October 12, 2011

The point in the debate when my doubts about Herman Cain suddenly spiked.

Julianna Goldman, the Bloomberg TV White House Correspondent, noting Cain's disapproval of Ben Bernanke, asked him "which Federal Reserve chairman over the last 40 years do you think has been most successful and might serve as a model for that appointment?"

Cain said Alan Greenspan. Goldman asked why, and Cain said:
Because that's when I served on the board of the Federal Reserve in the early 1990s. 
Huh? He's a model because he's the one you served with?
And the way Alan Greenspan oversaw the Fed and the way he coordinated with all of the Federal Reserve banks, I think that it worked fine back in the early 1990s.
So... Alan Greenspan, because you served with him and the way he did everything worked fine? Instead of backing that up with substance, he told us he has 2 candidates for Fed Chairman in mind, but he can't tell us who they are. Useless non-information.

Ron Paul got to speak next:
Spoken like a true insider... Alan Greenspan was a disaster....

Everybody in Washington -- liberals and conservatives -- said he kept interest rates too low, too long. Of course, the solution was, lower them even more, and they think that's going to solve our problem.
But if I had to name one person that did a little bit of good, that was Paul Volcker. He at least knew how to end -- or help, you know, end the inflation....
Paul goes on with details. I'm not saying I agree with Ron Paul, but the contrast between the 2 men was amazing at that point. Cain just did not seem forthcoming. I know he might seem straightforward when he keeps saying 9-9-9 is the answer. But it's also simplistic. And when called on for details, he won't tell you any.

Now, I thought it was a low blow when Huntsman, asked about 9-9-9, said "it's a catchy phrase.... I thought it was the price of a pizza when I first heard about it." My kneejerk reaction was: Huntsman is an elitist, sneering at a man who built a successful business. But look at the emptiness of Cain's defense of his 9-9-9:
... it is not the price of a pizza, because it has been well-studied and well-developed. 
It has? What's the proof of that? This is like approving of Alan Greenspan the way he did things worked well.
It starts with, unlike your proposals, throwing out the current tax code. Continuing to pivot off the current tax code is not going to boost this economy. This is why we developed 9-9-9, 9 percent corporate business flat tax, 9 percent personal income flat tax, and a 9 percent national sales tax. And it will pass, Senator, because the American people want it to pass.
What is why you developed it? There's no there there! And it will pass... why? Because people want it to pass?! The why I would like answered is: Why are people so impressed with Herman Cain?

At this point, Karen Tumulty — the WaPo correspondent — follows up. She wants to know what experts he's relying on. That was my question too when he said "we developed 9-9-9." He wants us to accept on faith that he's got this team that's worked it all out, so that now all he needs to do is say 9-9-9. Cain gives a vague answer:
My advisers come from the American people. Now, I will have some experts. 
What?! You will have some experts? But where did 9-9-9 come from? And what's with the strange expression "My advisers come from the American people." That sounds like he's saying the advisers are not experts. They're some of the people folk. Who knows who? But he will — future tense — have some experts. Is he admitting he doesn't have experts yet? If so, he immediately backtracks:
One of my experts that helped me to develop this is a gentleman by the name of Rich Lowery (ph) out of Cleveland, Ohio. He is an economist, and he has worked in the business of wealth creation most of his career.
So, there's this guy in Cleveland... Who is he? He's "worked in the business of wealth creation most of his career." That's a fancy-schmancy way to say he's a businessman and, it seems, to avoid admitting that this man has no impressive credentials as an economist. I think Cain is conceding that, because the next thing he feels compelled to say is:
I also have a number of other well-recognized economists that helped me to develop this 9-9-9 plan. It didn't come off a pizza box, no. It was well-studied and well-developed, because it will replace the corporate income tax, the personal income tax, the capital gains tax, the death tax, and most importantly, the payroll tax.
See the empty assurance? It was well-studied and well-developed. Was it? Why should we believe that? The sentence continues with the word "because," which ought to lead to a reason why we should believe that 9-9-9 was well-constructed. But it doesn't! "Because" introduces another repetition of what 9-9-9 is. He keeps saying, essentially: We should destroy the existing system because we should destroy the existing system. Put on that abstract level, it's the same approach to future-planning we're hearing from the Occupy Wall Street crowd.

Tumulty pursues him: "So -- so who are some of these economists?" And Cain's truly scary response is: "Rich Lowery (ph) out of Cleveland, Texas, is one of the economists that I have used. He's been my lead economist on helping to develop this."

