Posted by Herman Cain on 02/21

Wurzelbacher is running as a Republican in Ohio's 9th Congressional District. The seat has been held by Democrat Marcy Kaptur for 30 years, and due to redistricting, she will face 10th District Representative Dennis Kucinich in the March 6th Primary election.

A simple, honest and bold question posed in 2008 to then-candidate Barack Obama about his small business tax plan launched the Ohio plumber into the national spotlight. Obama's answer that spreading the wealth around is “good for everybody” exposed the presidential hopeful for harboring a dangerous socialist agenda. Now, as a Congressional candidate, 'Joe the Plumber' wants to fight back after spending the “last 3 years watching now-President Obama make good on his threat of spreading the wealth around.”

On this battle, Wurzelbacher has an ally in Cain. In fact, a January 14, 2012 post in the Daily Beast favorably compared the two:

“Wurzelbacher shares with Cain an appetite for devolving power from the federal government to the states—and a zeal for tax reform. He, too, would like to blow up the federal income tax...In its place, Wurzelbacher favors a fair tax and a flat tax, and proclaims that Cain’s infamous “9-9-9” plan is better than “what we have now.”

Cain agrees and welcomes 'Joe the Plumber''s simple, honest and bold attitude to “9-9-9 The Revolution”.

“Joe is an unconventional candidate, just like I was,” Cain remarked. “He shows a true working man's appreciation for what it is to be a good steward of the hard-earned money the government takes from us in the form of taxes.”

“Joe the Plumber agrees that 'blowing up' the current federal tax code is paramount to the success of this nation.” Cain also joked, “And we have seen first hand he's not afraid to tell the president so.”

Wurtzelbacher's support adds his name to a list of more than a dozen 2012 U.S. Candidates who are committed to thoroughly reading the '9-9-9' legislation that is being drafted, and then working to make '9-9-9' the law of the land.

Cain and Wurtzelbacher will ride the “Cain Revolution” bus through Ohio on Friday, February 24 for a series of scheduled stops on Joe the Plumber's “Jobs for Ohio” tour. Among the appearances:

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Private Reception
Don Umerley Memorial Hall
21016 Hilliard Blvd.
Rocky River, OH

5:45 PM – 6:30 PM
Chairman's Reception
Stranahan Theater
4645 Heatherdowns Blvd.
Toledo, OH

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Public Rally
Don Umerley Memorial Hall
21016 Hilliard Blvd.
Rocky River, OH

6:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Lincoln Day Dinner
Stranahan Theater
4645 Heatherdowns Blvd
Toledo, OH

8:30 PM – 9:15 PM
Oak Harbor Rally
Open to Public
Ottawa County Fair Banquet Facility
7880 W SR 163
Oak Harbor, OH

Candidate commitments to '9-9-9' are just a part of the much broader Cain’s Solutions Revolution. To learn how this revolution is coming to life – across the nation, in our states and in our local communities, please visit www.cainconnections.com.


For More Information:
Kathy Hoekstra, Director of Media Relations
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Paid for by Cain Connections (www.CainConnections.com) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Cain Connections is a federal political committee.
"/>

For Immediate Release:
February 21, 2012

“'Joe the Plumber' Joins '9-9-9 The Revolution' in Congressional Bid”

Herman Cain to Join Joe Wurzelbacher for Ohio Events

(Atlanta) A familiar name has joined Herman Cain's ever-growing "9-9-9 The Revolution". The former businessman and former presidential frontrunner today announced that Joe Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. 'Joe the Plumber', has pledged his support for Cain's 9-9-9 economic growth and jobs plan.

Wurzelbacher is running as a Republican in Ohio's 9th Congressional District. The seat has been held by Democrat Marcy Kaptur for 30 years, and due to redistricting, she will face 10th District Representative Dennis Kucinich in the March 6th Primary election.

A simple, honest and bold question posed in 2008 to then-candidate Barack Obama about his small business tax plan launched the Ohio plumber into the national spotlight. Obama's answer that spreading the wealth around is “good for everybody” exposed the presidential hopeful for harboring a dangerous socialist agenda. Now, as a Congressional candidate, 'Joe the Plumber' wants to fight back after spending the “last 3 years watching now-President Obama make good on his threat of spreading the wealth around.”

On this battle, Wurzelbacher has an ally in Cain. In fact, a January 14, 2012 post in the Daily Beast favorably compared the two:

“Wurzelbacher shares with Cain an appetite for devolving power from the federal government to the states—and a zeal for tax reform. He, too, would like to blow up the federal income tax...In its place, Wurzelbacher favors a fair tax and a flat tax, and proclaims that Cain’s infamous “9-9-9” plan is better than “what we have now.”

Cain agrees and welcomes 'Joe the Plumber''s simple, honest and bold attitude to “9-9-9 The Revolution”.

“Joe is an unconventional candidate, just like I was,” Cain remarked. “He shows a true working man's appreciation for what it is to be a good steward of the hard-earned money the government takes from us in the form of taxes.”

“Joe the Plumber agrees that 'blowing up' the current federal tax code is paramount to the success of this nation.” Cain also joked, “And we have seen first hand he's not afraid to tell the president so.”

Wurtzelbacher's support adds his name to a list of more than a dozen 2012 U.S. Candidates who are committed to thoroughly reading the '9-9-9' legislation that is being drafted, and then working to make '9-9-9' the law of the land.

Cain and Wurtzelbacher will ride the “Cain Revolution” bus through Ohio on Friday, February 24 for a series of scheduled stops on Joe the Plumber's “Jobs for Ohio” tour. Among the appearances:

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Private Reception
Don Umerley Memorial Hall
21016 Hilliard Blvd.
Rocky River, OH

5:45 PM – 6:30 PM
Chairman's Reception
Stranahan Theater
4645 Heatherdowns Blvd.
Toledo, OH

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Public Rally
Don Umerley Memorial Hall
21016 Hilliard Blvd.
Rocky River, OH

6:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Lincoln Day Dinner
Stranahan Theater
4645 Heatherdowns Blvd
Toledo, OH

8:30 PM – 9:15 PM
Oak Harbor Rally
Open to Public
Ottawa County Fair Banquet Facility
7880 W SR 163
Oak Harbor, OH

Candidate commitments to '9-9-9' are just a part of the much broader Cain’s Solutions Revolution. To learn how this revolution is coming to life – across the nation, in our states and in our local communities, please visit www.cainconnections.com.


