Yes, it is highly regressive, and, worse, the 9% Federal sales tax is a transactions tax that discourages those transactions it taxes.
And, taking him at his word, it balances the budget, which leaves the economy even more short of aggregate demand than the current tax structure, meaning unemployment would be that much higher unless it somehow drives up private sector debt expansion by $trillions per year.
Cain: I’m the Only One Who Wants to Kill Tax Code
By Jeff Cox
October 12 (CNBC) — Now that Herman Cain’s stock has been rising in the Republican presidential scrabble, he’s drawing a clear line between himself and the other candidates when it comes to taxes.
Where his fellow GOP challengers are content to tinker with the current convoluted tax code, Cain says he is the only one who wants to junk the current system altogether and come up with a simpler way that everyone can understand.
It’s all part of his 9-9-9 proposal, which he discussed on CNBC.
“Their plans or ideas all pivot off the existing tax code,” the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza said in an interview Wednesday. “My plan is the only one that throws out the tax code and is a fresh presentation of how we raise revenue on an expanded base.”
Cain has unexpectedly become one of the Republican leaders in the crowded field. Entering the race as a virtual unknown, Cain shocked the race by winning last month’s Florida straw poll. Recent surveys from Gallup and others have him in a virtual dead-heat with Mitt Romney, the frontrunning former Massachusetts governor.
At its core, the Cain plan slaps a 9 percent flat tax — no loopholes, no exceptions — on businesses, individuals and sales.
While the exact figures have yet to be released, the candidate said he has had his plan scored by an analytical firm and he will show that it generates more revenue while stimulating growth for the ailing U.S. economy.
“No, it is not regressive,” he said. “First of all, by putting it on sales tax — that third ‘9’ — we are going to pick up revenue that we are not getting today. That helps to lower the rate for everybody including the people that are making the least amount of money.”