Cain for President: It’s all about Me, Me, Me!

Herman Cain reminds me of former Senator Rolland Burris of Illinois in this revealing way:

While both men can claim an enviable record of achievement over a long life, both men seek/sought to stoke their egos by inflating their public resumes.

In Burris’s case, that took the form of the scandal surrounding his appointment to the US Senate; in Cain’s case, he would be satisfied to end up being an also-ran for the US presidency who put up a good fight.

It’s all about Me, Me, Me!

That’s what I believe to be Cain’s personal motivational mantra. My suspicions were aroused when considering his so-called 9-9-9 plan. Briefly, this plan calls for:

·       a 9 percent flat tax on household income (the only allowable deduction being for charity),

·       a 9 percent corporate tax on (from his website) “Gross income less all investments, all purchases from other businesses and all dividends paid to shareholders”, and

·       a National Sales Tax of 9%.

Right off the bat, several things bothered me about this Plan. To start with, on his website, he calls it “Herman Cain’s 999 Plan” [emphasis mine], and in his 9/15/11 opinion piece in the WSJ, Cain wrote:

QUOTE:

“Cain’s Vision for Economic Growth,” also known as the 9-9-9 Plan…” [emphasis mine].

UNQUOTE.

The candidate speaks of “Cain’s Vision,” and of “Herman Cain’s 999 Plan.” On the internet, I encountered this revealing item:

QUOTE:

In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Cain declared that “some of the best economists in this country” helped him develop the plan…

But Mr. Cain repeatedly refused to name those bright minds when pressed by the show’s host, Chris Wallace.

:UNQUOTE [source:  http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/09/18/shhhh-its-herman-cains-secret-kitchen-cabinet/ ]

Mr. Cain seems overly eager to claim excessive credit (translation: to give the appearance of being in command, of being a leader) by only referring to anonymous others who had (merely?) “helped him develop the plan.”

Such an attitude speaks volumes of a monumental ego. Cain fancies himself as a motivational speaker. But it must be remembered: After all is said and done, motivational speakers focus a lot of energy telling themselves how great they are – that is, in motivating themselves. NOTE: Beware of the inferiority complexes that gnaw at even the most (apparently!) self-confident men.

As for the 9-9-9 Plan itself

It’s too much of a coincidence (too simplistic?) that all three categories of taxation are at the same level – 9%. Why not 9 -10 - 6? Or 8.5 - 9.37 - 6.235? Or does Cain take only a whole-numbers approach? Or a consistency (all 9’s) approach? And why treat all corporations as if they’re the same – as if all categories of businesses would be equally impacted by that 9% tax? Some types of corporations could and should shoulder more tax burden; others, less. But it would seem Cain paints in broad brush strokes – or deals in the brevity worthy of a sound bite that conjures up a storm of applause from his equally simplistic audiences.

Not to mention, Cain is silent on whether he’ll continue the grand tradition of seeking to borrow to pay our bills. He speaks only of cutting spending, but that would require Congressional cooperation.  In addition, Cain isn’t saying anything about cutting military costs. And that could become important should Cain ever have to ask for a “Supplementary Appropriation” to fight in yet another of our unending series of wars.

A “leader” who wants to have it both ways

From Cain’s website [Cain’s post, dated Oct. 3, 2011]: “With 14 million Americans out of work, an unemployment rate of over 9 percent…we’re facing the worst economic times since the Great Depression.” And yet these unemployed only have themselves to blame, as witnessed by this outburst:

"Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself. It is not someone's fault if they succeeded, it is someone's fault if they failed," the ex-Godfather's Pizza CEO [Cain] declared.

On the one hand, Cain wants to blame Obama for “the worst economic times since the Great Depression.” But on the other hand, he’s telling us to “blame yourself” if you don’t have a job. That must sound pretty insensitive to the millions of long-term unemployed who know very well that Wall Street played a major role in their impoverishment.

Aside: I am now going to lecture Mr. Cain about his “Don’t blame Wall Street” remark (above): “Whether someone succeeds or fails in life depends on a multitude of factors. Not everybody who tries hard succeeds, and there are those who exert very little effort who succeed due to family connections or fortuitous circumstances. And in spite of your effort to exclusively blame the little guy for his personal misfortune, there are macro forces at work which exert their influences – for better or worse. Saying stuff like this doesn’t make you sound (only) inarticulate; it makes you sound stupid. So cut it out and stop embarrassing yourself.”

Cain’s greatest failing

Herman Cain’s greatest failing is that same greatest failing shared by all currently active presidential campaigners: He’s trying to convince us that his leadership will save the day. I, Steven Searle, am the only candidate for US President saying, “I can’t do this by myself – I need the help of a Congress filled with independent patriots who aren’t affiliated with any political party. Help me do my job by throwing out all incumbents – that’s where we have to start. All good things will flow from that.”

But…Cain isn’t saying anything like that because, “it’s all about Me, Me, Me.”

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“If you listen more than casually to what Cain is saying, you’ll agree – he is a bit of a simpleton. Case in point: Just read his website (for very light reading indeed): http://www.hermancain.com/”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com