For More Information:
Kathy Hoekstra, Director of Media Relations
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Paid for by Cain Connections (www.CainConnections.com) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Cain Connections is a federal political committee.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/20

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

Delusion! That’s a very common problem in this world, and it’s been known to bring down gigantic companies—sometimes, even whole countries. Delusion! You know, there’s a big problem, but people pretend nothing’s wrong. We’ve seen delusion rear its head in recent days in Greece, where the coalition government refused to cut more civil service jobs as a condition of the new financing. After weeks of hesitating, the Greeks finally relented and did what they had to do: they cut 15,000 jobs. Delusion! For years, clear-minded people could see that Greece had overextended itself, but the Greek government kept spending money as if its fiscal structure was in no danger of collapsing, until it did. We’ve seen this in the United States, too. We saw it with General Motors. The numbers were plain as day for everyone to see, but for years General Motors didn’t change until the entire company found itself having a near-death experience. It’s easy to entertain delusion. It’s easy to keep doing what you’ve always done like there’s no problem, even when an honest look at the facts tells you danger lies ahead. U.S. taxpayers, we’re facing 15 trillion dollars in debt and 60 trillion dollars in unfunded entitlement costs. A delusional nation would keep doing what it’s always done: adding more debt and accepting more obligations as if nothing is wrong. A sober, responsible nation would make big changes, which is what’s required to fix a big problem. What will it be; delusion or reality? Reality, you get to choose in November.

I’m Herman Cain. We are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/20

The president also said the spending would keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent. It has not been below 8 percent since he made the prediction, which is a post-World War II record of 35 straight months above 8 percent. The administration (specifically the Bureau of Labor Statistics) has now changed who gets counted in the work force and who gets counted as unemployed to make the rate appear to be lower than it actually is.

Hush! The real number is over 15 percent, but don't tell anybody.

OBAMACARE: We were supposed to be able to keep our current insurance if we liked it. Insurance premiums were supposed to come down and more people would be covered. None of that happened. Even worse, a majority of the public did not even want ObamaCare.

NATIONAL SECURITY: The world is not safer. Defense spending is on a downward trajectory. Our military is being stretched. Terrorist attempts continue. Our southern border is not secure. The START treaty was a mistake because the president gave away too much, and now he wants to voluntarily reduce our nuclear arsenal. I don't feel secure.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: An extended moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, refusal to approve the Keystone Pipeline, mandatory reporting of "greenhouse gases" and a regulatory onslaught on the coal industry are not the path to energy independence. Energy dependence, which is what these policies produce, is a threat to our national security.

INVESTMENT IN SO-CALLED “GREEN JOBS”: More than a half a billion dollars of taxpayer money has been wasted on companies like Solyndra and Fister Automotive, which have filed for bankruptcy. Government should not be in the business of trying to pick winners and losers, and this administration has only picked losers. So-called “green jobs” will not save this economy.

FANNIE and FREDDIE: These giant mortgage holding companies were the catalyst for the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009. They are still at the heart of the housing crisis and are still being heavily subsidized by the taxpayers. The administration has just allowed business as usual to continue at these entities at our expense, and received no new oversight in the big-banks-biased Dodd-Frank financial deform legislation. Speaking of which . . .

DODD-FRANK: This bill was supposed to help prevent another financial meltdown, which we are very close to again because this legislation did not solve the problem. This bill has also had the consequence of forcing a lot of perfectly healthy smaller community banks out of business due to increased regulatory requirements. In a rush to pass the bill, many of these requirements were not properly vetted by the entire banking community.

I have listened to many small banks’ horror stories about how they were unfairly shut down by the regulators due to the impact of Dodd-Frank. Where’s that report?

NATIONAL DEBT: Insane! During the Obama Administration, the national debt has increased more than 50 percent in three years to more than $16 trillion. For that spending, the federal government is bigger, the economy is still stalled, the real unemployment rate is not decreasing, gasoline prices are headed back to $4 a gallon and our national debt is now bigger than our Gross Domestic Product. None of these are good outcomes.

SPACE PROGRAM: The administration cancelled the development of our next generation of space vehicles. We will now have to "thumb a ride" with Russia or other countries. That's not leadership. That’s allowing an American strength to become a weakness.

CASH for CLUNKERS: That failed program needs no further explanation.

President Obama did give the OK to complete the mission to take out our enemy Osama bin Laden. Kudos! The administration also bailed out General Motors and Chrysler, but the taxpayers will not recoup nearly $25 billion of the $85 billion bailout.

Based on the facts above, this presidency has been a failure. But consistently, about 45 percent of the American people have the perception that President Obama is doing a good job. That's the power of carefully crafted rhetoric, selective statistics and a pro-Obama mainstream media.
Let’s not reward President Obama’s failed report card with a second term. "/>

By Herman Cain

Based on President Obama's latest State of the Union address and speeches, he would probably grade his performance in the first three years of his presidency as an A or no less than a B. Let's examine the facts and see what the facts say about promised results versus actual results.

STIMULUS BILL ($862 billion): The Congressional Budget Office reported in November 2011 that 700,000 jobs may have been sustained as a result of this massive spending measure. The administration projected 3.5 million jobs would be created. (That’s more than $1.2 million per job, assuming it’s true.) The administration then concocted a definition for "saved" jobs to boost the results. Only liberals bought the phony definition and the result was still way short of projection.

The president also said the spending would keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent. It has not been below 8 percent since he made the prediction, which is a post-World War II record of 35 straight months above 8 percent. The administration (specifically the Bureau of Labor Statistics) has now changed who gets counted in the work force and who gets counted as unemployed to make the rate appear to be lower than it actually is.

Hush! The real number is over 15 percent, but don't tell anybody.

OBAMACARE: We were supposed to be able to keep our current insurance if we liked it. Insurance premiums were supposed to come down and more people would be covered. None of that happened. Even worse, a majority of the public did not even want ObamaCare.

NATIONAL SECURITY: The world is not safer. Defense spending is on a downward trajectory. Our military is being stretched. Terrorist attempts continue. Our southern border is not secure. The START treaty was a mistake because the president gave away too much, and now he wants to voluntarily reduce our nuclear arsenal. I don't feel secure.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: An extended moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, refusal to approve the Keystone Pipeline, mandatory reporting of "greenhouse gases" and a regulatory onslaught on the coal industry are not the path to energy independence. Energy dependence, which is what these policies produce, is a threat to our national security.

INVESTMENT IN SO-CALLED “GREEN JOBS”: More than a half a billion dollars of taxpayer money has been wasted on companies like Solyndra and Fister Automotive, which have filed for bankruptcy. Government should not be in the business of trying to pick winners and losers, and this administration has only picked losers. So-called “green jobs” will not save this economy.

FANNIE and FREDDIE: These giant mortgage holding companies were the catalyst for the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009. They are still at the heart of the housing crisis and are still being heavily subsidized by the taxpayers. The administration has just allowed business as usual to continue at these entities at our expense, and received no new oversight in the big-banks-biased Dodd-Frank financial deform legislation. Speaking of which . . .

DODD-FRANK: This bill was supposed to help prevent another financial meltdown, which we are very close to again because this legislation did not solve the problem. This bill has also had the consequence of forcing a lot of perfectly healthy smaller community banks out of business due to increased regulatory requirements. In a rush to pass the bill, many of these requirements were not properly vetted by the entire banking community.

I have listened to many small banks’ horror stories about how they were unfairly shut down by the regulators due to the impact of Dodd-Frank. Where’s that report?

