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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Pejman Yousefzadeh and Kevin Holtsberry are joined by Peter Ferrara of the Heartland Institute to discuss his new book, which discusses America’s fiscal and economic condition, and possible solutions.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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Buy America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb: How the Looming Debt Crisis Threatens the American Dream-and How We Can Turn the Tide Before It’s Too Late on Amazon
Peter Ferrara at Heartland Institute

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Ryan Ellis to discuss Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan and Rick Perry’s Cut, Balance and Grow proposal. We’ll talk about which one of these has a better chance of making it through Congress, the impact they’ll have on your bottom line, and whether they will be able to restart America’s failing economy.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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9-9-9: A Discussion with Herman Cain
Governor Rick Perry’s Tax Reform Plan
ATR Summary of Perry Tax Plan
Cain’s Responses on 9-9-9 Answered
Herman Cain Was Against a VAT Before He Was For It
Perry tax plan would raise either $4.7 trillion or $1.7 trillion less than CBO baseline through 2020
On second glance, Perry flat tax scores better on revenue and growth
A Slow-Growth America Can’t Lead the World
Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan
Rick Perry’s Cut, Balance and Grow

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss why an unprecedented 26 million Americans are underemployed, Rick Perry’s flat tax, and Steve Jobs’ appeal to Barack Obama to free our education system from the teacher unions.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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An Unprecedented 26 Million Americans Are Now Underemployed
A long, steep drop for Americans’ standard of living
US ‘Misery Index’ Rises to Highest Since 1983
Second Miracle in 15 Years Needed for U.S. as Productivity Wanes
Texas Gov. Rick Perry calls for a flat tax
Steve Jobs Biography Reveals He Told Obama, ‘You’re Headed For A One-Term Presidency’
What if the NFL Played by Teachers’ Rules?
Will Charter Schools Cure America’s Blues?

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Elizabeth Blackney are joined by Aaron Blake to discuss the attacks on Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan and the Rick Perry vs. Mitt Romney battle royale from Las Vegas. Then we’ll talk about Herman Cain’s pro-life but pro-choice abortion position, and the winners and losers from the last fundraising quarter.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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Mitt Romney no longer the Teflon candidate
Herman Cain Tells Piers Morgan That He Is Anti-Abortion, Yet Pro-Choice?
“Mitt Romney’s Lying Problem”
Brutal new Romney ad: Rick Perry’s a moron; Update: Romney pulls ad
Elizabeth Warren, Ron Paul and ‘supercommittee’ members big winners in the third-quarter fundraising wars
The role of delegates in the presidential campaign, explained
Aaron Blake at the Washington Post (more…)

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York, growing criticism of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, and our drive to get Francis on NPR’s Marketplace.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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More Reasons Why Conservatives Should Take Occupy Wall Street Seriously
A few random thoughts on Occupy Wall Street, flash mobs, and 9/11
Spending on housing and vehicles
Business groups blast Cain’s 9-9-9 plan as job killer
Cain’s Sales Tax Would Hurt Consumer Spending ’For Some Years’
Let’s Start All Over Again
David Frum bids farewell to Marketplace
Email NPR and tell them you want our very own Francis Cianfrocca to replace David Frum on Marketplace
Sign up for Ben’s daily email: The Transom

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Francis Cianfrocca are joined by Daniel Mitchell, to discuss Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, the pitfalls of instituting a national sales tax, and the reality that 9-9-9 will probably end up more like 12-12-12.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan Is Great in Theory, but…
Look Before You Leap on Cain’s 9-9-9 Tax Plan
Cain’s ‘9-9-9′ tax reform plan under fire from both left and right
Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan gets lukewarm reviews from conservatives — and a Cain consultant
Daniel J. Mitchell at CATO Institute

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I like the overall approach of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan. As I recently wrote, it focuses on lower tax rates, elimination of double taxation, and repeal of corrupt and inefficient loopholes.

But I included a very important caveat. The intermediate stage of his three-step plan would enable politicians to impose both an income tax and a national sales tax. I wrote in my earlier post that I had faith in Herman Cain’s motives, but I was extremely uncomfortable with the idea of letting the crowd in Washington have an extra source of revenue.

After all, Europe’s welfare states began their march to fiscal collapse and economic stagnation after they added a version of a national sales tax on top of their pre-existing income taxes.

But it seems that I was too nice in my analysis of Mr. Cain’s plan. Josh Barro and Bruce Bartlett are both claiming that the business portion of Cain’s 9-9-9 is a value-added tax (VAT) rather than a corporate income tax.

In other words, instead of being a 9 percent flat tax-9 percent sales tax-9 percent corporate tax, Cain’s plan is a 9 percent flat tax-9 percent sales tax-9 percent VAT.

Let’s elaborate. The business portion of Cain’s plan apparently does not allow employers to deduct wages and salaries, which means – for all intents and purposes – that they would levy a 9 percent withholding tax on employee compensation. And that would be in addition to the 9 percent they presumably would withhold for the flat tax portion of Cain’s plan.

Employers use withholding in the current system, of course, but at least taxpayers are given credit for all that withheld tax when filling out their 1040 tax forms. Under Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, however, employees would only get credit for monies withheld for the flat tax.

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