It is a plan that makes the rich even richer and the middle class poorer. Why? Simple, much of the income the rich makes comes from…”capital gains”, which under this 999 plan is excluded from taxes. The rich will invest all their money in “capital gain”, and draw an income of 25,000 per year, paying even less taxes than they now pay as “capital gains” would not be taxable. See, when a rich man comes up with a plan, be very very suspicious of it. They know what side of the bread has butter on it. It ain’t on our side. The plan is a farce, he knows it and so do anyone with a brain.

Double our taxes? The liberal Left should be thrilled then.

This 999 plan ABOLISHES MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY. Wait until the other GOP contenders find out. They will be all over Cain. It says citizens can turn to their states or the church for income in their retirement years. What an idiot! LOL

I wonder what the Tea Party will say when they find out the details of this plan.

BRENT, October 13, 2011, 7:11 AM, Said:

“…it has NOTHING to do with anything but a liberal/social philosophy that is slowly turning us into Europe.”
===============================================
LMAO! ……. You’ve probably never even visited Europe.

A little bit of an education for you…. of 196 country trade balance accounts tracked in the CIA World Fact Book for 2010, 62 of those countries had annual TRADE SURPLUSES, i.e., they PRODUCED and EXPORTED more than they imported. Of those 62 Trade Surplus countries, 14 were European countries behind China…. meaning they “produced”, “sold”, and “exported”; i.e., they were more “capitalist” than we are:

# 1 China …………. $305,400,000,000
# 2 Germany ……. $188,400,000,000
# 5 Switzerland … $ 70,360,000,000
# 7 Netherlands … $ 60,090,000,000
# 8 Norway ……… $ 53,460,000,000
#14 Sweden …….. $ 28,740,000,000
#16 Denmark ……. $ 17,080,000,000
#25 Austria ……… $ 9,700,000,000
#27 Finland ………. $ 7,561,000,000
#33 Belgium ……… $ 6,000,000,000
#36 Luxembourg .. $ 4,200,000,000
#44 Hungary …….. $ 2,692,000,000
#49 Latvia ………… $ 871,000,000
#50 Estonia ………. $ 677,800,000
#51 Lithuania …….. $ 667,000,000

…. and where did the USA fall in terms of balance of trade among those 196 countries in 2010?

# 196 United States ….. - $470,200,000,000 TRADE DEFICIT

Cain said “the poors are themselves to blame’. If the poor and middle class vote for him & his 999 plan. Then he is absolutely correct that the poor will be poorer and they will have no one to blame but themself. I would love his 999 plan because after 9% income tax & 9% sales tax, I still come out at least 17% ahead.

No doubt people like me would love the 999 plan, but I will vote against it because 999 plan passes the burden to the kids. Kids are this country future. Do we need to kill our future for this heartless businessman. I said NO, how about you?

Searambler…Correct and Amen. Anyone who seriously thinks that a black Republican is ever going to be President is on drugs. Cain is either a fool or is just a tool to be used by Republicans and he goes along with it. You really have to be dense to not see this for what it is…a trick. When you abolish Capital Gains from taxes all you are doing is creating the best tax shelter and loophole known to man. The rich will simply have all their money “invested” in “capital gains” and draw a poor man’s salary of 10,000 dollars a year and pay no taxes. As it is, the rich already pay less taxes using capital gains as their venue for income. Proof? All you have to do is look a a billionaire Mayor of a major city who draws a salary of only 1 dollar a year for being Mayor. Where do you think he gets the money to enjoy his lavish lifestyle, mansions abroad, private jet, and tax shelters in the Cayman Islands? How about…”capital gains” whcih is taxed even lower than income from wages. No, it’s not from his 1 dollar annual salary he gets from his job I’m sure. I wouldn’t be surprise to find that even the salary he doesn’t take as Mayor finds it’s way on his tax filings as a…”contribution or deduction” which would lower whatever he pays in taxes even more. Beware of those with a plan that claims to be fair when they themselves are not.

