Here’s a calculator if someone wants to figure out there tax liability under 9-9-9:

http://www.nerds4cain.com/Blog/archives/723

I don’t fare too well. I hope others do okay.

Taxes appear in US Constitution Article 1:
Section 8;
………
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States
………
Section 9;
……..
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
…….

The Sixteenth Amendment allowed the income tax to not be proportionate etc. among the States.

The “no tax or duty on articles exported from any State” language will be problematic, but I think a national sales tax is feasible.

Keep in mind that the payroll tax is elliminated under 999. That is essentially a 15% tax on most wages.

To dismiss 999 because of “problems” that will have to be “ironed out” ignores that fact that our current federal tax system is a compliance and corruption nightmare. I certainly admit that you can shoot holes in 999. But there’s already CHASMS in the current system.

I’m taking a close look at 999, and not expecting to see magic or virgin beauty.

Read the plan again:

9% Individual Flat Tax.

Gross income less charitable deductions.

Also, given the lower mortgage interest rates, most lower and middle income taxpayers get zero deduction for mortgage interest, since the standard deduction has remained high while the mortgage rates have declined sharply.

47% of american pay NO federal income taxes. This is a BIG problem for America!!! Why is it a big problem ? Because that is nearly a voting majority!! Bottom line if the taxes NEVER are increased on the poor and middle class 9-9-9 going to 20-20-20 shouldn’t be the big fear of the GOP. The big fear of the GOP should be the 47% turning into 60% . As Progressive view shifting the tax burden up the income scale and the GOP fears flattening the taxes that is whats going to happen. Just maybe everyone seeing that 9% sales tax or CAIN tax would help generate outrage over $16 dollar muffins and million dollar shrimp treadmills.

The GOP #1 priority should be flattening the tax rates with 999 or some other reform. This election is the GOP opportunity to PROVE to America that a flat tax or a Fair Tax or 999 is better for upper and lower income tax payers than the current Progressive tax because it means economic growth for all.

To channel Chris Christie

“Look no one should pay zero taxes Period End of story. If that means poor people are going to have to pay more that 0 so be it. Everyone in the country has clean water and safe food and NOBODY is going to free load. Look here in America we have programs like food stamps and well fare if people need help surviving they are going to get it. But the days of using Tax Code to try and provide that help are over! It hasn’t worked and the 70k page code (AKA catalog of political favors) is proof of that. The only people our current tax code helps is tax lawyers and special interest.”

Finally the good shouldn’t be the enemy of the perfect 999 is not the end all be all solution. We need Cut Cap and Balance, We need EPA and LRB reform., National right to work legislation, and to drill baby drill. Yet, if we are not going to get an 18% flat tax or repeal the 16th amendment in the next 24 months 999 is the best we have.

Herman Cain has done what not GOPer in history has be able to do. He has rallied mass public support behind a flax-fair tax hybrid and gives the GOP a real chance to pass such a bill with a Red White House and Congress.

Even if he is not the nominee if the GOP is willing to stick with the current tax code over 999 well then it would make sense why candidates keep going to MSNBC debates.

1) One of the really important features of 999 is that it is a (pizza) slogan. Not only is it marketing genius, it makes 999 something that every American can understand and get behind. Romney’s million-and-a-half point plan doesn’t provide that same kind of connectedness. Also, since people know their tax code as 999, then if someone tries to make in 10-10-10, then people can easily recognize the disparity, and say “hoooold on a second!”

2) Sales Taxes are not unconstitutional. Read Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect…Excises…” Excise taxes are a broad class of taxes that include any tax levied on inland transfers (as opposed to, say, tariffs, which are levied on boarder transfers). Currently, the US levies excise taxes in both specific amounts (cents/gallon of gas) or ad valorem (x% of the value of the transaction). 999 is proposing an ad valorem excise tax on all point-of-sale transactions of new goods.

3) Your “unpopular sales tax” attack is a misnomer. Assuming, as you say, the sales tax is so unpopular, then the worst case is that it gets repealed, and 999 becomes 99. And if Republicans go down as the “evil sales tax party,” what’s going to happen to the Democrats when they try to raise the corporate and/or income taxes, or even try to (re)introduce a new tax to compensate for the lost income? They’ll become the party of the “evil income tax increase” or the “evil reinstated payroll tax.” I’d much rather be the “evil sales tax party that introduced a flat tax and simplified the tax code” than the “evil restore the old tax code party that raised rates for everyone.” And I think that people are smart enough to see the massive savings that they get on the income/payroll side, and Cain will get as much love for that as he would hate for the sales tax.

4) The “999 is problematic” argument doesn’t really hold any water. First off, the charitable deduction isn’t gone. Secondly, we are replacing two huge taxes, the income and payroll tax, with one 9% income tax. Even if we get rid of every single deduction and credit, that would cause a tax decrease for a large majority of Americans. Also, the removal of the child tax credit and the home mortgage interest deduction are some of the best features of the 999 plan. Removing the child tax credit removes the horrible tax incentive to have children. And removing the home mortgage interest deduction does away with a tax-induced subsidy of the middle and upper class that fails to actually encourage new home buying. The interest deduction is actually redistribution of wealth at its finest.

5) Your attacks on Cain’s defense of the program is as dubious as your understanding of the Constitution. There is no where in the Constitution that specifies the requirement of a majority. In fact, the Constitution explicitly authorizes each House to choose its own rules: “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings.” Many of the practices that the Houses observe reflects tradition and English Common Proceedings. This is how the filibuster started. If Congress wished to bound itself to a 2/3 majority to raise taxes, then it would be free to. It could then, just as readily, unbound itself to a simple majority. This is what’s going on with the “nuclear” option. But the reason why Congress won’t dare use the “nuclear” option is because of the risk from the other party, and the possible backlash from the American People. If you required 2/3 majority to raise taxes, but a simple majority went around that, I don’t think Americans would be flooding to the streets in happiness. Yes, there is no way to guarantee the 2/3 majority without a Constitutional Amendment. But this is a red herring: any tax plan could be increased by a simple majority. 999 is not especially vulnerable to this in any way.

6) You criticize Cain’s plan for being simple. Do you mean that only a complex tax code is sufficient to generate revenue for the Federal Government? The idea that we need a “complex plan” to fix the economy implies that government has some role in fixing the economy. Unlike Romney, who has proposed an in-depth, proactive plan to use the government to bring America back to prosperity, Cain is proposing a passive plan to do so: simplify the tax code, give businesses and consumers the stability and confidence in the government they need, and let the people and the markets bring themselves back to prosperity.