NATIONAL DEBT: Insane! During the Obama Administration, the national debt has increased more than 50 percent in three years to more than $16 trillion. For that spending, the federal government is bigger, the economy is still stalled, the real unemployment rate is not decreasing, gasoline prices are headed back to $4 a gallon and our national debt is now bigger than our Gross Domestic Product. None of these are good outcomes.

SPACE PROGRAM: The administration cancelled the development of our next generation of space vehicles. We will now have to "thumb a ride" with Russia or other countries. That's not leadership. That’s allowing an American strength to become a weakness.

CASH for CLUNKERS: That failed program needs no further explanation.

President Obama did give the OK to complete the mission to take out our enemy Osama bin Laden. Kudos! The administration also bailed out General Motors and Chrysler, but the taxpayers will not recoup nearly $25 billion of the $85 billion bailout.

Based on the facts above, this presidency has been a failure. But consistently, about 45 percent of the American people have the perception that President Obama is doing a good job. That's the power of carefully crafted rhetoric, selective statistics and a pro-Obama mainstream media.
Let’s not reward President Obama’s failed report card with a second term.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/16

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

If you make a lot of money in this country, President Obama thinks you deserve to be punished. His latest class warfare proposal would do just that. It would require that anyone whose personal income exceeds one million dollars must pay at least 30 percent of their income in federal income taxes. Any kind of income over one million dollars would automatically be taxed at 30 percent, even if your tax liability was lower than 30 percent to begin with! Either way, if Obama has his way, you pay. You realize, of course, this is nothing more than punishment for success. It doesn’t matter to the president that people who earn their money through capital gains have put their capital at risk by investing in the growth of our nation’s economy, in the startup of a business, in the creation of jobs. This is why capital gains, which are rewards for putting after-tax earnings at risk, are taxed at a lower rate. That doesn’t matter to President Obama. All he sees is people making more money than he thinks they should, and he doesn’t like it. I don’t think you really think that way. I think you know that a job, an opportunity or capital to start a business isn’t going to come from someone who’s failed; it’s going to come from someone who succeeded. President Obama doesn’t understand this. We need a president who doesn’t want to punish you when you succeed!

I’m Herman Cain. We are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/16

[See why the GOP has a Gloomy-Gus problem.]

Cain could also benefit personally from the added exposure. He recently became a client of Washington Speakers Bureau, which books some of the priciest talent on the speaking circuit. In the past, Cain has commanded about $25,000 per speech, according to insiders, though his appeal may have slipped in the aftermath of the sexual harassment allegations.

Cain spokesman Mark Block says the former candidate hasn't done any paid speaking gigs since dropping out of the race, though he may in the future. Cain has also said he's not interested in the kind of TV network jobs that Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and others have signed on to.

"He would rather be flexible," says Block. "Network contracts typically tie you up in terms of what you can and can't do."

For now, Cain gets paid to produce a daily "news nuggets" feature for an Atlanta radio station, with a deal in the works for national syndication. If it catches on, Cain could become the next Paul Harvey—and 9-9-9 might blanket the airwaves all over again."/>

By: Rick Newman

Some public figures fade into obscurity when they're pushed off the national stage by a scandal. Not Herman Cain.

The former pizza CEO and Republican presidential candidate took a three-day vacation in Florida last December, after allegations of sexual improprieties by several women forced him out of the race—and spent most of the time plotting how to keep his 9-9-9 tax reform plan alive. The result will be a new book, tentatively titled 9-9-9 The Revolution.

[See how Romney and Obama differ on the economy.]

For those who didn't commit his plan to memory, Cain's idea was to scrap the existing tax code and institute a new scheme with a 9 percent tax on personal and corporate income, plus a 9 percent national sales tax. While catchy, critics argued that 9-9-9 lacked rigorous analysis and would probably leave the government significantly short of funds. Conservative complained about the national sales tax, a dreaded concept that they fear would lead to a gusher of new money that would only make government bigger.

The book is meant to flesh out 9-9-9 and turn it from a slogan into an executable plan. Cain hasn't completed the manuscript yet, according to people working with him, but hopes to have it on sale in bookstores by some time in April. Cain isn't using a traditional publisher. Instead, he has signed on to work witha New York lawyer and literary agent named Stan Pottinger, who held senior positions in the Nixon and Ford Administrations as a civil rights attorney. Pottinger plans to produce 9-9-9 The Revolution independently, with proceeds going to a nonprofit foundation Cain has started.

Judging by Cain's prior book sales, 9-9-9 The Revolution could be a modest success. Research firm Nielsen Bookscan, which captures about 75 percent of all book sales, recorded sales of about 33,000 in 2011 for This Is Herman Cain, the candidate's memoir. That's far short of the stratospheric sales figures reached by people like Sarah Palin and Barack Obama, but still very respectable for somebody who was practically unknown a year ago.

[See why Herman Cain's economic plan has merit.]

Cain, in fact, is pursuing series of initiatives meant to turn 9-9-9 into a movement—and get legislation introduced in Congress. In addition to his Cain Foundation, there's another nonprofit group, The Cain Solutions, that will organize educational events in Washington. He's been on a bus tour of college campuses to drum up support for 9-9-9, including one rally in South Carolina where he played sidekick to comedian and faux candidate Stephen Colbert.

Like anybody who's anybody in politics, Cain has also formed a SuperPAC, Cain Connections, which will raise funds to promote 9-9-9 throughout the elections and support like-minded candidates. Cain has already endorsed Newt Gingrich—who has proposed a different tax plan that might be dubbed 15-12.5-0, since it would entail a 15 percent flat rate on income, a 12.5 percent corporate tax and no national sales tax. Cain also backs other Republican candidates such as Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, who's running for the House in Ohio, former restaurateur Craig Miller, who's running for the House in Florida, and Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, who's angling for the Senate this year.

[See why the GOP has a Gloomy-Gus problem.]

Cain could also benefit personally from the added exposure. He recently became a client of Washington Speakers Bureau, which books some of the priciest talent on the speaking circuit. In the past, Cain has commanded about $25,000 per speech, according to insiders, though his appeal may have slipped in the aftermath of the sexual harassment allegations.

Cain spokesman Mark Block says the former candidate hasn't done any paid speaking gigs since dropping out of the race, though he may in the future. Cain has also said he's not interested in the kind of TV network jobs that Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and others have signed on to.

"He would rather be flexible," says Block. "Network contracts typically tie you up in terms of what you can and can't do."

For now, Cain gets paid to produce a daily "news nuggets" feature for an Atlanta radio station, with a deal in the works for national syndication. If it catches on, Cain could become the next Paul Harvey—and 9-9-9 might blanket the airwaves all over again.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/15

11:33 am February 14, 2012, by jgalloway

A spokeswoman for Herman Cain confirmed this morning that the former GOP presidential candidate was approached by ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” to appear on this season’s competition
.
But Cain nixed the idea. “He can’t dance in an eight-count. He can only dance in a nine-count,” said Lisa Reichert, Cain’s executive assistant.

Nine-count. Get it? 9-9-9.

“Dancing with the Stars” has learned the advantages of mixing the quick-step with politics. Its 2010 season featured Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin, and former U.S. House majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

But wait, there’s more. USA Today reports that show producers were also eyeing Michele Bachmann.

