Herman Cain leads by 20 points!

If Hunstman falls out, a lot of his supporters will go to Romney, representing, as he does, the non-bat-crap-crazy faction with no particular grudge against Mormons. Santorum is probably most popular among single-issue Evangelicals who would view Romney as a cult whacko. Pick up for Cain if Santorum is out. Perry and Bachmann have mostly the lunatic religious right on their side. Pick up for Cain. Nebulous "Christians" who still support Gingrich would probably switch over to Romney.

Hard telling what RP people will do. Those who support him now as Libertarians will probably walk away and vote for an identified Libertarian. The twooftards and dopers will probably just walk away and get stoned, so he still doesn't matter much, at the end of the day.
 
Neally said:
Have you read every post by bikerdruid in the last 2 years? I didn't think so. He has clearly stated that he admires Cuba's communist government and is a self-described socialist/communist.
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True scotsman, not all people who are socialists support cuba's policies.
 
I like the idea of a national sales tax, though I think 9% is way too high.
 
BobTheDonkey said:
What would be the point of that other than to institute a regressive tax?
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For starters it collects sales tax revenue from online retailers who often don't charge any sales tax because the sale is out of state. It's also the logical way to collect money for infrastructure improvements, since retail sales rely on infrastructure. It's also simple to calculate and collect, no accountant needed. US retail sales are upwards of $4 trillion/year, so even a 2% sales tax would bring in $80 billion/year.

It's no more regressive than a gasoline tax, or property taxes, or "cash for clunkers" driving up the price of used cars so wealthier people can pay less for new cars.
 
Dancing David said:
True scotsman, not all people who are socialists support cuba's policies.
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And I never said they did. bikerdruid however has voiced support specifically of the communist control of Cuba.

KoihimeNakamura said:
American politics has no left by any world standard.
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And I care about "world standard" why? It's all a matter of perspective.
 
At this website, dated 10/13, an average of the many, widely varying, polls gives this result:

Romney 22.7
Cain 20.3
Perry 13.7
Gingrich 8.3
Paul 8.2
Bachman 4.8
Santorum 2.0
Huntsman 1.6

This amounts to 81.6%. Hence, I would put the undecided at 18.4%

Were these trends to continue into the convention, the two frontrunners would be Romney and Cain, neither of whom would have enough votes to come near clinching the nomination. This would give Perry, Gingrich and Paul incredible leverage over anyone who might court their delegates. Were Perry to throw his votes to Cain, and Gingrich were to support Romney, the frontrunner standings would be:

Cain 34%
Romney 31%

If Paul, Bachman and Santorum give their cumulative 15% to Cain, and Huntsman backs Romney, the standings would be:

Cain 49%
Romney 32.6%

So, is it all over for Romney? Not neccesarily. If the undecided 18.4% vote for Romney the standings would be:

Romney 51%
Cain 49 %

Though Romney would officially win, the Republican party would be effectively fractured. If Romney and Cain split the undecided vote at 9.2 each, we would have the following standings:

Cain 58.1 rounded to 58%
Romney 41.8 rounded to 42%

Cain here is the definite winner, but Romney's supporters would still be able to split the Republican Party.

Of course, all this is speculation, and the trends won't remain the same, meaning that everything is fluid and meaningless at this time.
 
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General comment.

Sure, the 999 plan can be criticized. Easy to do that. Bunch of ways, some have some merit.

But that overlooks the essential point: The existing tax code is a nightmarish mess, repeatedly bandaided to the point where it truly is best to toss it out.

Start with that. Consider Cain's plan as one way forward AFTER tossing out the IRS system as we know it.

That' a big step, and it would be a really positive one.
 
mhaze said:
General comment.

Sure, the 999 plan can be criticized. Easy to do that. Bunch of ways, some have some merit.

But that overlooks the essential point: The existing tax code is a nightmarish mess, repeatedly bandaided to the point where it truly is best to toss it out.

Start with that. Consider Cain's plan as one way forward AFTER tossing out the IRS system as we know it.

That' a big step, and it would be a really positive one.
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The code is complex because there is much variety in the way people live in the US. It's been tweaked for many many years. That's not to say that parts of it aren't outdated or blatently unfair, but to cry "It's too complicated" is a criticism hardly worth noting. What you are suggesting is starting again from square one, with all the square one mistakes and square one crudeness. That is a recipe for disaster.

Give us some details, Cain, like how you're going to handle things like deductions. 'Cause if you're not going to allow deductions of any kind, your plan is dead in the water.
 
BobTheDonkey said:
What would be the point of that other than to institute a regressive tax?
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It can be a very good source of revenue for a national government. Many developed nations have some form of national consumption tax—there's the VAT in Europe, for example, or the GST in Canada. In that second example, to soften the blow of the tax for lower income folks, one can apply for a GST tax credit when filing one's income taxes. If one qualifies one gets quarterly cheques from the government (in my experience the values of which have ranged from about $60-$90, or $240-$360 per year).
 
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