The Cain boom is in its final weeks. National Review has found the frame for attacking the 9-9-9 plan. It is a 9% VAT + a 9% sales tax + a 9% income tax. Now I don’t think that National Review editorials move a decisive number of votes, but the argument that Cain is going to level two different consumption taxes on the middle-class that equal 18%, while also raising income taxes on the working poor and much of the middle-class (through the elimination of tax deductions) is going to be telling. There is going to be a Republican debate tomorrow. Be ready to hear a lot of “you don’t understand our assumptions” and “you’re wrong” from Cain. It will wear thin fast enough. Maybe not tomorrow, and maybe not by the end of this week. There are a lot of right-of-center people who really really want to like him. He will fade back into the pack before Iowa. So who replaces him?
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