Competitors for the 2012 season are to be announced Feb. 28. No doubt an attempt to compete for attention with that day’s primaries in Michigan and Arizona.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/14

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

Another $193 Million dollars of our money—up in smoke. The Obama Administration loves the idea of promoting green energy and green products, and it’s sunk billions of our tax dollars into companies that make these products, but the companies keep failing. You’ve already heard about Solyndra. The latest is Fisker Automotive, which has already received 193 million dollars in loans from the Obama energy department on the promise that it would create 2,000 new jobs making electric cars. Fisker is supposed to be producing two lines of cars: a luxury model that will set you back $103,000, and an “affordable” model that costs only $45,000. The Obama crew believes in this business model, but it seems no one else does, and Fisker can’t keep enough financing in place to operate its plant, so now it’s laying off 26 people so it can qualify for more government money. This is insane! How hard is this for them to understand? The idea of cars running on electricity is great in theory, but people aren’t going to pay over $100,000 for an electric car! The rich didn’t get rich by being stupid! It’s time to end these embarrassing subsidies. If a company has a product that can work, let them get the financing and sell it at a reasonable price for a profit. If they can’t do that, they don’t deserve to be in business.

I’m Herman Cain, and unlike the people who make these idiotic policies, we are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/13

By Herman Cain / February 12, 2012

There are many theories about why Russia and China last week vetoed a United Nations resolution endorsing an Arab League plan to transfer power from Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. Some say Vladimir Putin doesn’t want to go against a fellow strongman because a lot of them have been losing power lately, and he doesn’t want to be next.

China has tended to follow Russia’s lead on this issue – also joining in a two-party veto in September of a UN resolution condemning Assad’s autocratic behavior and the violence it is engendering.

They won’t even condemn the violence?

But there is one thing that should be abundantly clear from this action and many others that have occurred in recent years: Russia and China are not friends of the United States. Recognizing clear facts like this is what I mean when I talk, as I did during my presidential campaign, about peace through strength with clarity.

There are reasons that Russia and China pursue interests that diverge from our own – not that we justify these reasons, but we certainly must understand them and account for them as we develop strategies to counter the challenges these nations pose.

Russia and China have different cultures, different political traditions and different geo-political realities of their own to face. Russia and China may also have a different definition of peace than we do, and they certainly want our strength. That’s clear. A foreign policy that would ignore all of this would be a mistake.

But a wise foreign policy recognizes simple facts, which start with the fact that certain countries are rivals of the United States. We don’t attempt to deny the obvious when it comes to hostile regimes like those in Iran and North Korea. Indeed, the leaders of these nations do a fine job all their own of expressing their hostility toward us.

But for various reasons – many of them foolishly of our own making – we are reluctant to be clear about the nature of regimes like China and Russia.

We owe China a lot of money, of course, because we have refused for generations to be fiscally responsible in federal budgeting. They are also a major trading partner, and while there is no hard and fast rule that you can’t be a trading partner with a hostile nation, the compromised nature of our economic relationship with China makes it harder for us to see or speak clearly about the fact that their interests are not the same as ours.

In the case of Russia, the U.S. was justifiably excited after the fall of communism about the opportunity to develop a different kind of relationship with a free Russia – on everything from economic and trade relations to issues concerning nuclear proliferation. But as the one-promising Yeltsin government became mired in corruption, and it gave way to the increasingly autocratic leadership of Putin, the U.S. became unwilling to face facts. One of the worst examples was the Obama Administration’s decision to welch on the U.S. commitment to install missile defense systems in Eastern Europe – all because the Russians didn’t like it.

A nation with clarity in foreign policy matters would have understood that its first responsibility is to its own security and that of its allies. A nation that fears clarity would do what Obama did.
On the matter of Assad and Syria, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Russians were unwilling to work with the U.S. on a solution, even after the U.S. unconditionally took the option of military intervention off the table as a concession to the Russians. A nation with clarity in foreign policy matters would not make such concessions in the fruitless pursuit of support from a nation that can perhaps be worked with in certain situations, but is fundamentally not our friend.

Nations who prop up unfriendly dictators in opposition to U.S. goals are not confused about their interests. They want things that are not good for America or for our allies, and that’s because they are not our allies.

It’s OK for us to say that, and it’s essential for us to know it, because if we don’t then we’re going to keep getting played for fools. That’s not strength. That’s a sign of weakness.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/13

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. We are not STUPID.

Religious freedom attacked! The Obama Administration’s decision to force all employers to cover contraception in their health insurance plans tramples our religious freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution! Now the administration is backpedalling, saying instead that it will force insurance companies to do their dirty work of offering free contraceptive services to employers’ employees. That’s no compromise. The churches are not the only ones who should be outraged at this overreach of big brother government. We should all be outraged. Remember, this was one of the big reasons that led to the America Revolution in 1775. Whether you believe in contraception or not is not the issue; the real issue is the use of government force to impose a social agenda and pull healthcare decisions further and further away from the healthcare consumers. The Obama Administrating is making up the regulatory rules of Obamacare on the fly. Decisions about how insurance works, what must be provided and who must pay for it are trying to be made by the federal government. Real healthcare reform would put the power back in the hands of patients to deal directly with their healthcare providers and get all the other parties out of the way! Obamacare did the opposite. We need a legislative solution to correct this regulatory overreach and to repeal Obamacare altogether. If not, today it’s a contraceptive mandate forced on employers and insurers; tomorrow, a toothpaste mandate.

I’m Herman Cain. We are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/11

Cain, a former GOP presidential candidate, applauded Wurzelbacher for backing Cain's 9-9-9 economic plan, which calls for a 9 percent flat tax on businesses and individuals, and a 9 percent national sales tax.

"I'm happy that one of the people that's running for United States Congress in the state of Ohio, in a very challenging district, has adopted 9-9-9, and I am endorsing his candidacy," said Cain. "It's my friend, Joe the Plumber."

Wurzelbacher - who was dubbed "Joe the Plumber" after asking future president Barack Obama a televised question about taxes during the 2008 presidential campaign - publicized Cain's backing in a press release which also noted his campaign had secured a $5,000 donation from the tea-party inspired Western Representation PAC. Wurzelbacher proclaimed his campaign "to bring working class conservative values to Washington, D.C., is really taking off."

"It is clear that we are going to be able to raise the funds to put on a serious race in the 9th district," said Wurzelbacher, who resides in Holland. "With the support of Tea Party leaders like Herman Cain, and Western PAC, we will have the volunteer energy and resources to bring our message to the people of this district. We are going into March 6 strong, and we will go into November even stronger."

Wurzelbacher faces Huron auctioneer Steven Kraus in the GOP primary for the newly configured congressional district that stretches between Toledo and Cleveland along Lake Erie.

The district - which Ohio's GOP controlled legislature configured to favor Democrats - features a high profile Democratic primary between incumbent congress members Marcy Kaptur of Toledo and Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland. Video production company owner Graham Veysey of Cleveland is also making a longshot bid in that race.

The congressional districts now represented by Kaptur and Kucinich were consolidated because Ohio is losing two of its 18 congressional seats since is population isn't growing as quickly as other states."/>

By Sabrina Eaton, The Plain Dealer

Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain endorsed the congressional candidacy of Ohio's Samuel J. Wurzelbacher - best known as "Joe the Plumber" - during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.

Cain, a former GOP presidential candidate, applauded Wurzelbacher for backing Cain's 9-9-9 economic plan, which calls for a 9 percent flat tax on businesses and individuals, and a 9 percent national sales tax.

"I'm happy that one of the people that's running for United States Congress in the state of Ohio, in a very challenging district, has adopted 9-9-9, and I am endorsing his candidacy," said Cain. "It's my friend, Joe the Plumber."

Wurzelbacher - who was dubbed "Joe the Plumber" after asking future president Barack Obama a televised question about taxes during the 2008 presidential campaign - publicized Cain's backing in a press release which also noted his campaign had secured a $5,000 donation from the tea-party inspired Western Representation PAC. Wurzelbacher proclaimed his campaign "to bring working class conservative values to Washington, D.C., is really taking off."

"It is clear that we are going to be able to raise the funds to put on a serious race in the 9th district," said Wurzelbacher, who resides in Holland. "With the support of Tea Party leaders like Herman Cain, and Western PAC, we will have the volunteer energy and resources to bring our message to the people of this district. We are going into March 6 strong, and we will go into November even stronger."

Wurzelbacher faces Huron auctioneer Steven Kraus in the GOP primary for the newly configured congressional district that stretches between Toledo and Cleveland along Lake Erie.

The district - which Ohio's GOP controlled legislature configured to favor Democrats - features a high profile Democratic primary between incumbent congress members Marcy Kaptur of Toledo and Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland. Video production company owner Graham Veysey of Cleveland is also making a longshot bid in that race.

The congressional districts now represented by Kaptur and Kucinich were consolidated because Ohio is losing two of its 18 congressional seats since is population isn't growing as quickly as other states.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/10

"I would love to come and address your event in Japan, if that is something that you all would want me to do. . . . I would be honored to do so," Cain told Aeba and Watase, who have organized public rallies against government proposals for higher taxes in Japan.

Cain's 9-9-9 plan helped boost the retired restaurant executive to the top of the polls in October. His proposal -- which would replace the current tax code with 9 percent flat taxes on personal income, corporate income and retail sales -- was praised by the Wall Street Journal and others who credited Cain's campaign with making tax reform a central focus of the debate among Republican presidential contenders.

Aeba, whose fledgling HRP has made tax reduction and economic growth a key part of its policy agenda, told Cain he wanted to adapt his 9-9-9 plan at an even lower rate: 7-7-7.

"We got this idea from the Americans for Tax Reform, Mr. Grover Norquist," Aeba told Cain through a translator. When he heard Aeba pronounce "7-7-7," Cain laughed approvingly.

"I understood that without translation," Cain said, and immediately asked whether the 7 percent rate would be revenue-neutral. Aeba replied that he hopes to get "more detailed analysis," but said he believes the plan would stimulate the economy enough to produce the same amount of revenue at the lower rate. "The Japanese people will have more income and ... will buy more goods, so the Japanese economy will recover," Aeba said.

"I would be honored to come [to Japan] and endorse 7-7-7," Cain said.

Cain met with the Japanese activists in his suite at Washington's Marriott Wardman Park hotel after addressing Thursday's opening day of the 39th Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The former Repbulican presidential candidate drew applause as he told the crowd, "We must outsmart the liberals. We must outsmart the stupid people that are trying to ruin America. We outnumber the stupid people. Trust me, I counted them." Cain called for a "second American Revolution," and blamed "gutter politics" for the sexual allegations that led him to suspend his presidential campaign in December. He continues to promote his 9-9-9 plan through his Cain Connections Web site.

Cain's candidacy drew on his support among Tea Party activists who had heard him speak at rallies in 2009 and 2010, when the grassroots movement sparked resistance to the Obama administration's agenda. The Tea Party was widely credited with helping Republicans achieve a historic landslide in the 2010 mid-term elections.

The American Tea Party movement has inspired similar populist protest movements around the world. Last year, Tea Party Patriots founder Kelli Carender met with Watase and other Japanese activists who oppose tax-increase plans by that country's ruling Liberal Democratic Party."/>

By ROBERT STACY MCCAIN

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Herman Cain's famous 9-9-9 tax proposal has inspired international admiration, and two Japanese activists hope to bring their own version of the Atlanta businessman's plan to their country.

During a private meeting Thursday with Tokyo Tea Party leader Yuya Watase and Jikido "Jay" Aeba of Japan's Happiness Realization Party (HRP), Cain agreed to travel to Japan and speak at events to promote the idea.

"I would love to come and address your event in Japan, if that is something that you all would want me to do. . . . I would be honored to do so," Cain told Aeba and Watase, who have organized public rallies against government proposals for higher taxes in Japan.

Cain's 9-9-9 plan helped boost the retired restaurant executive to the top of the polls in October. His proposal -- which would replace the current tax code with 9 percent flat taxes on personal income, corporate income and retail sales -- was praised by the Wall Street Journal and others who credited Cain's campaign with making tax reform a central focus of the debate among Republican presidential contenders.

Aeba, whose fledgling HRP has made tax reduction and economic growth a key part of its policy agenda, told Cain he wanted to adapt his 9-9-9 plan at an even lower rate: 7-7-7.

"We got this idea from the Americans for Tax Reform, Mr. Grover Norquist," Aeba told Cain through a translator. When he heard Aeba pronounce "7-7-7," Cain laughed approvingly.

"I understood that without translation," Cain said, and immediately asked whether the 7 percent rate would be revenue-neutral. Aeba replied that he hopes to get "more detailed analysis," but said he believes the plan would stimulate the economy enough to produce the same amount of revenue at the lower rate. "The Japanese people will have more income and ... will buy more goods, so the Japanese economy will recover," Aeba said.

"I would be honored to come [to Japan] and endorse 7-7-7," Cain said.

Cain met with the Japanese activists in his suite at Washington's Marriott Wardman Park hotel after addressing Thursday's opening day of the 39th Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The former Repbulican presidential candidate drew applause as he told the crowd, "We must outsmart the liberals. We must outsmart the stupid people that are trying to ruin America. We outnumber the stupid people. Trust me, I counted them." Cain called for a "second American Revolution," and blamed "gutter politics" for the sexual allegations that led him to suspend his presidential campaign in December. He continues to promote his 9-9-9 plan through his Cain Connections Web site.

Cain's candidacy drew on his support among Tea Party activists who had heard him speak at rallies in 2009 and 2010, when the grassroots movement sparked resistance to the Obama administration's agenda. The Tea Party was widely credited with helping Republicans achieve a historic landslide in the 2010 mid-term elections.

