News of the Obvious Headline of the Day

From the Washington Post:

Cain’s ‘9-9-9’ tax plan hits poor, helps wealthy, experts say

No shit, Sherlock.  If the wealthy are currently paying 17-25% of their income in taxes, and it is cut to 9%, and a 9% sales tax is added in, and the whole thing is revenue neutral, who the hell else is going to pay more, but the poor and middle class.  I am always stunned by the number of average folks who advocate for a flat tax.  They seem to think that somehow they will pay less under such a system, but it is not mathematically possible for that to be the case.  I guess they think that the wealthy take advantage of loopholes which they can't, so a single-bracket system will magically make the wealthy pay more.  I tell them that isn't the case, and the poor and middle class will end up paying more.  That doesn't deter them.  People are drawn to simplistic systems, and if there is one thing Herman Cain represents, it is being simplistic.

Also at the Washington Post, via Mark Thoma, the cost of the Bush tax cuts:

If Republicans have proven anything, it's that the rubes are mathematically-challenged suckers.  That's a trillion, folks:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is trying to win hearts and minds in the Palmetto State right where it counts — with food.
At a luncheon in Spartanburg Thursday, his wife, Anita, a former nurse, said she loves South Carolina: "Ham and grits, I'm that kinda girl. I think I could live here, too."
And she took some jabs at President Obama's record.
"Our debt is more than $14 trillion and climbing," she said. "I had to look up what a trillion was."

Please, people, don't vote for a Republican, unless you intend to be taken advantage of.  Corporations are allowing voters their choice of idiots in the primaries.  Afterwards, you'll want to take a shower.