Bad Math Hurts Herman Cain’s Good Tax Intentions: Ramesh Ponnuru

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- If you think taxes are complicatednow, wait until Herman Cain simplifies them. The former chiefexecutive officer of Godfather’s Pizza Inc., now running for theRepublican presidential nomination and selling a book, has beenrising in the polls partly because of the appeal of his “9-9-9”plan to reform taxes. At the Bloomberg/Washington Post debate atDartmouth College last week, he argued that a great virtue ofthe plan is that it is “simple” and “transparent.”

In truth, the complexity of Cain’s proposal would impressRube Goldberg. It has three stages. In the first, Congress wouldreduce the top tax rate for individuals and corporations to 25percent, allow companies to pay favorable rates on any overseasprofits they bring home, and end the capital-gains tax.