Herman Cain

[American Patriot]

I've been watching a lot of videos this morning, he's gonna kick some ass.

[American Patriot]

There are a LOT of videos out there by the left making it appear that Cain "hates blacks" and so forth. I just don't understand those people.

[Ryan Ruck]

Cain Charges Some In Black Community Of Racism

October 13, 2011

GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain said Tuesday that many liberal Democrats in the black community are "racist" for questioning his political ambitions as a black conservative Republican.

"A lot of these liberal, leftist folk in this country, that are black, they're more racist than the white people that they're claiming to be racist," Cain said Tuesday in a radio interview on the conservative Neal Boortz talk show.

Boortz interrupted Cain, saying he prefers the word "bigoted" to "racist."

"Ok, bigoted," Cain said. "How dare Herman Cain, first, run as a Republican? How dare Herman Cain be conservative? And how dare he move up in the polls, so that he just might challenge our beloved Obama? That's the problem they have."

Cain's comments came just hours before a New Hampshire debate, where Cain, who's surged to top tier status in the presidential race, is expected to take the heat from other candidates now that he's assumed front-runner status.

In the interview Tuesday, he also said that in a hypothetical matchup between he and President Barack Obama, there would "almost be no contest" and argued that he could talk about issues more in depth than Obama.

"He's never been part of the black experience in America," Cain said. "I can talk about that. I can talk about what it really meant to be 'po' before I was poor."

The Republican candidate came under fire recently for saying African Americans are generally on a level playing field with other Americans and sometimes use racism as an excuse for being poor.

"They weren't held back because of racism," Cain told CNN's "State of the Union" anchor Candy Crowley. "People sometimes hold themselves back because they want to use racism as an excuse for them not being able to achieve what they want to achieve."

His comments kicked off a wave of responses from high-profile African American leaders, who argue Cain is out of touch with reality.

"There are disparities in this country in every [socioeconomic] factor that we follow. In every aspect of our human endeavors in this country there is a racial disparity element that's a part of it. It's almost silly to respond to [Cain] because the evidence is so overwhelming," PBS host Tavis Smiley said in the interview with CNN anchor Suzanne Malveaux on Monday.

[Ryan Ruck]

Cain Wins Big In South Carolina Tea Party Straw Poll

October 16, 2011

Surging Republican presidential contender Herman Cain has picked up another morale booster in the race for the GOP nomination.

The conservative businessman decisively won a tea party straw poll held in Columbia, South Carolina, Saturday afternoon.

Cain captured an eye-popping 55% of the vote. His closest challenger, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, picked up 14.5%. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann garnered 8% to come in third.

The two candidates with the most money in their campaign bank accounts, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, nearly finished at the back of the pack with 3% and 2% respectively. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman was last with 1%.

“Very interesting results. Cain is on fire here in S.C. I know it's just a snapshot. But I find these numbers interesting among our crowd,” FreedomWorks organizer Brendan Steinhauser told CNN.

Two hundred conservative activists in 25 separate tea party groups participated in the non-binding voting contest.

[American Patriot]

Now... my question is this... he is "surging in the polls", but who REALLY picks the candidate?

[Ryan Ruck]

Meet The Press 10/16/2011 - Meet the Candidate: Herman Cain

[Ryan Ruck]

I can honestly say I've never watched any extended video of David Gregory so I had no idea he was such an insufferable douche.

That is one guy I'd like to kick in the vagina.

[American Patriot]

Well... I think I have made a decision.

I will likely send him some money, and vote for him and if I can work for his campaign here in Colorado.

I've had it with fake Conservatives, RINOs and Libtards. I like this man, Herman Cain.

He is smart, well spoken, knows what he is talking about and doesn't fall back against the bullshit of the left.

He stands up for what he believes in and says it like it is.

Now... if that is somehow "racist" against Obama, so be it.

[American Patriot]

Who is David Gregory? Was that the guy doing the interview? I only listened in the background, didnt watch the video part.

I had a really great friend in HS called Dave Gregory who died from kidney failure I didn't know that he'd passed away until I was at a reunion back in Michigan a few years back and his brother told me.

So, can't be my friend.

[Ryan Ruck]

Yep, David Gregory is the talking douche bag in the video opposite Herman.

[American Patriot]

Yeah, he was a dick.

Or something.

I listened to a lot of Herman Cain today. The man has my support, 100% at this point. Screw the rest of them.