So let me get this straight. As a middle-income American I will pay higher taxes and no longer have the security of Social Security. Corporations on the other hand, will enjoy a windfall of lower taxes. Which they will supposedly react to by lowering prices and/or raising worker salaries… not keep as profits?
I wasn’t born yesterday. This is class warfare against the middle and lower class, in favor of the wealthy and big corporations.
Any middle or lower income person who votes Republican with this bunch currently in power is masochistic.

RJH60, forget about the deficit, the 999 plan is all about stimulating the economy…by making purchases anything attached to an extra 9% federal sales tax on top of your state sales tax. Doesn’t make a lick of sense no matter which way you look at it, except to increase profits of the big corporations.

You need to check your facts. A family of four means 2 children… child tax credit is only $1,000 per child. It’s still a hit on taxes, but your figures are off by $2,000.

For the conservatives trying to rebut the notion that prices would decrease by 9% because taxes on corporations would decline, what are you on? It sounds like great stuff, but I bet it’s illegal to operate a vehicle under the influence of it.

Why on earth would any business lower their prices because their taxes decreased? Progressives push through a credit card “bill of rights” so to speak, so banks just use the debit side of their business to make up for the lost earnings.

Look at text messaging in the mobile industry. There was a time where this was new and had some cost attached to it, probably a few cents. Each messages was $0.10 to send. Fast-forward to 2011 and messages now cost $0.20 (double) to send AND to receive. How much does it cost the carrier to push the text out? Not even a penny. Not half a penny*.

It doesn’t matter if the cost to do business goes down, the price of goods continually goes up. If you believe otherwise, you are living in a dream world. It is the goal of corporate America to make as much money as possible while still not appearing to be a bunch of completely corrupt sacks. That’s it. that’s the name of the game. You think a tax decrease is going to do anything for prices? No. It’s going to hurt people, it is without any question double-taxation and in the case of those with sales tax in their municipality, triple-taxation. I would be paying 20% sales tax.

Rich people are taxed quite a bit. I grew up pretty poor, but my family slowly has climbed to upper-middle class status. Rich? No. Well-off? Not really. Double their sales tax and they’ll be lower-middle quite quickly. So why is it okay to tax the rich more than the middle-class? Because if their taxes increase, it won’t stop them from buying a home. It won’t stop them from contributing to the economy. it won’t stop them from continuing to be successful–they already are. They are successful based on support from the people that, if the upper class aren’t taxed, will now have to shun their products because they cannot afford them.

Jon Stewart had a bit a few weeks ago. If the rich are taxed, it’s “hey, we need a bit more money. Some here, some here, some here.” if the middle class and poor are taxed, it’s “hey, we need a little more of–everything you own.”

Let’s say you earn $5,000,000 and are taxed down to $4,000,000. Will you unduly suffer if that drops to $3,500,000? Because these kids over here can’t eat. these students over here need financial aid to be the next generation of entrepreneurs. Why is it less of a deal to tax an additional $500,000 from a millionaire? Because the rest of the populace could live on that amount of money for years and years and they will never see that amount of money in their lifetime. Your comfort is not worth our lives. Deal with it. .

* The math. SMS/text messages are located in the control channel of most cellular providers, this is the same channel that your phone listens to for incoming phone calls. A text maxes at 160 bytes of data per message. Most entry level voice plans are $40 for 450 minutes, or $0.89 per minute. One minute of voice output at 32kbps bitrate is about 237KB per minute, times 450 minutes is 106.9MB for $40. 106.9MB of text equivalent: 698,693 texts. On a per-byte level, you are paying several thousand times the cost for a text over phone call data.