The American Tea Party movement has inspired similar populist protest movements around the world. Last year, Tea Party Patriots founder Kelli Carender met with Watase and other Japanese activists who oppose tax-increase plans by that country's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/06

As President Obama continues his class warfare rhetoric, insisting that the rich should pay more in taxes, he continues to show that he has a different definition of fairness than most of us. In addition to his so-called “Buffet Rule” and saying that it is not fair that Buffet’s secretary pays more in taxes than her billionaire boss, Warren Buffet, he recently invoked the words of Jesus to try to intimidate or shame people out of opposing his desire to raise taxes on the rich.

By the way, who defines rich? Is there a Department of Definitions that has been secretly established in Washington, D. C. that we don’t know about? Maybe it is next door to the Department of Happy, since President Obama, his administration and the Democrats believe they can make people happy by continuing to tax, spend and give away other people’s money.

The lame example of Buffet’s secretary is comparing apples and oranges. Warren Buffet’s accountants have mastered the complex and unfair tax code to shelter as much of Buffet’s income from taxation as is legally possible. By contrast, Buffet’s secretary pays income and payroll taxes on her $100,000-a-year salary.

As a result, President Obama shows once again he is not interested in fixing the real problem, which is the tax code. He wants to add the words of Jesus Christ to his inventory of class warfare rhetoric. But making people envious of other people’s money or property was not a teaching of Jesus.

By the way, Obama completely misunderstands the passage he was quoting, which was Luke 12:48. In fact, the passage was part of a parable Jesus told about money managers who had been entrusted with different levels of their master’s wealth – and those who did well with the man’s wealth were rewarded, while those who did not were beaten.

The meaning of the parable was that when God gives people gifts, He expects them to be fruitful with them – not that people who “have been given” wealth (as if wealthy people just had their money given to them) are supposed to turn it over to the government. The real meaning of the passage could not be more different from what Obama wants it to mean.

So instead of rhetoric and bad Bible teaching, let’s look at some hard income tax facts from the latest available Internal Revenue Service data. For 2008, the top 10 percent of taxpayers paid 70 percent of all income taxes. The top 50 percent of taxpayers paid 97 percent of all income taxes, which means the bottom 50 percent paid 3 percent of all income taxes.

That’s not fair enough for Obama!

Some of us know that this is not about fairness at all. It’s about total redistribution of income to punish those who work hard and take risks, and to make those who do not more dependent on Big Brother government.

The class warfare rhetoric is also not about helping the needy. Churches and community-based organizations do a much better job of helping the needy than any government program. And where do those community organizations get most of their funding from? They get it from those greedy evil “rich” people, plus a lot of people who are not rich but have big giving hearts.

If President Obama was really interested in helping more people move into the top 50 percent of taxpayers, or maybe even become a millionaire or billionaire, he and Congress would replace the current tax code and stop adding more and more regulatory requirements on businesses. The burden of both taxes and senseless regulations also make starting a new business far more difficult than it used to be.

Instead, we are going to hear another debate about extending the payroll tax cut, which most people could not even notice in their paychecks when they got it, and more about once again extending unemployment benefits with money the government does not have.

Raising taxes on the rich, or anybody, is only going to make things worse for families, businesses, the unemployed and the underemployed. That’s a fact the president and the Democrats refuse to acknowledge.

All of the president’s fairness rhetoric is just that – rhetoric. It can’t help people find jobs, buy food or gasoline, nor can it give this economy the boost it needs.

That’s unfair to all of us.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/03

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

Washington is broken. The United States of America is broke. And our tax code is insane. Let’s replace the tax code with my 9-9-9 Economic Growth and Jobs Plan. The 9-9-9 Revolution is not a Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal or libertarian movement; it is a We the People Movement. It rises above the political rhetoric, candidate attacks and the president’s blame game. This is a solutions revolution that you can find at cainconnections.com. The strategy is straight-forward and simple. We will mobilize citizens by congressional districts to obtain commitments from candidates running for Congress before they get elected in order to have their commitment that they will vote for the 9-9-9 legislation. Let’s transfer power back to the people. That’s the way this country was founded, and that’s what it will take to save this country. We must save it from the outside in order to bring about the right kind of changes inside Washington. It was Edmund Burke, the Irish philosopher, who said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” I will not be guilty of doing nothing. Remember, it is not about us, it’s about our grandchildren. Join the Revolution!

This is Herman Cain. We are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/02

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

The Obama Administration is opening up our missile defense secrets to Russia and making United States Military technology transparent to our potential enemies. If you haven’t heard this, listen! The fiscal 2012 Defense Authorization Bill was signed into law recently, but besides the president wanting to gut our military at a time of critical threats around the world, something else stood out. In the president’s signing statement, Barack Obama claims that long held restrictions on sharing top secret data on our SM3 Missile Defense System might intrude on the president’s constitutional authority. In fact, the Obama Administration plans to provide Moscow with data on the highly effective, cutting edge interceptors, even though top secret officials say, “Don’t do it!” Is anyone in the press asking the president to explain why he’s sharing critical defense data with the Russians? The world is not safer. It simply doesn’t make sense to propose huge defense spending cuts and give away our technological defense assets at the same time. But President Obama apparently believes sharing classified military information with foreign governments will only serve to improve foreign relations. We’re not buying it. Mr. President, giving away classified military information and singing “Kumbaya” does not work!

This is Herman Cain. We are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/02

http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/01/what-mitt-romney-could-learn-from-herman-cain/#ixzz1lEyWQCp7"/>

By Tara Wall
CNN Political Contributor

The Cain train is “still on the move,” as the former GOP presidential hopeful quipped this morning on “Fox & Friends.” Herman Cain is gliding along a familiar track as a surrogate and Republican message-bearer. These are roles the pizza man has played in the past and is well-suited for. Advocates of inclusive messaging, take note.

During the 2004 presidential cycle, when I was the director of outreach communications at the Republican National Committee, Herman Cain, then-RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie and I toured urban areas touting a message of “economic empowerment.” This time, Cain is making the rounds as a mouthpiece for the Newt Gingrich campaign. It’s a smart move for Gingrich, who is no stranger to reaching out to ethnic minorities. I know this from first-hand experience, having worked with the speaker briefly in 2006, when I was senior adviser to then-RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman.

Regardless of who wins the Republican nomination, there are two big takeaways from the comments Cain made this morning.

1.) Gingrich has charged Cain with reaching out to college students. Why? As Cain explained to Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson:

“They like my personality and my sense of humor, and the way I talk about the issues connects with the youth. They are not going to necessarily watch the Sunday morning talk shows. So if you want to get the message there, you have to go to them.”

He’s right. Having an ability to connect with younger voters (no matter the reason) is crucial for any campaign. We don’t know why young voters like what they like, we just know when they do, they do. Strategically capitalizing on persona is an authentic move by a campaign that understands this dynamic.