[Ryan Ruck]

Cain to meet 'America's Toughest Sheriff'

October 17, 2011

GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain planned to meet Monday with Arizona's Maricopa Country Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Arpaio who bills himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff," is known for his aggressive, and often controversial, position on immigration.

According to Arpaio, Cain is the fourth candidate to seek his endorsement. Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) visited him in Arizona last month.

Arpaio also tweeted last month that Texas Gov. Rick Perry had called him at home. Immigration issues have been a challenge for Perry’s campaign and he has been forced to defend his decision to extend in-state tuition breaks to undocumented students in his state.

“It will be nice to have another candidate visit for a good discussion,” Arpaio tweeted Monday.

Cain started a controversy over the weekend with what he later said was a joking suggestion to build an electrified fence on the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

“Oh, I’m sure he was joking,” Arpaio said of the idea. “But it probably means that he’s taking it serious to do something at the border and stop the illegal immigrations.”

Arpaio said he is interested in endorsing a candidate who will secure the border first, and then look at illegal immigration. “We got to get with it and either change the laws or enforce the laws we already have,” he said. “I’m not against a fence, but if you buy a ladder and hop over, I’d like to see people go to jail, not give them a free ride back to Mexico.”

Cain, currently a frontrunner in national polls, is scheduled to speak at a fundraiser in Phoenix on Monday night. The fundraiser was relocated to the Phoenix Convention Center because more than three times the expected number of tickets were sold, according to Arizona’s KTAR radio.

Cain will join most of the other GOP presidential hopefuls in Las Vegas for the CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate on Tuesday night.

[Ryan Ruck]

Herman Cain, Bette Grande, Rick Berg And Jack Dalrymple Win North Dakota Tea Party Straw Poll

October 15, 2011

The North Dakota Tea Party Caucus took a straw poll of their membership at a statewide “Tea Party and a Plate” event and got some results that may raise eyebrows in political circles.

The event, emceed by Bismarck commodities broker Eugene Graner, featured a traditional tea party with speakers as well as a steak dinner and a dance. Attendees were also given a chance to vote in a straw poll for the presidential candidates and certain statewide offices. Candidates, or their representatives, in attendance were allowed to address the crowd for up to five minutes.

Herman Cain, whose campaign’s state chairman Duane Sand was also in the poll running for Senate, won the straw poll in a landslide with 55.5% of the vote. Congressman Ron Paul took second with 9%, and Rick Perry got third with 8%.

In the Senate race Sand, who was also a founding member of the tea party group, lost to Rep. Rick Berg 43.9% to 52.6%.

For the house, state Rep. Bette Grande got 51.1% of the vote while Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk got 33%.

The governor race results may have been the most surprising. Governor Jack Dalrymple attended the event but didn’t speak. Initially the rules agreed to by NDTPC members only allowed for announced candidates to address the crowd, but a hasty vote at the event to change the rules and lure Dalrymple to the state didn’t work. Despite that Dalrymple got 57.6% of the vote, beating Fargo architect and former US Senate candidate Paul Sorum who got 39.4%.

Dalrymple isn’t viewed as being a tea party favorite, and many observers were surprised to see him beat out Sorum. “I never thought I’d see the tea party vote for a Republican like Dalrymple,” said one event organizer who didn’t wish to be named.

Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer, who has said he’s considering a run for US House, was at the event and some literature for a Cramer House campaign was present, but Cramer didn’t speak and wasn’t listed on the ballot.

Organizers said there were 175 ballots cast in the poll. No Democrat candidates were listed on the ballot.

[Ryan Ruck]

Cain Squeaks Ahead of Obama in New General Election Poll

October 17, 2011

Businessman Herman Cain is leading President Obama in a new head-to-head poll, with seniors and independents taking a particular liking to Cain's unconventional candidacy.

The survey from Rasmussen Reports showed Cain squeaking ahead of Obama in a hypothetical general election contest, pulling in 43 percent compared with Obama's 41 percent.

The lead is within the margin of error. But Cain is the only Republican to have any lead over Obama in head-to-head polls conducted by Rasmussen over the past several weeks.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was trailing Obama 41 percent to 43 percent in a survey earlier this month, but that's as close as a candidate has come.

The survey follows Cain's recent burst in the polls, as the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza touts his 9-9-9 tax plan -- which calls for a 9 percent across-the-board income tax, corporate tax and national sales tax.

As Cain has risen in the polls, his tax plan -- as well as his lack of political experience -- have come under scrutiny. Cain, in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" over the weekend, said he was "not familiar with the neoconservative movement." Though an aide later told The Daily Caller he had in fact heard of it and just didn't "want to be labeled," the remark generated a slew of headlines questioning how a Republican candidate could be unfamiliar with the defense-heavy school of thought often associated with the genesis of the Iraq war.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, expressed doubts about Cain's ability to stay at the top.

"The odds are he's the flavor of the month, or maybe it's two months," Sabato told Fox News. "There have been five front-runners ... so there's nothing unusual about what's happening."

Within the GOP primary field, most polls have Cain trading the lead with Romney. He was dead even with Romney in a Rasmussen poll last week.

His dynamic debate performances have helped him build a following. While he never served in elective office, Cain stresses his outsider approach as an asset. And his former colleagues from his time as chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank were quoted in a Politico story Monday praising his performance in that role as "impressive."

In the latest head-to-head poll against Obama, Cain was leading by 16 points among seniors and by 19 points among independents.

But he was trailing slightly among women and was not attracting as much support from registered Republicans as Obama attracted from registered Democrats.

The poll of 1,000 likely voters was held Oct. 14-15. It had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

[Ryan Ruck]

IBOPE Zogby Poll: Cain Continues to Pull Away, Perry & Bachmann Fading

October 17, 2011

Obama Approval 43% & 39% Say He Deserves ^2nd Term

UTICA, NY--Herman Cain is now the runaway leader among Republican presidential primary voters with 45%, more than twice that of second-place Mitt Romney (21%). Rick Perry, who led with 41% in late August, has fallen to 7%, and Michele Bachmann, who led in June and July, now gets just 1%.

President Barack Obama's approval rating among all voters is 43%, and the percentage saying he deserves re-election is 39%.
These results are from an IBOPE Zogby interactive poll conducted from Oct. 11-14.

Cain appears to have won support of voters who previously supported Perry or Bachmann. Romney's 21% is the highest we have shown for him in match-ups with the current field of announced candidates.

Republican Candidates (asked only of the party's primary voters)

If the Republican primary for president were held today, for whom would you vote?

Candidate	Oct 14	Oct 5	Sept 26	Sept 12	Aug 29	July 25	July 11	June 30
Herman Cain	45%	38%	28%	12%	8%	18%	16%	15%
Mitt Romney	21%	18%	17%	14%	12%	17%	15%	14%
Ron Paul	8%	12%	11%	11%	11%	11%	13%	11%
Rick Perry	7%	12%	18%	37%	41%	-	-	-
Newt Gingrich	6%	4%	6%	2%	3%	1%	4%	2%
Jon Huntsman, Jr.	3%	4%	5%	3%	3%	3%	4%	4%
Rick Santorum	3%	1%	2%	3%	3%	5%	3%	7%
Michele Bachmann	1%	3%	4%	7%	9%	25%	28%	34%
Gary Johnson	<1%	<1%	1%	1%	<1%	<1%	1%	<1%
Other	<1%	<1%	2%	2%	8%	3%	4%	1%
Not sure	5%	7%	6%	8%	2%	9%	10%	8%

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Overall, do you approve or disapprove of Barack Obamas job as president?

Obama Job Performance	Oct 14	Oct 5	Sept 26	Sept 12	Sept 5	Aug 29	Aug 4	July 25	July 18	July 12	July 5	June 21
Disapprove	57%	59%	57%	58%	61%	60%	58%	54%	57%	58%	58%	56%
Approve	43%	41%	42%	42%	39%	40%	41%	45%	43%	42%	42%	43%
Not sure	1%	<1%	1%	1%	<1%	1%	1%	1%	1%	1%	1%	1%

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Do you think President Obama deserves to be re-elected or do you think it is time for someone new?

Response	Oct 14	Oct 5	Sept 26	Sept 12	Sept 5	Aug 29	Aug 4	July 25	July 18	July 11
Time for someone new	53%	54%	53%	53%	57%	55%	54%	51%	53%	54%
Obama deserves to be re-elected	39%	38%	37%	39%	33%	35%	36%	40%	38%	36%
Not sure	8%	8%	10%	8%	10%	9%	9%	9%	9%	10%

Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Other results show little change from Oct. 5 on opinion toward the nations direction and approval of congress.

• 70% say the nation is on the wrong track and 19% say the U.S. is headed in the right direction.
• Overall approval of congress is 15%, while approval for Congressional Republicans is 29% and for Congressional Democrats 27%.

IBOPE Zogby International conducted an online survey of 2,318 voters. A sampling of IBOPE Zogby International's online panel, which is representative of the adult population of the U.S., was invited to participate. Slight weights were added to region, party, age, race, religion, gender and education to more accurately reflect the population. The margin of error is +/- 2.1 percentage points. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups. The MOE calculation is for sampling error only.

IBOPE Zogby International also conducted an online survey of 1,214 likely Republican primary voters. The margin of error is +/- 2.9 percentage points.

For more information, contact the Communications Dept--202-429-0022

[Ryan Ruck]

Herman Cain Says Foreign Policy Views Influenced By Bolton And Kissinger

October 16, 2011

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that the writings of former United Nations ambassador John Bolton and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger have shaped his views on foreign policy.

“I have looked at the writings of people like ambassador John Bolton,” Cain said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “I’ve looked at the writings of people like Henry Kissinger.”

But he wouldn’t go so far as to describe himself as a neo-conservative when pressed by moderator David Gregory: “I’m not sure what you mean by neo-conservative. I am a conservative, yes. Neoconservative? Labels sometime put you in a box.”

In an interview with The Daily Caller outside NBC’s studios, Cain said he has spoken with Bolton before, but wouldn’t go so far as to call him an informal adviser.

“He influences me on foreign policy based upon his ideas and based upon his decisions, et cetera,” Cain said. “But I don’t want to implicate Ambassador Bolton by saying he is advising me informally. We met, we have a good relationship. I can call and ask him questions.”

A spokesman for Bolton, Christine Samuelian, told TheDC that, “Mr. Bolton has not endorsed any candidate for the Republican nomination, and he is happy to discuss national security issues with any of those running.”

After considering entering the presidential race himself, Bolton recently announced his decision not to run.

[American Patriot]

FINALLY, Fox News is actually covering him now!

[American Patriot]

I didn't and couldn't see the debate.

If anyone can throw up some youtubes with Cain.... I'd be appreciative.

[Ryan Ruck]

Cain Maintains Positive Intensity as Recognition Grows

October 18, 2011

Republicans' intensely positive views of Herman Cain remained high over the past week, even as the percentage of Republicans familiar with him rose from 61% to 69%.



Cain's 34 Positive Intensity Score in Gallup Daily tracking conducted Oct. 3-16 is identical to results from Gallup's prior two-week rolling average, conducted Sept. 26-Oct. 9. His score is also more than twice as high as the next-most-favorably reviewed Republican, Mitt Romney, who is at 15. Newt Gingrich earns 13, followed by Rick Santorum with 10.



Of the eight Republican presidential hopefuls Gallup now tracks, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, and Jon Huntsman have the lowest Positive Intensity Scores, all in the low single digits. The reversal for Perry is particularly striking: a month ago, he tied Cain for the lead on this dimension with 24.



Bottom Line

Since mid-September, Cain has seen substantial increases in three key areas of his image and support among Republicans nationwide. Recognition of him has risen from 50% to 69%; his Positive Intensity Score has gone from 24 (among the highest in the GOP field) to 34 (the highest); and his share of the Republican vote for the nomination has risen from 5% to 18%.

Cain now leads all other Republicans by a significant margin in positive intensity, is nearly tied with Romney for the lead in the vote, and has room to grow in recognition. The obvious risk is that any major stumbles in the upcoming debates could send Cain's vital signs in the other direction, mirroring the declines in support seen to date for Perry and, previously, for Bachmann and Gingrich. Gingrich has recently recovered slightly in positive intensity from the very low readings he had during the summer, but he has yet to return to double digits in Republican vote preferences. Through it all, Romney's positive intensity and support for the nomination have been remarkably stable, albeit modest.

[Ryan Ruck]

Cain's Stimulating '9-9-9' Tax Reform

A new sales tax could be raised in the future—but so can any other tax. And the low marginal rates would jump-start the economy.

October 19, 2011
By Arthur B. Laffer

It used to be that the sole purpose of the tax code was to raise the necessary funds to run government. But in today's world the tax mandate has many more facets. These include income redistribution, encouraging favored industries, and discouraging unfavorable behavior.

