Cain’s detractors

Who are Cain’s detractors?  Presently they include all of the other eight Republican contenders  and their fans, plus most of the mainstream media.  Each detractor is motivated by their own special interests to provide reasons to discredit Herman Cain and his proposals.  Some comments are silly and contrived.  Others are superficial without sufficient analysis and understanding.  And what have these detractors come up with to disparage Cain and his agenda?

Here are a few along with my comments about their irrelevance:

“I thought 9-9-9 was the price of a Godfather pizza” – Cute but meaningless.
“999 is too simple” – If you want complex, stick with what we have.  This comment is laughable.

“9-9-9 opens up a new source of taxation by Congress.”  - This sounded like a credible concern until I gave it a little thought.  Our present system’s years of convoluting, adding, laundering, pork barreling, exemptions, special favors, and complexity upon complexity have created unimaginable overhead costs, a huge industry desiring to perpetuate this monstrosity, and continuing undecipherable new tax laws from Congress.   And we are concerned about Congress screwing around with this new, simple, transparent tax system?  A system that if Congress attempts to change one number, that event will be clearly on the radar of every American?   Compare that to the hidden shenanigans that Congress thrives on today.  Plus, changing the tax rates for any of the three components of 9-9-9 will require a 2/3 majority of each house of Congress to change.  And, as I understand it, even the legislation creating the 9-9-9 plan could not be amended without a 2/3 majority by each house of Congress.  So the 2/3 majority rule could not be eliminated without a 2/3 majority.  This is as good as a Constitutional Amendment.

“Cain has no foreign policy experience” - First, none of the debates thus far spent more than a fraction of the time on foreign policy issues, and the few questions asked have been superficial at best.  So none of the candidates have really had an opportunity to address what they know and don’t know.   Question:  How much “foreign policy experience” do any of the candidates have?  Obama?  Arrggghhh!   Obama proves that even with his now going on three years of foreign policy experience one can do great damage to our foreign policy. 

What is more important in a candidate -  Experience or values and principles?  Evidence indicates that these are most important:  Having a firm grasp of guiding principles  for the role of this country in the world; having an appreciation for our foundational culture compared to that of other nations and cultures; and a clear understanding of who our friends and enemies are and using our limited resources accordingly.  And finally, assembling a knowledgeable team who shares these common values – if there are any such creatures existent in the State Department or academia.

“Cain is too hard on Islam” -  Yes, early in his campaign Cain expressed some firm language concerning the Islamic threat to this nation and what he would do about it.  In fact, he is one of the few candidates who clearly understands the Islamic threat.  Compare Cain’s understanding of the Islamic threat with that of other candidates HERE.

Cain was part of and supports the Federal Reserve:  Conservatives who want to abolish the Federal Reserve claim that Cain is a big fan of it because he was President of the Kansas City Board of the Federal Reserve for a few years.  True, Cain served on the Board of the Federal Reserve from 1992 to 1996.  Since then, Cain admits, the Federal Reserve has made some inappropriate decisions.  Cain wants the Fed to stop worrying about unemployment and foucs on keeping inlation low.  In his words, "the Fed's fous needs to be narrowed."   Cain has never been an "insider" of the Federal Reserve and is not a apologist for it.

“After Obama, I will never vote for another Afro-American” -  It is true.  Obama’s failed presidency tainted the idea of a “black” president.  However, this is a thoughtless position.   First, Obama is not black, or Afro-American.  He is a good part Caucasian.  Some speculate with good reason that he may by primarily Indonesian.

Such speculation aside, a potential president should be selected on his merits, not on his race.  If you were dumb enough to vote for Obama in the first place because of race, you are an idiot.

But, detractors and their issues will change over time.

If Cain wins the Republican nomination (in fact, whoever wins the Republican nomination) another crop of detractors will evolve:  The entire Democratic, Obama, Pelosi, Soros progressive/socialist machine.

This is where the republican campaign has to be nimble and ready to address topics other than those that have been beaten to death during the Republican debates.  The economy, jobs, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the topics of today.  The topics of the summer and fall of 2012 have a good chance of being entirely different.

We will be out of Iraq.  We will be well on our way out of Afghanistan.  Obama can point to dissing Osama and Kaddafi.  There is a good chance that unemployment could be below 7% and declining.  If these things all occur, what are the issues for the Republicans?

Let’s look at a few.  Cain is best suited to addressing these other issues which should include at least the following:

Promoting growth in the private sector:  Romney is the only one who comes close to matching Cain's private sector record of experience and successes.  But as Cain points out, Cain's experience is more related to Main Street than to Wall Street.

Islam and national security:  The designs of Islam and Sharia Law our greatest national security threat.  The president must create an awareness of this threat in the same vein as knowing who are our friends and who are our enemies and why. The ignorant dhimmi attitude that prevails in the Justice Department must be reversed.

Environmental regulations:  Their excesses and detrimental effect on the growth of jobs and businesses in this nation is well documented.  The EPA needs to be defanged and a Department of Commerce and EPA merger may be one way to achieve this.

Energy:   Related to the gross excess of environmental regulations, energy independence is a huge weakness of the Obama administration.  A focus on shaking up the obese and useless Department of Energy should be paramount.  Its mission when it was created in 1977 was to make the US energy independent.   With a $26 billion a year budget and 24 years later we are MORE energy dependent on enemy nations around the world.

Tax reform:  Whether 9-9-9 or some other program of radical tax reform, this is a good topic to highlight democrat weakness.

The whole American exceptionalism, Judeo-Christian basis of our nation’s founding and related cultural promoting attitudes of our next president should be high on the priorities of our campaign trail.  This is the paramount weakness of Obama.  This is explored HERE.