2.) Cain went on to explain to Carlson the importance of reaching three obvious GOP target groups: base Republicans, evangelical Christians and independents. Then, he said something really interesting: The eventual GOP nominee will need to reach out to traditionally Democratic groups as well. As he put it: “There are some disgruntled Democrats who have buyer’s remorse — that’s how we win in November.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/01/what-mitt-romney-could-learn-from-herman-cain/#ixzz1lEyWQCp7

Posted by Herman Cain on 02/01

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

The Florida Republican Primary result for president was no surprise. Congratulations to Mitt Romney. He won it with a lot of money spent, nearly five to one over Newt Gingrich, and most of it negative. Was it the money spent or the negative attacks? Let’s hope that the negative attacks on both sides cease, because I believe that the American voters are sick of the negative attacks. The surprise result coming out of the Florida Primary was the shift in demographics in terms of Romney voters. Mitt Romney picked up more Christians, more Tea Party people and more women voters than expected. The implication is that the political landscape is changing. But will it continue? The Florida result did not end the process as some people in the media want you to think. It’s still heating up. Don’t let the media make you think that just because Mitt Romney won Florida it is over, it is not. Remember Super Tuesday, March 6, is just around the corner, so it’s a long way from being over. And when the primary comes to your state, make sure you’re a part of the solution; make sure you vote. If you don’t vote, you might be stupid. So be a part of the solution for America.

This is Herman Cain. We are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/31

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

A lot of people are liberal and don’t know it. If you believe this nation can spend its way to prosperity, you might be a liberal. If you believe government creates jobs instead of the business sector, you might be a liberal. If you believe this economy is in a recovery, you are in denial. If you believe the Obama Administration has delivered on its promises, you might be a liberal. If you believe our out-of-control national debt, “it’s not a problem,” you might be a liberal. If you believe that Washington is broken, you are awake. If you believe the so-called rich do not pay enough in taxes, you might be a liberal. If you believe you can help the poor by hurting the rich, you might be a liberal. If you believe a tax refund is a gift from the government, you are an IDIOT! If you believe the tax code and big government are your friends, you are insane. If you believe you wanna leave our grandchildren a better future, you get it. If you believe we need a brains and balance revolution, instead of bombs and bullets in this country, you are a patriot! Join the revolution at cainconnections.com.

I’m Herman Cain, and we are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/31

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

Class warfare is classless. There is nothing noble about playing one group of people against another based on their income or financial status. It’s just an attempt to make some people feel envious of others for what they have achieved, rather than trying to learn how they achieved it. Rich people got rich by taking risks and working 70 to 80 hours a week. Equal opportunity does not mean equal results without equal effort. It doesn’t work that way here in the United States of America. And another thing: What is “rich”? How do you define “rich”? Who heads up the U.S. Department of Definitions? Maybe it’s next door to the Department of Happy, since the Obama Administration believes they can give away enough of other people’s money to make other people happy. That’s just not what the Founding Fathers intended by the pursuit of happiness. You achieve success the old fashioned way: work for it. Abraham Lincoln said, “You don’t help the poor by hurting the rich.” What a novel idea! And that idea is priceless.

I’m Herman Cain. No, we are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/30

Fresh off a weekend in which he scored two highly important endorsements — an outright endorsement from former competitor Herman Cain and another pseudo-endorsement from Sarah Palin — Newt Gingrich nevertheless trails Mitt Romney in the Florida polls. Gingrich’s likely second-place finish might not be what he hoped for after his decisive victory in South Carolina, but neither will it substantively change the overall shape of the race. Except for a brief few days last week, Romney was always expected to win Florida — and the other candidates will have plenty of chances for first-place finishes in future states. In other words, the order in Florida tomorrow — no matter what it is — probably won’t be too determinative for any of the candidates. At this point, they all plan to continue to campaign regardless.

In part, that’s because they’ve all done a decent job of managing expectations when it comes to this primary. For example, Herman Cain today explained why Gingrich could even consider second place in Florida an overall “win” for his campaign.

“My expectation isn’t necessarily that he will win because of the sheer difference in spending. But my expectation is that he is going to have a much stronger showing than the weekend polls have been showing. There was one last night that showed that Gingrich is a lot closer to Romney,” Cain said during an interview with Fox News. “So this thing is so dynamic, we won’t know until the votes are counted tomorrow night in Florida.”

Cain said that considering the circumstances, he would consider a second-place finish a “win” in the Florida primary – and reiterated Gingrich’s pledge to carry forward past Florida.

“If he finishes second, I would consider that a win because next he goes to Nevada, Maine and we’ve got Super Tuesday coming up and there’s a very important state that’s on Super Tuesday, Georgia, and so I happen to believe that if he comes in second he keeps on going,” Cain said.

Romney has, indeed, outspent Gingrich in the Sunshine State, and money matters even more in a large state like Florida than it does in smaller states. The Romney campaign says the former Massachusetts governor leads Gingrich because he outperformed him at the two most recent GOP debates — and it’s true the polls tipped back in Romney’s favor after the debates — but it’s still hard to believe all that anti-Gingrich spending has nothing to do with his comfortable lead in Florida.

Meanwhile, Gingrich leads in one survey of Florida voters: Today, Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots announced that Gingrich leads her organization’s Tea Party Straw Poll in Florida with 35 percent of the vote.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/30

In a sea of negativity and distractions in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, I decided to throw my support behind former Speaker Newt Gingrich because I can now see much clearer distinctions between President Obama and Newt than I do between Governor Mitt Romney and the president.

These distinctions are between Obama’s hodgepodge of foggy small ideas, which he talked about in his State of the Union address, and Speaker Gingrich’s clear and bold solutions for solving the crises we face as a nation. And yes, my bold 9-9-9 tax reform plan is a serious consideration for Speaker Gingrich, which is why I accepted his invitation to co-chair his Economic Growth and Tax Reform Advisory Council.

The polls do not agree with my assessment of Speaker Gingrich, and it appears that the so-called political establishment does not agree. But remember, I’m Mr. Unconventional, and the ability of the Republican nominee to highlight distinctions clearly in the general election campaign will be critical to achieving the ultimate mission of defeating President Obama.

My decision was not based on the political pundits’ attempted labeling of the candidates as conservative, most conservative,moderate, liberal Republican, not a true conservative, not a real conservative or any other of the concocted labels by which they try to pigeonhole candidates.

My decision to support Speaker Gingrich was also not influenced by all of the attacks and dirt dug up from Newt’s personal and political past, which all of the campaigns are guilty of doing – including Newt’s. As a reminder, Newt specifically tried to stay out of the negative attack mode but was forced into it after being bombarded with attacks in Iowa, and some early attacks in South Carolina, where he not only survived but won the primary.

The bombardment of attacks on Newt is being launched again in Florida. I believe he will survive as the clarity of his solutions rises above the rhetoric.
And now, some of the former Members of Congress who served with Newt when he was Speaker of the House are trashing Newt, even though many former members thought highly of his leadership as Speaker. Their trash and attempts to say Newt was not a “Reagan conservative” (here we go again with the labels) are certainly adding credence to the emerging perception that the so-called Republican establishment is pushing hard for Mitt Romney to be the nominee.

That’s because the establishment does not want bold changes in Washington, D.C.