KAREK40,

NO ONE here is saying take all of the money away from the rich, NO ONE. What we are saying is to RETURN the tax code to where is was pre-Bush Jr. That’s all. It certainly won’t fix EVERYTHING, but it is a step in the right direction. Again, since 1979, the rich have TRIPLED their share of wealth but the middle class has only gone up 4%. So why aren’t they paying more? They’re doing INCREDIBLE, even in this economy.

The only thing more naive than thinking the government can magically create jobs and economic security if they just had more tax revenue is the belief that corporations would “spread the wealth” around when they find their taxes reduced by bringing jobs back to the U.S. and lowering prices.

Really? Do you even know how business works? The primary goal of all businesses is to maximize profit margins and reduce all sources of cost (including taxes and labor). Prices would only be lowered if it was the only way to get revenue. In an environment with so many mergers (and thus fewer competitors) and emerging consumer markets overseas, it is just not rational to assume that the trend of offshoring labor would be reversed in any way. Even if it was, it would take the working and middle class consumer suffering so much that reduced purchases would force the move. The belief that the “free market” automatically benefits everyone is irrational and is not supported by empirical evidence.

Err, in an environment where unemployment is ~10%, what is the incentive for your employer to pay you more, regardless of tax situation? Econ101, supply and demand. The supply is there (skilled workers), the demand isn’t (jobs), so therefore employers do NOT have the pressure to pay you more.

Wouldn’t the $50,000 family save $403 in taxes? Current system has them paying $3850(FIT)+ $4000(SSN taxes) for a total of $7850vs $4500(Cain FIT)+ $2725(Cain sales tax) for a total of $7225. The family would wind up paying less in taxes not more.

“The Cain campaign says that his plan will not hurt people with lower incomes because under his plan employers would save $4,000 in social security taxes. That money could then be passed along to the employees creating a system in which everyone benefits.”

Yeah, that’ll happen!

First, why would anyone who is intellectually honest believe anything from ABC News, since it has been proven over and over that they are in the tank for Obama and that their job is to attack anyone who stands in the way of his reelection. This is the same network that has their star anchor (Diane Sawyer) talk about the “thousands of countries” although the UN only has listed 195 total.

Secondly, before proposing the 9-9-9 plan, Mr. Cain has this plan scored and analyzed by a company that runs this type of thing through econometric models in order to determine if the results would verify what Mr. Cain says it would do. It wasn’t “blessed” by a bunch of idealists like Christine Rhoemer, Larry Summers, and Paul Krugman who just blow smoke out of their you-know-whats when they hear a plan (versus actually try to do some statistical analysis before coming to a conclusion).

I would pay a little more if everyone would pay their fare share. This baloney of the rich having more tax loopholes than swiss cheese is for the birds. I’d like to see the current system scrapped and start something like this.

yes I agree there needs to be something place to help poor and elderly as well as we still need a better health care system for all. but its a good start of a plan. they way were sitting sure doesn’t work now does it? we owe money all over the world (china owns more of us than we do!!!) we are in debt up our asses and no jobs economy suks due to high cost low pay(if you can find a job) we are taxes on everything,housing is in the toilet, foreclosures still climbing…yea the current plans been doing great for us hasnt it? what you live under a rock or frikin rich

cain is the best!!

Cain is an idiot! His 999 plan in nothing more than another way for the largest part of the tax burden being passed on to the lower and middle class. Standard Republican practice. Make the poor poorer and the rich richer. If this man gets the nomination, I will be voting to put Obama back in office. Im dusgusted with the job he’s doing but Cain’s plan would destroy my family and kill any chance we have of getting ahead. Looks like Obama may have a better chance than the Republicans are prediciting. Even the Tea Partiers don’t like Cain. This election will be the lesser of two evils.

Someone please provide specific perimeters for “middle class” because sometimes i get the impression that everyone considers themselves to be middle class, and defines the “upper class” as ALL others making more than they are. Thats not how it works. Just because you make 30-40K a year doesnt mean that you have the corner on middle class over those with a combined household income of 200K. Both groups are considered “middle class”. Sorry, but both groups and all those falling in between must bear some additional pain and burden of a debt created and/or allowed by all of us.

