Cain: the poor can eat "used goods"

So it was pointed out to Herman Cain that his "9-9-9" plan would be a massive tax increase on the poor.

His response: to avoid paying taxes, the poor can eat used food.

More here: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/10/12/341817/cain-food-used/

Wouldn't the elimination of payroll taxes, a lowered income tax, and lower cost of goods from a lower corporate tax more than make up for the sales tax compared to the current system?

With the two lowest income tax brackets being 10 and 15 percent, 9 percent and the elimination of FICA alone should make up for it.

did he just tell the poor to eat shit?

The main problem with a national sales tax, as I've observed before, is that it would instantly create a huge new criminal enterprise as people tried to avoid paying it. Think Prohibition birthed a crime wave? Wait till a national sales tax hits the public.

Uh, no.

Lots of countries have national sales taxes without such problems. Lots of states do also. Having a very high sales tax or prohibition on a select few goods can be a problem in this regard, but an ordinary sales tax simply can't.

People in the US already cross state lines to shop simply to find a lower sales tax. There's already crime along these lines, as in the smuggling of untaxed cigarettes for example. And since a sales tax disproportionately hits people on the low end of the income spectrum, of course they'll do what they can to avoid paying higher costs for shit. It's only the reality-impaired with their "tax everything!" mentality that can't see the obvious consequences of a national sales tax.

It will also invite government perniciousness.

I might be willing to accept a national sales tax if the same law abolished the income tax, but no way in hell am I going to accept both. My experience--in California, the model state for big government largesse--is that the sales tax will soon be far higher than initially projected. You'll get screwed on taxes before you get your pay, and you'll get screwed on taxes when you try to spend it.

You'll also open the door to government using different sales tax rates on items for social engineering purposes. The Senator from Nebraska will get a lower rate on foods containing corn products, the Senator from Massachusetts will get a higher tax on foods containing too much fat. That sorta thing.

I support a complete overhaul of the tax system, but will never support the co-existence of a federal income tax and sales tax.

Don't bring common sense into this discussion. These are politicians, they love simple catch phrases like, "Yes, we Can."

See, the concept isn't so bad. There's already a lot of programs that do this anyways. I just think it would sound a lot better and less ridiculous had they not called it "used food"

What in the world does that have to do with worse than Prohibition? That's not even vaguely comparable to Prohibition, and also would be irrelevant to a national sales tax. If you think a 9% national sales tax will lead to something worse than widespread smuggling that reinvigorates organized crime and causes extensive violence in the street, you're crazy.

There are good reasons to oppose a national sales tax. Paranoid delusions about black markets aren't among them.

I already know you're too dim to see the link. You don't have to broadcast it.

I'm with Paladin here: I think a national sales tax would be okay if you ABOLISHED the income tax. Both = bad things.

Point of order - I'm under no illusion that a lower corporate tax rate would lead to lower prices. it might lead to more employment but it won't significantly effect the price of goods at that level, IMO


On the other hand, not having the government prop up prices on things like milk and such would help.

I'm going to assume what Cain was trying to say was that spending cash on used good in other areas (like cars) would leave more case for the food, but it's so poorly made that he ends up giving his competition a lot of free ammo.

The biggest red flag for me was when, in the debate, he was asked what made him think once we had a sales tax that it would stay at 9% instead of ending up at 20/20/20 and he said "I'll be president and I'd veto it"

Sorry Herman, history doesn't stop in 2020

There's another thing.


In MS we already pay 7 cents on the dollar in sales tax and many localities add another 2-3 cents to some purchases for a tourism tax or some such.

Add in another 9 cents and we're paying 16 cents or more on every dollar spent (and no, food medicine etc are not exempted)

See this?! This, right here! Teh baba was about to post something herp-derp, saw something he wanted to respond to as <name of his alt> and forget he was still logged in as teh baba.

A national sales tax sounds like hell to me. I pay 8.75% in California right now. I can't imagine paying double that so the Feds can get a taste.

What the fuck is this? This guy's a republican, right? Isn't he about lowering taxes and cutting spending? Instead I'm sending more money to DC for what? So his big plan is to double the taxes on the everyday things - the taxes we interact with most commonly. What a shithead.

What the fuck just happened?

Even the punctuation is correct!

Well, there is a comma splice.

"Used goods"? What the fuck does that mean?

Did he mean "used" in the sense of "pre-owned" or in the sense of "to be consumed?"

In Jacob Riis' How the Other Half Lives is a photograph of a truck labeled "Used Meat" stopped on a city street in the early 20th century, with people swarming around the truck, buying the meat offered for sale.

For instance, I had a roast beef sandwich for lunch today.

In a day or so, it will exit my body as "used goods." I can either dispose of it, or according to Herman Cain, sell it to poor people in the new food-commodities market his presidency will create.

^ Well, you are finally beginning to understand. You are full of crap and people don't want to buy what you're selling.

Maybe he meant "day old" or something similar, and just got the phrase all derped. Or maybe he really is as retarded as "used food" sounds.

Yet...

What I think he's talking about is taxing something twice. Say you've got a little hick bar in some little hick town. So you drive down to the medium sized town that has a Wal*Mart and buy some frozen pizzas to sell at your bar. You can present a certificate that says you're going to resell them and avoid paying a sales tax, IIRC, but you can also pay the tax and then pay tax on them again when you sell them to your patrons.

No, I think Turk is right, it's shit.