Obviously, Tumulty meant: who other than the one economist he already named, which was "Rich Lowery (ph) out of Cleveland, Ohio." I mean, maybe there's another Rich Lowery — the one "out of Cleveland, Texas." Cleveland, Texas!

According to Politico, this "Rich Lowery" is Rich Lowrie, and he is "not a trained economist."
Instead, Lowrie — who’s the only economic adviser Cain has been willing to mention by name — is a wealth manager for a division of Wells Fargo and according to his LinkedIn page holds an accountancy degree from Case Western Reserve University. Lowrie also spent three years on the advisory board of the conservative third-party group Americans For Prosperity.
Come on, people. This infatuation with Herman Cain is embarrassing. Wake up!

261 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 261 of 261
Shanna said...

You are 100% correct. Cain did not work as a governor, nor did he provide the blueprint for Obamacare.

Because he hasn't done anything political. It's pretty easy to say "look at my record, I haven't done anything objectionable" when what you've done is sell tasty pizza.

Steve Koch said...

MikeDC said...
"I'm going to have an extremely hard time voting for a stage iv cancer survivor for President. There's something on the order of a 90% chance he'll pass away within the next five years."

Is this true? If so, it doesn't make sense to try to elect Cain.

Scott M said...

Because he hasn't done anything political. It's pretty easy to say "look at my record, I haven't done anything objectionable" when what you've done is sell tasty pizza.

You are woefully unaware of his resume if you think this sums up his record. As far as the cancer thing is concerned, this was my initial concern earlier this year after hearing him talk for the first time. Very impressive, no way it will fly.

Has he addressed this issue publicly?

DaveW said...

Come on, people. This infatuation with Herman Cain is embarrassing. Wake up!

Come on, Althouse. This infatuation with Barack Obama is embarrassing. Wake up!

Steve Koch said...

From wikipedia:
"In 2006, Cain was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in his colon and metastases to his liver and given a 30 percent chance of survival. Cain underwent surgery and chemotherapy following the diagnosis, and has since reported that he is cancer-free."

From http://stage4coloncancersurvivalrate.com/

"4th stage associated with colon cancer: Odds associated with making it through for 5 years are under 9%. During this particular stage, the cancer invades faraway components from the physique such as liver and lung area."

Shanna said...

You are woefully unaware of his resume if you think this sums up his record.

What is his political record though? I'm saying it's not fair to compare to give someone points for not having bad political stuff on his record who has never been in politics. Everybody who has run a state is giong to have something on their record that you don't like because they have that record.

If Cain has a long list of laws he has passed that can be fairly critiqued, please enlighten me.

Anonymous said...

Tom Brady is a great quarterback. Quarterbacks and point guards have a lot of similarity in what they do -- calling plays, distributing the ball by passing, etc. Therefore, the New York Knicks should hire Tom Brady as point guard.

MikeDC said...

I'm pretty sure you'll get about half as much gold for those dollars now as you would have in 2008, Mike.

And quite a bit less food. Have you been to a grocery lately?


Pastafarian,
Yes. I also went to the grocery back in 2008, and the prices we paid then were about the same as we pay now.

I did buy some gold as a speculative venture, but that really doesn't further the discussion. I agree that we want our currency to have a relatively stable buying power. If it suddenly appreciated a hundred percent, like gold (suppose a gold standard), then 1) people wouldn't hoard as much gold so it would be as valuable and 2) with everyone going nuts to get more of that "valuable" gold, they'd spend less on actually economically beneficial transactions.

In a nutshell, this is what economists call the money illusion.

Anonymous said...

No country wants a strong currency. Not one.

exhelodriver said...

Poor analogy, Seven.

More appropriate would be that Brady could continue to play QB for the Patriots, while consulting with basketball experts, and then picking someone else to play PG for the Knicks.

Anonymous said...

More appropriate would be that Brady could continue to play QB for the Patriots

So Cain is going to be in business on the side, then?

sonicfrog said...

My opinion is very conservative. It is based on empirical observation about what works, which is a vital bedrock of conservatism. It should be obvious that the best presidents have been seasoned politicians who previously governed large entities -- usually states. We know that these people typically do well or at least don't screw things up completely. Not always, but typically.


I agree.

