Co-Author of Herman Cain’s “999 Plan” Says He Should Drop the 9% National Sales Tax and Keep a 9% Payroll Tax

Uh-oh. This won’t help Herman Cain.

One of the co-authors of Herman Cain’s “999 Plan” is now saying he should drop the 9% National Sales Tax and replace it with a straight-up 9% Payroll Tax. It’s not that Stephen Moore thinks the National Sales Tax is a bad idea – he just thinks it has become too much of a “punching bag”:

NEWSMAX: One of the key economists who helped Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain draft his 9-9-9 tax plan is backing away from its most controversial component. Economist Stephen Moore said the criticism Cain endured during the GOP presidential debate Tuesday night shows his proposed 9 percent national sales tax might have to go, reports Fox News.

Cain weathered a storm of complaints over his tax plan at the debate in Las Vegas. Virtually every candidate took turns accusing him of pushing a scheme that would introduce new streams of revenue and hit the middle class hardest.

The plan calls for throwing out the old tax code and replacing it with an across-the-board 9 percent income tax, 9 percent corporate tax, and 9 percent national sales tax.

Moore said the debate further confirms his belief that the candidate should strip the sales tax out of his plan and replace it with a 9 percent payroll tax.

“They wouldn’t be able to attack it,” Moore told FoxNews.com. “If he had done that a week ago, then they wouldn’t be able to attack the plan last night.” . . . Read More

I don’t think Cain can afford to change the plan that fundamentally after campaigning so strongly on getting rid of the Payroll Tax. It would be more damaging to him politically than just sticking with his plan. But Cain’s GOP Opponents have made it very difficult down the road if Cain wins the nomination. Their attacks on the “999 Plan” will be parroted by the Obama Campaign and the Democrats.