Did anyone notice that they went right to all the deductions middle class families would lose? Nice little scare tactic there. I prefer not to think of it as certain people LOSING certain things, rather everyone being on a LEVEL FIELD for a change. No tax dodges for the rich. GE won’t be able to pay zero. And the 40% who pay nothing now will have to contribute something for a change. And frankly, if I knew EVERYONE had to pay THE SAME 9%, I’d happily sign my tax check at the end of the year!

The Cain campaign says that his plan will not hurt people with lower incomes because under his plan employers would save $4,000 in social security taxes. That money could then be passed along to the employees creating a system in which everyone benefits. This is nuts He’ Just another cooperate politican like the poor or middle class would see any of this money PASSES ALONG to them. Everyone needs to to wake up To everybody out there blaming Obama, Bush or any other singular government official as the cause for America’s prosperity getting flushed down the toilet. You’re missing the big picture. The situation is simple: The near entirety of the US government is corrupt and run by political Bribe-takers bought and paid for by people who have amassed the most wealth overall in this country (Top 1% of the U……………S Population). These politicians, now solely representing their funders and not the voters turn around and pass legislation that gives the Super Rich here every advantage possible, including free money (Quantitative Easing/Bailouts), lower taxes and zero accountability for their actions. In order to prevent revolts from the increased burden to the unrepresented in this country, the Super Rich have set up a bogus political party to siphon off and redirect the anger of the masses (The Republicans) and an ineffectual party (The Democrats) to cave to “republican pressure” while pretending to care about the masses. In addition, they have co-opted and bought out nearly all of the mainstream media in order to filter out any info that would lay the blame on the true culprit, instead leaving the majority of America divided and focusing their energies on decoy scapegoats and partisan nonsense. The super rich and those they pay for care not one bit about jobs or the welfare of the country they grew from. They merely care about having as many digits as possible for their bank statement balance. And if that means the middle/working class will eventually need to vanish, then so be it. The entire system is broken.

“could then be passed along to the employees”. Yeah OK…..because corporate greed isn’t already a problem. I’m sure employers will hand over that $4000. Even if they do…it will get taxed.

This plan would be GREAT for me. I am far from rich, however I am in the category no one really gives a damn about, that gets screwed big times when it comes to taxes. I am single with no dependents to claim. My tax liability would decrease substantially under this plan, and I am ALL for it.

1> A 9% NATIONAL sales tax ON TOP of your STATE sales tax = European VAT. For a consumer driven economy, this will further put it in the tank.

2> It will DECIMATE the poor and the elderly living on fixed incomes, no question about that. They already spend all that they make.

3> Corporations are already making RECORD profits but they aren’t hiring! So why would giving them MORE money get them to hire? Answer, it won’t!

It’s time to get back to America! The purpose of this plan is to lower taxes on the private sector which creates the jobs. That way the inefficient public sector is reduced. We need to think Steve Jobs, Apple, Boeing, Caterpillar. Do we really want the “Aramcos” in Arabia and the “sheiks”: to sap the money out of the average tax payer in America? Our companies go overseas because that way they avoid the high taxes in America and are rewarded for employing the Chinese and others instead of Americans. Don’t we want to reward our companies for staying home and developing the new found oil resources and employing Americans on our soil. What’s so great about a bunch of govt. jobs?