It's funny, I'm more libertarian than anything. But I still, if pressed , will identify more on issues with Conservatives than Democrats. But I will on occasion be labeled as a raging liberal if I happen to disagree with a Conservative on an issue. And if I'm going back and forth with a liberal, it's worse, because, since I'm also gay, I am a traitor! Can't even describe the shock and outrage I was subjected to when I told my gay friends in 2000 I was likely to vote for Bush!

The problem I have with Cain is that I suspect he'll be worse because he will have to rely on others to make so many more decisions than the more experienced candidate such as Romney or even Huntsman, and his advisers will end up being the same ol' same ol' we get year in and year out.

Psychedelic George said...

The question is can Cain win. That's the only issue.

He can rabidly attack Obama, if he chooses to, and no one can call him racist.

He will peel off a good number of black voters away from the Dems. in general.

He's a tough SOB. But the funny thing is he's also funny. Unlike Huntsman or Santorum when he jams the shiv into someone else's ribs, he gets a laugh.

He's also got a self-deprecating sense of humor. Like Romney, he radiates warmth.

He's got a strong marketing background. He's the product. He knows it, and he knows how to sell it.

If the candidate is Romney, who will he pick? Christie or Cain. Christie helps him in the northeast, but he's white. Cain helps him in the South.

Anonymous said...

I think as a libertarian, as I am also, you grow up and you realize that the conservatives are the only ones who more serious about civil rights, which from a libertarian view means keeping the government out of the personal sphere. And almost everybody realizes as they grow older how dangerous radical change is.

I, too, have some views that align with Democrats. Like gay rights. But I admitted that I am a Republican a long time ago.

Psychedelic George said...

One more thing:

He's black, but he's the anti-Obama.

Who could grasp Obama's cultural background?

With Cain, it's all instantly understandable--the poverty, cancer, Burger King, pizza. I understand the product.

hombre said...

7M wrote: My opinion is very conservative. It is based on empirical observation about what works,....

Egotism and self-validation are not evidence.

[T]he best presidents have been seasoned politicians who previously governed large entities -- usually states.

Really? Other than Reagan, who do you have in mind, Jimmy Carter?

Your argument that we should elect some completely untested businessperson who has never governed or even won a primary is actually quite radical -- the very opposite of conservatism.

Assuming, generously, that your statement accurately characterized my argument, what would be the authority for your assertion that it is the opposite of conservatism?

But you keep on telling yourself that you own the tenets of conservatism and that, by golly, Cain is going to win and be great. Because that works for you.

You're very confused aren't you?

Sorry. I never said I support Cain, I said your argument that winning elections and serving in government is the only experience adequate to qualify someone for POTUS is absurd.

The tenets of conservatism are what they are and have nothing to do with "what works for me."

Maybe you should stop making stuff up.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Yes. I also went to the grocery back in 2008, and the prices we paid then were about the same as we pay now.

@ MikeDC

I call giant steaming piles of bullshit on that statement.

I went to the store the other day and a 5 pound sack of flour was over $7.00. Yes we are in a rural area and expect to pay more..

However, in 2008 the cost of a 5 lb sack of flour was more like $1.89.

Re: Not Cain not having a "political" record. I count that as a plus. The political class is the reason that we are in this deep recession and their "political" solutions are the reason we will stay there for many years to come.

when what you've done is sell tasty pizza.

That was pretty simplistic and not worthy of you. Cain has a very good resume in the business world and outstanding educational credentials.

The political class and their ridiculous ideas are not going to help us. We need to change horses and I don't care if it is mid stream or not.

The ability to run for office with the help of a bunch of underlings doing most of the work for you, act smarmy, throw out sound bites and have the nicest hair on the ticket......does not a leader make.

Is Cain up to the job? Maybe...maybe not. But to dismiss the man JUST because he isn't a political hack.... is less than intelligent.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

If the candidate is Romney, who will he pick? Christie or Cain. Christie helps him in the northeast, but he's white. Cain helps him in the South

And Cain is the Tea Party pick. Christy is somewhat of a fiscal conservative, but is still really a big government kind of guy. (and I'm not talking about his weight :-)

M.A. said...

Good Heavens No! He gets economic advice from someone who actually works and does things for a living but went to Case Western!
I'm sorry, but if I had to choose from someone who actually works for a living, and someone who merely pontificates and does nothing useful ...like say a certain Ivy League economic journalist advocate but not activist who writes for the NY Times, I wouldn't be choosing the Ivy League elitist.

mccullough said...

