9-9-9 Plan Explained

Okay so if you've been following politics lately then I'm sure you've heard of Herman Cain's "9-9-9 Tax Plan". Essentially it is a fair tax plan in which the business flat tax is 9%, individual flat tax is 9% and sales flat tax is 9%. Everyone gets taxed at the same rate and we all win. Sounds pretty simple and straight forward right? Wrong.

Actually under this plan the brunt of the taxes will still be paid by lower income households. While the full details of this plan have not been revealed, going off of face value lower income homes that are usually exempt from taxes (46% last year) will now pay 9% while people that make over $1 million annually will see their tax contribution lower from an average of 18% to 9%. Essentially the rich will pay less while the poor will pay more. now you tell me how this is fair? Not to mention the sales tax will increase to 9%, on top of the current state and local sales tax, means that consumer goods will cost more. you know those nice credits that we get like earned income tax credits or child tax credits? yeah, those are as good as gone with this plan. Everything is a strict 9% across the board.

now this is not to say that this plan cannot work somehow. The full details of the plan have not been revealed so it may be more sophisticated then it seems on the surface. As of now this plan is shown as a way for the rich to remain rich while the poor pick up the slack. For more info on Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan you may visit the following sites:

Politicofact.com
NYtimes.com
Hermancain.com

Address By The President To A Joint Session of Congress - Official Transcript

Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, and fellow Americans:

Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country. We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that’s made things worse.

This past week, reporters have been asking, “What will this speech mean for the President? What will it mean for Congress? How will it affect their polls, and the next election?”

But the millions of Americans who are watching right now, they don’t care about politics. They have real-life concerns. Many have spent months looking for work. Others are doing their best just to scrape by -- giving up nights out with the family to save on gas or make the mortgage; postponing retirement to send a kid to college.

GOP Presidential Debate Review

Okay so this really isn't an official recap but this can give you a little insight into the people that are running for the Republican nomination and for president against President Obama next year.

All of the nominees were in attendance at the Ronald Reagan library. Everyone except Sarah Palin, though she has not officially thrown her hat into the ring. I seriously doubt that she will since Rep. Michelle Bachmann is running. There were some definite winners and losers on the night. Some people surprised me in a good way but for the majority it was the same rhetoric and talking points coming from everyone.

The most surprising and most compelling nominee is Utah governor Jon Huntsman. He made some great points and refused to get caught up in all the bashing and slick talk that the others willing and at times voluntarily participated in. Even when directly baited by co moderator Politico's John Harris to directly name someone on the panel that he had earlier problems with (Governor Rick Perry). When he refused to give in to the high school bully tactics, John Harris tried to flip Gov perry into talking about Gov Huntsman but he saw right through it.

Is $300 Billion Enough?

CNN is reporting that President Obama, in an effort to shore up the economy and stimulate some type of job growth, is preparing to unveil a new $300 billion dollar job plan. He is planning to do this during his speech to congress that is scheduled for Thursday. The $300 Billion is mainly in tax cuts and infrastructure spending as well as some state government support.

In order to offset some of the $300 Billion, President Obama would want Congress to raise short term tax revenues for this year in hopes of cutting some of the deficit before his job plan takes affect next year. That is if it passes through Congress and does not get stalled by the opposition.

Of course there a large number of Republican opponents to this proposed program such as Rep. Paul Broun from Georgia. He feels that "it doesn't even sound good". Instead of $300 billion in infrastructure spending and some tax cuts he would rather see $640 billion go towards a 12 month tax holiday (break) for employers.

Stop Coddling The Super-Rich ?

If you haven't already you should definitely read N.Y. Times article by Warren Buffett, "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich." It's truly a great opinion piece by Warren Buffet. He shared his views about our deficit and the tax burden.  It's truly mind boggling that a billionaire has only a 17.4% taxes to pay on his taxable income, in comparison to every-day folks hitting 30% and up. It's crazy and it's no way Congress should see this as not a problem. I'm not going to even talk politics to you today. To me it's all about common sense.  You putting all the burden on the people who are your working class and can't afford, but wonder why our deficit is growing. People are losing faith and something needs to be done. Here are a few highlights from the article: