Herman Cain: Out of Touch with Reality and Race

The Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction has until Thanksgiving to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion. If they don't, a series of emergency cuts will be triggered that will slash from entitlements (Democrats cry) and the Pentagon (Republicans cry).

At this point, I am not sure if a deal will be struck. Debt reduction aside, the current political situation, as it is related to condition on Main Street, is abysmal. Herman Cain is a prime example of this disconnect:

I don't enjoy using the "race card," but in this case it is completely appropriate. When he was on the Hannity Show earlier this month, Cain said that he does not "have a lot of patience for people who want to blame racism on the fact that some people don't make it America." Next he will tell us how far in the sand you have to stick your head before you get the Republican nomination. Let me make something abundantly clear to Mr. Cain: Racism exists. The legacy of racism is still prevalent today. It is embodied in the fact that a large population of African-American people are unemployed and live in low income communities. If given the same opportunities to succeed, as you have so purported with your statement Mr. Cain, then why is statistic still starkly visible?

Cain's attempt to "simplify" the tax code through his infamous "9-9-9" plan will only burden the middle class and low-income communities with more taxes, while giving a nice tax break for those who make exorbitantly large amounts of money. Tax reform is a respectable, yet gargantuan undertaking. You cannot simply extend what amounts to a "flat tax" and (with a wave of the wand) make all the tax problems disappear. First, only about half of all Americans pay taxes. Some of those people are either on some sort of government assistance, or do not make enough money. With this plan, low income communities and the elderly will see their taxes go up. Second, simplifying the tax code is a nice slogan (like 9-9-9), but it is also very unpopular if you decide to eliminate deductions that reduce the tax rate of middle income earners. It would also raise sales tax in 47 states.

Then, there is the deficit. By some estimates, this plan would cut federal tax receipts in half. Cain's plan is an extreme example on how cutting taxes and spending can lead to both higher deficits and higher unemployment (as I have said here, here and here).

Herman Cain is just one, albeit extreme, example of how Republicans vying for the nomination in 2012 and those seated in the Halls of Congress are increasingly out of touch with reality. They are calling for measures to boost employment, while pressuring the Deficit Committee to reduce the deficit in a completely unbalanced (deep cuts) and economically unsound way.

We are continuously bombarded with messages about the 99% and the tax rate of wealthy Americans. What we should be hearing from candidates and Washington is about the 16% - those who are unemployed or have given up on looking for employment. Tax rates and political grandstanding mean nothing to those in the 16%.