Herman Cain is a great reminder that hard-work, self-reliance, and responsibility are important character traits. He is upbeat and optimistic without sounding shallow. And he is bold and confident, without being arrogant.

I'm not sure he would be a successful President because having to be patient and settling for the fourth best proposal are a necessary part of the job. Congress will not enact the 9-9-9 plan. And his knowledge on foreign affairs and monetary policy is pretty weak.

But the most important part of being President is projecting optimism, strength, and confidence. Romney has been doing a good job with that, as well. With Herman Cain in, there is no reason for Bachmann and Perry to remain in the race. Cain projects more strength, confidence, and intelligence, and authentic belief in the U.S. than they do, and is as conservative, if not more so. They are competing for the same voters.

ken in tx said...

Cain is a Southerner. I understand and respect him. I think he will be a great VP and later President. I learned when I first went overseas that Southern blacks and Southern whites have more in common than Southern and Northern whites do. When he says what he will do, I know he will do it.

a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...

@JAC

"So he admittedly crafted his policy based on numerology and superstition. This is definitely someone I trust to lead America out of our economic downturn."

Spoken with the same seeming inane confidence though maybe a tad more condescension than the 9-9-9 guy; so Mr. Confidence is the short answer "Romney?" We are, it seems, in a world of hurt here.

chickelit said...

Come on, people. This infatuation with Herman Cain is embarrassing. Wake up!

Cain seems to strike the same nerve as Palin did with Althouse and the Sullivanists.

This just might be a good thing, seeing how their insights during the last election were pretty vacuous.

chickelit said...

Did Cedarford already jump on the anti-Cain bandwagon too? I missed it if he did. That is the best tell.

Kirby Olson said...

Being black makes Cain a kind of WMD at the polls. He confuses everything that the left's been brainwashed to believe about race.

Here's a guy who can function on his own without any need for handouts from the state. He has a degree in mathematics. He speaks with simple clear precision.

Plus, he's black. It's almost worth losing the election just to throw the whole brainwashing effect into disarray.

Obama isn't really black. He's only half-black, and his dad is from the Kenyan elite.

It would be hilarious to see them in the debates late next summer. Cain would eat Obama's lunch, and throw the whole country into disarray. I think this would be fun.

If he won, it would mean the left was racist not to vote for the blacker person. If he won, we could have a functioning economy again, plus someone who spoke in comprehensible sentences with recognizable words that have an actual meaning.

Maybe he's wrong sometimes.

So what?

At least they're full and complete sentences, unlike Obama's weird trailers like, "Yes we can!"

Yes, we can -- do what?

Pelosi and Obama left it for us to fill in the blank with our own imagination while all they did was bankroll their pals and bankrupt the country.

Craig Howard said...

Althouse, supporting Obama was embarrassing. If I'm repeating earlier comments, it's only because I don't want to read through 222 of them to state the obvious. There might come a point at which supporting Cain is embarrassing; we're not there yet.

Big Mike said...

The problem with Cain is not his 9-9-9 plan, it's that experienced politicians who are totally used to the political game, scumbags like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, are going to be more than he can handle. They're going to tie him into knots and he's not going to know what to do.

I wish it were otherwise, because I'm no fan of Romney. But it is what it is.

Cedarford said...

Patrick said...
But no one else is even putting cards on the table. Herman Cain is. That is what makes his 9-9-9 significant.
==================
Romney has published a 59 item economic recovery plan.

If all we needed was more tax cuts for the rich and a big new national sales tax on everyone marketed with a catchy slogan, Bush would have tried it in 2008. After some aide thought it up and gave it to Bush scribbled on the back of a napkin.

As the other candidates reminded Herman, he has a tax plan with some significant danger of giving the Feds a huge new revenue pipeline they haven't been able to get so far - the predecessor to the EuroSocialist VAT.

And as Romney reminded Perry, all Perry is offering is a version of drill baby drill - which is fine in itself - because we need big revisions in energy policy - but no more a full economic recovery plan than Cain's proposed tax redistribution is.

Unfortunately for America, our economic problems are complex, and as Romney said - while simple is nice - in the real world it is just not enough to deal with large, complex repairs.

Anonymous said...

Hombre -- Read something, dude. Read anything. Burke. Kirk. Buckley. Then come back after you have learned something.

It's not clear to me why feel compelled to yell at me, but you are pretty clearly a silly tool. I;m sorry I had any truck with you.

Froth forth.

Cedarford said...

chickenlittle said...
Did Cedarford already jump on the anti-Cain bandwagon too? I missed it if he did. That is the best tell.

===============
I like Cain, have from the start. But not as President. He would be a great choice for a cabinet post, an ambassadorship....and really stretching it...remotely possible as VP if his age, health, and lack of knowledge in many areas is determined not to be common sense bars to wanting him one heartbeat away from office.

Herman's problems:

1. 65. Stage 4 cancer survivor with odds against being in adequate health in the next 5 years to be a good candidate for President or VP.

2. No elected office experience.

3. He admits he has huge knowledge gaps, not just in foreign policy, but domestic matters that were outside his business experience.

4. His executive career ended in 1996 when he was asked to step down by the Board. Since then he has been a motivational speaker and radio talk show host, with long absences due to his health issues.

5. His 9-9-9 Plan has major, major flaws when you get into the details.

Strengths:

1. Smart. Probably smart enough to be President, along with 30 million other Americans.
2. Likable.
3. A minority that does cadenced black "preacher-speak" in a pleasing baritone as nice as Baracks smoky tobacco-modulated voice.
4. He does have executive experience in the private sector.

Cedarford said...

I do note that many conservative Althouse posters are people that love the flavor of the month....who get infatuated over any minority showing up as the Adnissions staff at U Wisconsin Madison do.
And many are as intoxicated with redemption and minorities as were the white liberals going around with their heads in the clouds muttering Obama was so dreamy and would redeem all sins of whites for past "racism".
The Black Messiah. Now the Herminator as the new Black Messiah, Rev II.

It is odd that conservatives are no different in many aspects from their fringe-dweling counterparts on the Left.
At some level, many see any female or minority as dreamy...a vehicle to show everyone that conservatives are not the bigoted, racist hating-haters that the progressive jewish media narrative cast them as.

They reveal themselves as affirmative action bonus point lovers.
"Colin Powell is a God, like Nelson Mandela!"
"Condi has it all! She is black, female, and likely an un-outed lesbian! Who could Republicans nominate in 2008 that would have more moral authority and credibility??? So what is she never held elective office!"
"Our Sarah will rip all the woman's votes from the Democrats! Who can stand against her every-American biography and hockey mom experience and negotiating with the Russians??"
"Herman is soooo dreamy! He speaks so well! If we make him President nominee, he will rip half the black votes from Obama, just like Alan Keyes, who was one with God, shoud have done, but Illinois voters were stupid! And his election will redeem us in the eyes of the NYC Alinskyites!"


Had Joe the Plumber been black and gay and Muslim....there are Althouse posters that would have demanded he run for President.

With Cain, one guy that that is quite happy is Mitt Romney. Herman is destroying the Texas money machine behind Perry, the only other truly plausible candidate.

Cincinnatus said...

So far, it is clear that Cain is more knowledgable than Obama.

MikeDC said...

Dust Bunny Queen,
@ MikeDC

I call giant steaming piles of bullshit on that statement.

I went to the store the other day and a 5 pound sack of flour was over $7.00. Yes we are in a rural area and expect to pay more..

However, in 2008 the cost of a 5 lb sack of flour was more like $1.89.


Then you, ma'am, are a terrible shopper.

More likely, I call bullshit on your calling bullshit.

Here's a 5lb bag of flour from Meijer at $1.48.

That squares with the pricing I see around here. And with the CPI food index which plots out at 6.4% increase from the end of 2008 till now. Which is comparable to what most 3 year changes in food prices look like going back twenty years or so. The remarkable period of inflation is 2005-2008.

It's also worth pointing out that the Fed (mostly) controls the supply of money, but there are lots of other reasons (such as fairly obvious wars in the Middle East and demand for oil in other countries) that lead to price inflation. Increased demand for goods raises their prices.

Just like it'd be ridiculous for the Fed to simply debase the dollar like some banana republic, it'd be ridiculous for the Fed to suddenly constrict the money supply and kill economic activity because people are paying more for stuff they need. It's less obvious, but still just as dumb and economically destructive.

Anonymous said...

DBQ has had it in her mind for years now that the specter of inflation is upon us. It's not; we are in a terrible deflationary period for nearly every commodity, thing, service, wage, and certain every piece of land.

But that hasn't stopped DBQ. One day, she will be right. That's economics for you. Timing is everything...if you want to make money.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Then you, ma'am, are a terrible shopper

And you are a terrible reader. I said I live in a rural area and expect to pay more. That is just part of living far away from urban areas. However, not THAT much more.

Safeway last week in a nearby town....bacon 24 oz $11.00.

From my 2008 blog posting with local prices...same store.

2008 hamburger 1.19/lb today 2.99
2008 london broil 2.99 today 7. to 9. /lb
2008 whole chicken .89/lb today 2.99
2008 milk 2.59/gal today 4.20/gal

I can go on. If you don't see such inflation...count yourself lucky. I know what I see in the grocery store. Most of the inflation in our area particularly is due to the price of gasoline and diesel.

$3.90 /gal gasoline
$4.03 /gal diesel

Since you are from Dc, of course you are at the center of the universe and the experiences of us peons in flyover country don't count.

I'd pay twice as much just not to be anywhere near you or your wonderful urban cesspools.

Thank you very much

:-)

Roger J. said...

Perhaps we are at the point in the discussion of which GOP candidate will win. The question might be better framed as which candidate will be able to unseat Mr Obama. The good should not be the enemy of the perfect, as there are no perfect candidates out there as near as I can see.

Anonymous said...

Want a little snake oil to dunk your bread into?

Paddy O said...

Prices are definitely higher in California. Coffee is about $3 more expensive for a can. Other commodities like milk are also higher.

MikeDC said...

Mmmkay then. I actually live in Indiana, where it's generally pretty rural but one can also generally go to a grocery and find stuff at reasonable prices.

I'm still doubtful of your shopping ability, but the biggest point to make here is that your experience, even as you present it, is an extreme outlier compared to most everyone else in the country.

In any case, I suggest you balance your desire to live in the middle of nowhere with your desire to have cheap stuff.

Moneyrunner said...

II won't bother to read over 200 comments, but Anne "the Rube" Althouse, who voted for Obama in 2008, based on the profundity of his platform, has a lot of brass to criticize anyone's platform.

Moneyrunner said...

Anne has a lot in common with Peggy Noonan, another skank, who had this to say in 2008:
When Obama broke his pledge to take public funds for his campaign (opening his coffers to undocumented credit card contributions from people like Mr. Goodwill Hunting) Noonan insisted that this was not a man who broke his word, but someone who “came to play.”


According to Noonan, Obama wasn’t a Chicago machine politician who sat in Jeremiah Wright’s church for 20 years hearing him spout racist, anti-Semitic, God Damn America sermons; he was “Obambi,” a harmless cuddly little fawn.


Noonan gushes about the ad Obama was running about embracing his “middle American” values, never questioning where he would have gotten these values; Hawaii, Columbia, Harvard, the faculty lounge, Chicago, talking with Bill Ayers, listening to Reverend Wright, buying real estate from Tony Rezko?

Noonan on Obama: “he’s not new on the scene, he’s like us and he’s fabulous.”

Noonan on John McCain during the 2008 campaign: no war hero, just “ … an old white man.”
And Peggy Noonan on Obama’s spiritual advisor, the aforementioned Jeremiah Wright?

He seems like a bright man, warm, humorous and compelling, but also needful and demanding of the spotlight,… What happened with Mr. Wright should not determine the race. Mr. Obama's stands, his ability to convince us he can make good change, his ability to be "one of us," that great challenge for a national politician in a varied nation, should determine the race. … But I am finding it hard to feel truly upset about what Mr. Wright has said.
Noonan says she disagrees with what Wright says. How can she not and still show her face? But, there’s always the BUT: ignore the fact that his sermons are racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic and full of hate for America; he’s bright, warm, humorous and compelling. Compelling? What is compelling about what Wright is saying; the hatred of white people, or Jews, or America?

Noonan’s also sort of blond.

Cedarford said...

Just a sidenote on prices - DBQ is right, food prices have inflated by enough that it is bothering people. 30% for some commodities like cooking oil, rice.

I also note that in the last 10 years, a favorite tactic of owners is to market the stuff with lower portion size, less container weight.
Injecting air into ice cream, brine water into meat.
(It gets dramatic when you take a Blue Bunny "56 fluid oz by volume extra value!" ice cream container and weigh it against a 48 oz Friendy's ice cream carton and find the 48 oz is true to its mass, while the aerated Blue Bunny icecream weighs 46 oz. Or get a Tyson fryer and weigh it against a local "farm-raised range fed" chicken of the same weight. Cooked, the local option is 30% heavier.)
Consider the incredible shrinking coffee can. From a pound down to 15, 14, 13, 11.5 oz with some 10 oz cans now out there. All for the low low price of only 1.99 -2.89 a can. NO DIFFERENT PRICE THAN a can 10 years ago!!