Herman Cain says that the rate would rise only if the Senate passes a hike by a 2/3 majority vote. Also, there ARE considerations for the poor built into the idea. Please research the idea of “empowerment zones.” Also, notice that corporations are getting out of paying taxes via loopholes that will no longer exist. Herman Cain has a wonderful idea. Do we really think our tax code can be “fixed?” I say, scrap it and start over!

think of it like this Self employed living in Illinois or any other state with sales and income tax, money to Fed 9% corporate tax I am my only employee 9% I have to buy goods to live 9% state income tax 10% and state sales tax 8% that equals 45% of my income to taxes how is this good for any one who is barely getting by as it is. You people need to remember just because you work for yourself doesnt mean you have gobs of money coming in family of four with less 40,00 to live on before taxes are taken out. How naive to think that you save a wealthy person millions and some cases billions of dollars that they are going to return the favor to the middle class bull SH$T. greed got us here do you really think its going to stop they will keep the money and force you to pay more

I cant afford this! Currently unemployed in MI, I cant afford basic needs now much less add 9% more! And who is to say the corp. will pass savings on to consumers? They will more likely give it to CEO’s and buy planes for their executives. I am sure it wont be passed on to the consumer. I think Cain doesnt know what he is doing!

When you get your national fiscal policy ideas from a video game (Sim City in this case, I suspect), you’re liable to end up with a lead zeppelin, which is what he’s got. All I can say is “Um, good luck with that.” He’s just another elitist for whom I ZERO affinity.

My prediction (vs. preference) is Obama/Clinton. And he just might be last president that we see for a while.

Herb Cain says “… that his plan will not hurt people with lower incomes because under his plan employers would save $4,000 in social security taxes. That money could then be passed along to the employees creating a system in which everyone benefits.”

But wait!!!!

Employers will not longer be able to deduct what it pays it’s employees as a business expense.
That means employers will have an incentive to keep wages as low as possible because they won’t be deductible like equipment or office expenses.

The chances that they’ll throw a lot of money at employees rather than buy tax deductible equipment and supplies….ZERO

.At the same time, the bottom 50 percent of income earners—those earning less than $33,000—earned 13 percent of all income and paid less than 3 percent of federal income taxes.
To President Obama, it is “fair” to raise taxes on families and businesses earning more than $250,000 a year by raising their income tax rates and limiting their deductions. That must also mean he believes that they currently pay too little in taxes.

Yet the data show the highest-earning families and businesses already pay the lion’s share of the federal income tax burden. According to the IRS, the top 1 percent of income earners—those earning more than $380,000 in 2008—paid more than 38 percent of all federal income taxes while earning 20 percent of all income. The top 10 percent ($114,000 and above) earned 45 percent of income and paid 70 percent of all taxes.

Period. End of story… we need the 9-9-9 plan.

Hard to really know the facts about some things.

Texas is at 8.25 % add 9 now for new items it is 17.25. but not food, and how do you determine if an item is USED ? If it is a demo, in a store is it USED ?

Will Turbo Tax go out of business if 999 is started.

What would the Tax Rate of Warren Buffet, he’s been wanting to pay more taxes.

What if the Income Tax had an automatic straight line deduction so if you made 75,000 we all had a 50,000 single line item, now this person pays 9% on 25,000, and a person making 50K or less pays nothing. What if we made the 9 be a 15 for those that make over 225,000 a year and 25% for those that make over 2 million ?

But the bottom line to all of this is to get the economy growing, I am not clear how a 999 gets it going again, as business have tons of cash, but everyone says they are holding on to it looks like it just gives the rich man more breaks and the poor man less.

If companies do not need to pay SS takes, then does that mean that SS will be going away under this 999 plan?

But I do like the idea of not needing to spend 75 dollars every year for tax software and hours to do the income taxes.

Great points by MesaArizonaModerateRepublican! The current plan also continues us down the path of more consumption versus more savings philosophy. What about saving for college instead of consuming items. Under Mr. Herman Cain’s plan, consumption would be less because of the tax, while production would go up because of less tax on work and at work. This would mean more incentive to work and less incentive to consume and a bias toward saving earned income for future goals and dreams rather than mindless spending because the govt. will give tax cuts when they can or if they can. The current plan is passive instead of proactive in terms of getting the productive employment up in America due to it’s high tax rates on work, production, and corporations employing people in the United States.

