Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan “Co-Architect” Draws Cheers From Cuyahoga Valley Republicans
But when pressed by the standing-room-only audience, Rich W. Lowrie, Jr. did not offer much more details on the now famous tax plan.
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Rich W. Lowrie, Jr., the man Herman Cain calls his “co-architect” on the 9-9-9 tax code plan, got a warm welcome from the Cuyahoga Valley Republicans in Brecksville Thursday.
But when they raised concerns or asked questions about the plan, Lowrie didn't really elaborate.
The crowd of Cuyahoga Valley Republicans at the Brecksville Community Center appeared to be more excited about the idea of a fair tax that would abolish the IRS than the brief YouTube appearance of Cain, a presidential hopeful.
Cain's 9-9-9 plan is about making the tax code simpler and more transparent, ridding the economy of embedded taxes that raise costs, Lowrie said.
After all, when people see how much they’re actually paying the government in taxes, “more people are going to want less government,” Lowrie said.
Anticipating a question before the official Q and A session, Lowrie said that the concern that the plan would raise prices for consumers isn't valid.
While the sales tax would go up for consumers, he expects that overall prices on products would go down. That’s because manufacturers wouldn’t have to raise their prices to make up for taxes the government places on them.
“It’s going to come out of your wallet one way or another,” he said.
In the official Q&A session, he fielded questions, but instead of sharing more details, he hammered his message home again and again.
Q: How would the Cain team make sure the tax levels wouldn’t be raised?
A: When people see how much they’re paying, they’ll want to keep costs low.
Q: How would they convince people to agree to add a federal sales tax onto their current sales tax?
A: “It’s not going to be an add-on tax,” Lowrie said.
Q: Won't companies keep their savings, rather than investing them?
A: “The problem is more than taxes,” he said. "You have an overall government wedge that is not just taxes. It’s regulations. … As soon as you reduce the size of that government wedge, as soon as you cut taxes, you are going to increase incentives.”
One notable exception was a question that led to Lowrie’s explanation of the “opportunity zone” exemptions for families under the poverty line and for some businesses and geographic areas to encourage growth.
Here’s how Lowrie said the 9’s in the plan break down:
- Business: A business’s gross sales would be taxed. That figure is the sales minus purchases from other businesses, capital investments and net exports. By making exports a deductible, the plan would reduce the price of exports and make U.S. companies more competitive.
- Personal: The plan would make this a “simple calculation,” Lowrie said—gross income minus charitable contributions. Anyone below the poverty line, which would be based on income and family size, wouldn’t have to pay the personal tax.
- Consumption: This would be a federal sales tax, which would be similar to the fair tax. The Cuyahoga Valley Republicans gave a presentation on the fair tax before Lowrie spoke. The fair tax model would repeal most federal taxes, replacing them with a sales tax, and abolish the IRS.
Lowrie said the Cain campaign would like to see the country move toward a fair tax, but that the U.S. isn’t quite ready for that change.
Cheryl
9:42 am on Friday, October 28, 2011
I notice Herman Cain panders to the more wealthy suburbs. This is why Ohio can't get ahead. There are enough stupid people here who believe Republican LIES. Time and time again.
Ed Kent
10:11 am on Friday, October 28, 2011
Although I may not be a Cain supporter when I see misinformation I see a need for correction. Your statement that he 'panders to wealthy suburbs' isn't based on facts. Just this month he was in Detroit, one of the hardest hit cities in the nation. And, whatever party has been in power in the past and caused more spending than what we can take in is at fault along with voters who vote along party lines. You can't grow government in order to grow an economy. It takes private enterprise and Ohio has been behind other more competitve states and certain party voters tend to think it's okay to raise taxes to fund more government. It just doesn't work to bring jobs to Ohio.
TODD ROSENBERG
9:57 am on Friday, October 28, 2011
Was Dan O'Donnell in attendance?
The original Bill
10:53 am on Friday, October 28, 2011
What he failed to mention is that the 9-9-9 plan as proposed would tax earned income from wages at 9%. It would exempt capital gains from tax. So all those multi-Billionaires and hedge fund managers whose only income is from capital gains would see their tax liability go to zero! That plus he is proposing an end to Medicare and Social Security as we know it.
Ed Kent
12:54 pm on Friday, October 28, 2011
Bill wrote: "That plus he is proposing an end to Medicare and Social Security as we know it."
Kinda like our present system which is doing the same thing and jeopardizing Medicare and SS for the future. Yes, we do need to come up with a better way to sustain finances to help us when we age. Some ideas may not work, but at least we need to talk about ideas, tweek them, and not act like everything is okay the way things are.
The original Bill
12:17 pm on Sunday, October 30, 2011
Social Security could be easily fixed. Do away with the cap on earnings. Currently when a person reaches $105,000 in earnings SS tax stops coming out of their paycheck. So somebody making $50k per year is paying a much higher percentage into it than somebody making $250k. Do away with that and make it fair so everybody pays the same percentage. Another thing they could do is raise the retirement for people who have relatively easy jobs sitting in an air-conditioned office all day as opposed to someone who works on a factory floor, or on scaffolding building skyscrapers or some other kind of physical work which is much harder on the body
Michael Pacifico
2:44 pm on Friday, October 28, 2011
At best it is a learning experience in the quackery of a flat tax system. Flat tax systems have always been the desire of the rich, simply because it lowers their tax liability and transfers it to those beneath them on the class scale. And it is hilarious to think that businesses would lower prices becuase their taxes would go down. Never happened and never will. It's simply a scam and republicans and conservatives are falling for it head over heals. Thank God saner heads will prevail.
John Meola
9:01 am on Sunday, October 30, 2011
On it's face, this plan is a dumb gimmick and a joke (kind of like Herman Cain's candidacy). Basic back-of-the-napkin calculations will show that a) working people will get a massive tax increase, b) wealthy people will get a massive tax cut. and c) government debt will go up even more because revenues will decline and at this point there is really nothing more to cut on the expense side of the ledger.
Now what I'd REALLY like to know about this guy -- and nobody at this meeting seemed to ask him this -- is how he's done for his clients at Wells Fargo. How have their portfolios done since 2009? Did he have them in cash by January 2008? Is he getting them into hedge funds that make money no matter what the market is doing? My suspicion, though, is that he's really just a cold-calling, high-priced "financial advisor" pushing a basket of mediocre stocks and mutual funds on anyone who'll talk to him.
Chris Butts
4:59 pm on Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Agree with many commenters here. The good thing is that now that all of this has come out about his alleged Sexual Harassment and subsequent hush money, we are probably seeing the end of this Republican flavor of the month.
Mike
2:45 pm on Tuesday, November 8, 2011
If you are expecting someone else to pay for it for you, you don't deserve it. Promises were made that can't be kept, and sticking future generations with the bill is immoral. Fix the problems - don't try to make someone else overpay for it and leave it broken. The rich should pay their fair share - and many do; but half the country should't be paying nothing either - where is talk of their "fair share"?. If you don't have skin in the game, we get where we are. The days of voting poiticians in who will promise you to tax the other guy are over. We are broke, and the longer this game is played, the worse it's going to get. If there is no incentive to success, we will all wither on the vine - except for th "political class and ultra-wealthy". Socialism fails everytime it is tried - and usually ends in tyranny. Our system may not be perfect, and we always address those issues, but more people have more than ever, and to throw that out will get you much less than you expect to gain. Saddling future generations with our mistakes is not an option. Don't let jealousy of what others have blind you to the opportunity and freedom this country provides for everyone.