Lettuce sold at 99 cents a head now is no different to uneducated eyes with a head of iceberg or romaine at 99 cents a pound.

Yogurt, potato chips gone from 8 oz to 6 oz to 5 oz to some 4 1/2 oz containers while the price per container stays below what owners have determined to be the dumb folks "buying resistance" level.

Hidden inflation has hit other sectors. Much well-disguised from consumers, to stem buying resistance. Why? The dollar has declined in value, the extra cost of oil and deranged green energy schemes have increased the cost of goods and services.

It, (disguising cost and adulterating food, etc. ) perhaps would be better than employers laying off people then asking the remnant work force to work harder to achieve higher profits for the owner class or "China will end our business"...but the owner class is doing that too in America.

traditionalguy said...

Latest poll: Cain 27,Romney 23, and Perry 15.

The whole world has run after Herman. I warned him not to run so that he wouldn't be disappointed.

Damn. Now the streets are going to be clogged with Secret Service blockades on weekends.

Cedarford said...

Moneyrunner said...
II won't bother to read over 200 comments, but Anne "the Rube" Althouse, who voted for Obama in 2008, based on the profundity of his platform, has a lot of brass to criticize anyone's platform.

================
You miss the fact that many people who voted for Obama and will ache to vote to cast him out unless the Republicans put up a nutball of even lower competency ....would vote the same way they did in 2008 all over again.
Even knowing how lame Obama is.

That is because McCain was a dangerous old fool and would have done 80% of what Obama did, blundered with the economy....plus gotten us into a 3rd major war..with Iran.

And would have solidified his "Dear Friends and Collegues" Pelosi and Reid's control and made Republicans in office a dying breed.

Better after the failed Presidency of Dubya and the K Street corruption of the Republican Corporatists - the Dems were given an opportunity to fail. Whih they did. Leaving them as not only the holders of the bag of shit Bush and Hastert gave them, but now also standing in a pool of shit they walked right into.

Does anyone REALLY miss war hero Johnny and the fabulous Dubya?? Nope. I hope both remain far in the background for the remainder of the 2012 contest.

Sprezzatura said...

If you're going to go w/ a pizza man, shouldn't you insist on a dude who made good pizza instead of q pablum peddler.

just sayin'

bagoh20 said...

"To be honest, nothing Herman Cain has said up to this point has made me likely to vote for him."

Me either, but right now he's my first choice, because I don't judge a man by what he says, and refreshingly with Cain you don't need to. He has a record- a very long and successful one, but what's that compared to the silly debate here over which con man lays down a better con - one I can vote for because it lets me pretend I know him and what he will do. This way of hiring someone is embarrassing...again.

I'm not saying I'd vote for Cain no matter what he says, but I damned sure won't vote for someone just because of what he says. That's just stupid.

The Crack Emcee said...

Why are you bringing up Obama? What are you really saying?

We can see through your act.

This is not about me, but if you look back at my posts, I made similar criticisms of Obama's abstractions and emptiness.

And then still voted for him. But now you want specifics - and (hilariously) for people to "Wake Up." Please, stop. You're killing me over here,...the incoherence is affecting me like acid,...

You seem to be saying now it's the Republicans turn to fall in love with a dreamy African American man. That's ridiculous, and frankly, insulting to Cain and any other black people who might want to run for office.

On behalf of black people - everywhere - I thank you for your spirited defense for our (imagined) sensibilities, even though you're still not so up on the post-racialist idea (articulated by Herman Cain and I) that we're NOT African American, dreamy or otherwise, but American. I can definitely see that one's going to be a toughie.

It's not conservative to trash the entire system of funding the federal government and replace it with something concocted more out of numerology than economics.

I will remind that you're a teacher of the Constitution and Religion, but I can't remember once when you've interpreted religion correctly - and you definitely slap your own agenda on it when it's Catholics. Here, you reveal you don't understand numerology, but why you would go there - enough to do two posts riding this schtick - that intrigues me. You really must not like Herman Cain. Sure, you may have gotten superficially scrutinized Obama, that "dreamy African American man," but can you produce a single post where you were telling people to "Wake Up" to even one of the multiple manipulations that were occurring at that time by him or on his behalf - even by actual numerologists? Of course not.

You're attempting a Jedi Mind Trick, and failing.

I'll add you have never heard me utter a single word in favor of Cain for president.

Jane said...

I think the current tax code is numerology. But,

Herman Cain has said that his lucky number is 45.

4+5 = 9.

Could be that's why he picked it...

Hey, it could really be his lucky number...

J said...

Is it at the same point you realized you no longer have a crush on black guys?

J said...

Being conservative will not get us out of this fiscal hole.

Being radical (in cutting spending) might.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Gah.

Bachman is a US Rep. Cain isn't even that.

What happened the last time we elected someone with no experience to the Presidency?

We're electing a leader, not an ideology.

Gary Rosen said...

"Did Cedarford already jump on the anti-Cain bandwagon too?"

He's waiting to figure out Cain's position on Joooos. It's the only thing he cares about, and he certainly knows nothing about anything substantive. Especially economics as demonstrated by his third-grade "analysis".

Jack said...

Well Ms Althouse, I'm comforted and directed by your doubts about Cain. You had none about that glib, totally ineperienced community organizer/academic BHO. Makes me more certain of my vote for Cain.

Anonymous said...

Leaving aside the fact that the 999 Plan is not well thought out, Cain's entire strategy for getting the economy moving again is the 999 Plan.

What's he going to do when Congress doesn't pass it?

Brennan said...

Embarassing? Republican voters will decide if it is.

Carol_Herman said...

Let's say Mittens gets the nomination.

He knows people are hostile to Harry Reid. Also a Morman. So he's gonna want to show voters "he's just a regular guy." (Whose dad was brainwashed.)

Why wouldn't he pick Herman Cain?

Herman Cain gives him a ticket NOT to be called a "racist."

And, it seems "values voters" hate being called "racist."

The other thing? Willard Mitt's may try for a "trifecta" ... where he thinks he'd appeal to Blacks ... who are angry with Obama.

Like Blacks are really that easy to fool.

Roger J. said...

Pretty much what Jack said--the good professor is the contrarian indicator

DaveW said...

The Cain 9 9 9 plan taxes groceries. Or that's what I'm reading anyway.

That's a non-starter for me. Even here in Texas, where government is financed on sales taxes, we don't tax groceries. Prepared food yes, simple groceries no.

Cain's plan needs some work. I'll not vote for someone proposing to tax the sale of groceries.

Shanna said...

DBQ, my point was that you can’t compare one person’s political record with someone who has no political record, and say ‘gotcha’. I have nothing against his CEO experience or pizza, but it's just different from political experience.
If someone dislikes Romney because of his record, that is perfectly valid, but to say “See, Cain never did anything like that” is very much apples to oranges because yes, Cain never did anything like that. His career has been in business and he has passed no legislation to be judged on. So he can be judged on his business career and whether you think that will make him a good politician, but not on a “at least he never passed a law doing X” because he didn’t pass any laws and that’s a whole different story.

Just a sidenote on prices - DBQ is right, food prices have inflated by enough that it is bothering people. 30% for some commodities like cooking oil, rice. I also note that in the last 10 years, a favorite tactic of owners is to market the stuff with lower portion size, less container weight.

Absolutely. It doesn’t matter what the prices are in any particular place, but they’ve gone up. Anybody who grocery shops can see this. Cheese, Milk, Meat, even stuff like Little Debbies.

RB Miller said...

Well, now we know that both Art Laffer, economist for Reagan and Father of Supply Side Economics in the political realm, is endorsing the Cain 999 Plan.

Perhaps more importantly, politically GOP Budge Chair Paul Ryan, loves the plan and endorsed it for being bold and innovative.

Paul Ryan will be the person responsible for ushering in the new Republican President's New Economic Recovery Plan.

So, arguments from Romney and Santorum about it not being passable are now effectively cut off at the knees.
...... econus.blogspot.com

Don Pettengill said...

So, no big-name economists on board for Cain's 9-9-9? Meh. Read this:

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/stiglitzs-switch-in-time/

I think it's pretty clear that "economists" are NOT the people to consult over policy direction. I say this as a keen (if amateur) student of the subject. Very, very clearly, economists support policies according to their political beliefs. Krugman? Say no more.

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