‘m surprised anyone contributing to a 401k, IRA, or other tax-deferred retirement/savings account buys into Cain’s 9,9,9 plan.

Except for charitable contributions, Cain’s plan skims 9% off gross income before you make such contributions. If your company is one of the few left that makes a matching contribution, 9% would be skimmed off that as well. This renders further contributions to tax-deferred accounts meaningless.

A Roth (or similar after-tax plan) would then become the only game in town.

For those of us with lower incomes 9,9,9 will reduce the amount contributed to savings/retirement plans.

I’m talking about the unnecessary govt. jobs that can be better done in the private sector. Do you want old Soviet style economics and central planning and even more government jobs than we really need? Is the education system the best in the world here? No. People want the control of money in their own hands and not in the hands of government. You should know there are a lot of problems with the current unemployment rate and the anxiety about the high cost of Obamacare. With the 9-9-9 plan, loopholes would go away and there would be more incentives to employ at home. You just want to keep the status quo whether it is fair to all or not. We are all happy with the services we get, but you are unhappy with paying your fair share based on a better plan. It’s easy to see through your smokescreen!

Shame on ABC news to incorrectly report the 9-9-9 plan. Under this plan Indivduals pay 9 percent, corporation pay 9 percent and everybody pays a national sales tax of 9 percent. A middle class family in the 15 % tax bracket will get a tax break. They will also save 6.5 % percent in social security taxes. Get you facts straight if you want to do objective reporting.

When it comes to government employees, there’s plenty of news about laid off social workers in Florida, furloughed forest rangers in Minnesota, and underpaid teachers everywhere else. Yet even during these hard times, there are thousands of government employees who still earn great, big salaries – many of them hundreds of thousands more than the $400,000 Obama pulls down each year. In 2009, 347 Texas state employees earned more than the president; 53 of them made more than $600,000. In New York, 35 employees were paid over $400k last year. Since 2005, the number of Federal employees earning $150,000 plus has jumped tenfold: going from 12,399 to 171,689. Much of the increase has been in medicine. Doctors at veterans hospitals and prisons averaged $179,500 in 2010, up from $111,000 in 2005.

Don’t you people realize that doing away with the social security taxes that are taken out of your paychecks means that you won’t have any social security to live on when you retire. Paying the Social Security taxes while you work is how you get your Social Security when you retire. The government needs to quit borrowing against Social Security and pay it back.

ABC (another Obama Lap Dog) conveniently failed to mention that those under the poverty level will still pay no taxes.

$20,000 would pay $1,800 in taxes
$40,000 woudl pay $3,600
$60,0000 would pay $5,400
$80,000 would pay $7,200.
$100,000 would pay $9,000.
$500,000 would pay would pay $45,000.

Now to me, it looks like the rich would be paying more than the middle class would. Sure the article says that a family of four that makes $50,000 would pay $650 more than on our current system, but eliminating the loop holes, people like Warren Buffet would stop paying less then their secretaries.

The National Sales tax would be on anything new – not used.

I think it would be a good thing for America to try.

I dont understand how anyone thinks that extra money given to the top EVER “trickles down” to employees or consumers. If a business is getting a x dollar amount for a product now, and you reduce the cost to make the product for the business, the cost of the product in the store is NOT going to go down. The consumer still pays. The profit for the business will go up and the money stays at the top. These politicians have been running on this “trickle down” theory for decades, and what has happened?? The gap keeps getting wider. If anyone wants this economy to get going, they better start at the bottom. What % of any company’s customers are in the top income bracket? 5% or less? So where does the business come from? The middle class. You could eliminate taxes for businesses all together, and it wouldn’t mean more jobs or raises for employees. MORE BUSINESS is the only thing that makes more jobs or employee raises. So until you put more money in the pockets of the people that actually buy products or services from business, i.e. (the middle class), the economy is going nowhere. WAKE UP POLITICIANS!