To make matters worse there are millions and millions of taxpayers who are highly motivated to reduce their tax liabilities. And, as those taxpayers finagle and connive to find ways around the tax code, government responds by propagating new rules, new interpretations of the code, and new taxes in a never-ending chase. In the process, we create ever-more arcane tax codes that do a poor job of achieving any of their mandates.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's now famous "9-9-9" plan is his explicit proposal to right the wrongs of our federal tax code. He proposes a 9% flat-rate personal income tax with no deductions except for donations to charity; a 9% flat-rate tax on net business profits; and a new 9% national tax on retail sales.

Mr. Cain's 9-9-9 plan was designed to be what economists call "static revenue neutral," which means that if people didn't change what they do under his plan, total tax revenues would be the same as they are under our current tax code. I believe his plan would indeed be static revenue neutral, and with the boost it would give to economic growth it would bring in even more revenue than expected.

In the recent past, federal tax revenues from the personal and business income taxes, all payroll taxes, and the capital gains, gift and estate taxes have averaged $2.3 trillion, while gross domestic product has averaged about $14.5 trillion. The total revenue from these taxes as a share of gross domestic product averages around 16%. Sometimes it's a good deal higher, as in the boom of the late 1990s, and sometimes its lower, as in today's "Great Recession." But a number in the 16%-19% range is as good as you'll get under our current tax code.

By contrast, the three tax bases for Mr. Cain's 9-9-9 plan add up to about $33 trillion. But the plan exempts from any tax people below the poverty line. Using poverty tables, this exemption reduces each tax base by roughly $2.5 trillion. Thus, Mr. Cain's 9-9-9 tax base for his business tax is $9.5 trillion, for his income tax $7.7 trillion, and for his sales tax $8.3 trillion. And there you have it! Three federal taxes at 9% that would raise roughly $2.3 trillion and replace the current income tax, corporate tax, payroll tax (employer and employee), capital gains tax and estate tax.

The whole purpose of a flat tax, à la 9-9-9, is to lower marginal tax rates and simplify the tax code. With lower marginal tax rates (and boy will marginal tax rates be lower with the 9-9-9 plan), both the demand for and the supply of labor and capital will increase. Output will soar, as will jobs. Tax revenues will also increase enormously—not because tax rates have increased, but because marginal tax rates have decreased.

By making the tax codes a lot simpler, we'd allow individuals and businesses to spend a lot less on maintaining tax records; filing taxes; hiring lawyers, accountants and tax-deferral experts; and lobbying Congress. As I wrote on this page earlier this year ("The 30-Cent Tax Premium," April 18), for every dollar of business and personal income taxes paid, some 30 cents in out-of-pocket expenses also were paid to comply with the tax code. Under 9-9-9, these expenses would plummet without a penny being lost to the U.S. Treasury. It's a win-win.

A static revenue-neutral tax change requires static winners and losers. And this 9-9-9 plan has made certain that even on static terms those below the poverty line will be better off—period. Once the dynamics take hold, many of those below the poverty line will find good jobs and thus will rise above the poverty line and start paying taxes.

This is the type of tax increase I wholeheartedly support. I support collecting more in taxes from people with high incomes who choose to actually pay taxes at lower tax rates than use lawyers and accountants to avoid taxes at higher tax rates. Some tax revenues at low tax rates is a heckuva lot better than no tax revenues at high tax rates.

While the 9-9-9 plan has captured people's imaginations at this moment, it's not all that different from California Gov. Jerry Brown's 13% flat tax when he ran for president in 1992. As you may recall, he came in second behind Bill Clinton in the Democratic Party primary.

In 1986, President Reagan passed a major tax-reform bill that lowered to 28% from 50% the top marginal personal income tax rate. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 also raised the lowest marginal income tax rate to 15% from 11% and closed many loopholes, making for a flatter tax structure. Reagan's bill passed the Senate in a landslide 97-to-3 vote. Who says a flat tax can't be a bipartisan proposal?

Still, a number of my fellow economists don't like the retail sales component of the 9-9-9 plan. They argue that, once in place, the retail rate could be raised to the moon. They are correct, but what they miss is that any tax could be instituted in the future at a higher rate. If I could figure a way to stop future Congresses from ever raising taxes I'd do it every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Until then, let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good.