The bottom line is that the voters will decide. That’s why the voters got my first endorsement as announced previously, because the people have to remain inspired or the establishment wins. Most of us just want the people to win, and win with a people’s president in November.

Here are nine of Speaker Gingrich’s positives:

- He successfully led the passage of nine out of ten provisions in the Contract with America when he was Speaker of the House.
- He was a key player in passing welfare reform in the 1990s, and got President Bill Clinton to sign the legislation.
- He left Congress and spent years studying and developing bold ideas and solutions to our problems, many of which he is using as a candidate. This hiatus as an elected official gave him time for his head to clear and identify how to fix a broken Washington, D.C.
- He will ruffle feathers in Washington in order to change Washington.
- He will be bold in boosting economic growth because he understands that less government is the key, not more government as Obama believes.
- He believes in removing regulatory barriers so this country can become energy-independent by maximizing all of our natural resources.
- He is an outstanding debater and his language connects with people.
- He fearlessly body-slammed the media in a recent debate, which showed strong conviction, character and leadership qualities.
- His motivation to be president is the same as our motivation for bold solutions in Washington, D.C. It’s not about us. It’s about the grandchildren.

Thomas Jefferson said, “When people have the right information, then they will make the right decisions.” It is way past time for the media and campaigns to focus on solutions so people can get the right information.

We must make the right decision in November 2012

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/29

Cain was catapulted to national attention when his own campaign for the nomination took off in the fall. His signature 9-9-9 plan, which would have provided 9 percent taxation on income tax, corporate tax, and new national sales taxes, caught fire with the public. At one time, he led in the polls for the right to take on President Barack Obama in November. But his campaign faltered and he dropped out of the race in early December.

Cain and Gingrich both come from the Atlanta area and have been friends for more than 20 years. The two men worked together in the early 1990s to help defeat Hillary Clinton’s plans for healthcare, and as House speaker, Gingrich appointed Cain to the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform Commission, better known as the Kemp Commission.

Gingrich said he was “honored” to have Cain’s support and immediately announced that the former pizza mogul would co-chair his tax reform and economic growth advisory council.

“America’s challenges are too great for mere tinkering around the edges. Just like Herman, who ran his campaign based on big ideas, I am running on bold solutions that will boost job creation, cut bureaucratic red tape, and fundamentally transform Washington,” Gingrich said.

When Cain suspended his presidential campaign, he promised to stay engaged. This he has done. The watershed moment of that engagement might very well be his endorsement of his former rival for the highest office in the land.

The venue for the endorsement was as unique as Cain’s spirited style, with Gingrich actually stepping in for Herman Cain as the headliner for the Palm Beach County event. The former House speaker took over Cain's spot as keynote speaker at the Palm Beach County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner Saturday evening. Cain then stole back the limelight with his surprise endorsement.

The event came three days ahead of Florida's presidential primary.

Previously, Cain had been tapped by the Tea Party Express to give its response to the 2012 State of the Union address. His 13-minute speech was critiqued as being a lot more animated and vigorous than Indiana governor Mitch Daniels’ official GOP response.

Also not long ago, on Fox News this morning, Cain applauded Gingrich’s well-received admonishment of CNN’s John King, who infamously opened a two-hour debate by asking the former Georgia congressman whether he wanted to respond to an accusation from his ex-wife. Both men agreed that it demeaned the presidential forum.

Read more on Newsmax.com: Cain Endorses Gingrich for President "/>

By Martin Gould and Dave Eberhart

Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain endorsed Newt Gingrich for the GOP nomination late on Saturday — at the same time accepting a position as the former House speaker’s tax reform chairman.

The author of the now-famous 9-9-9 tax plan announced his endorsement in West Palm Beach, Fla., three days ahead of that state’s vital primary. The endorsement is a welcome boost for Gingrich, who has found himself having to defend himself against a vicious onslaught of attacks from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"It is time for conservatives and Republicans to refocus their attention on the ultimate mission of defeating President Obama," Cain said at the Palm Beach County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner. "I believe Speaker Gingrich is the bold leader we need to accomplish this mission."

Cain was catapulted to national attention when his own campaign for the nomination took off in the fall. His signature 9-9-9 plan, which would have provided 9 percent taxation on income tax, corporate tax, and new national sales taxes, caught fire with the public. At one time, he led in the polls for the right to take on President Barack Obama in November. But his campaign faltered and he dropped out of the race in early December.

Cain and Gingrich both come from the Atlanta area and have been friends for more than 20 years. The two men worked together in the early 1990s to help defeat Hillary Clinton’s plans for healthcare, and as House speaker, Gingrich appointed Cain to the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform Commission, better known as the Kemp Commission.

Gingrich said he was “honored” to have Cain’s support and immediately announced that the former pizza mogul would co-chair his tax reform and economic growth advisory council.

“America’s challenges are too great for mere tinkering around the edges. Just like Herman, who ran his campaign based on big ideas, I am running on bold solutions that will boost job creation, cut bureaucratic red tape, and fundamentally transform Washington,” Gingrich said.

When Cain suspended his presidential campaign, he promised to stay engaged. This he has done. The watershed moment of that engagement might very well be his endorsement of his former rival for the highest office in the land.

The venue for the endorsement was as unique as Cain’s spirited style, with Gingrich actually stepping in for Herman Cain as the headliner for the Palm Beach County event. The former House speaker took over Cain's spot as keynote speaker at the Palm Beach County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner Saturday evening. Cain then stole back the limelight with his surprise endorsement.

The event came three days ahead of Florida's presidential primary.

Previously, Cain had been tapped by the Tea Party Express to give its response to the 2012 State of the Union address. His 13-minute speech was critiqued as being a lot more animated and vigorous than Indiana governor Mitch Daniels’ official GOP response.

Also not long ago, on Fox News this morning, Cain applauded Gingrich’s well-received admonishment of CNN’s John King, who infamously opened a two-hour debate by asking the former Georgia congressman whether he wanted to respond to an accusation from his ex-wife. Both men agreed that it demeaned the presidential forum.

Read more on Newsmax.com: Cain Endorses Gingrich for President

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/29

Cain said he made his final decision to back Gingrich on Saturday morning, the same day he made his announcement. He said he has no doubt that Gingrich, rather than his most serious rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Romney, is the man who can defeat President Barack Obama in November and win back the White House for the GOP.

“The distinction between Newt Gingrich’s ideas and President Obama’s are the widest,” he said minutes after making his endorsement in West Palm Beach, Fla. “When you look at Gov. Romney, too many of his phrases and too many of the things he talks about are more moderate in the middle.

“That’s too close. The American people need to see a wide, clear distinction between the two.”

Cain announced his decision during a surprise appearance at the Palm Beach County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner, just three days before the vital Florida primary. He said the two Georgians had had extensive conversations at least once a week recently.

“I presented to him a couple of weeks ago the idea that I aligned with all of his ideas, but I didn’t think that his ideas for economic growth and jobs were strong enough,” said Cain, who dropped out of the presidential race in December.

“I said you need to be bolder, and I said I offer you 9-9-9, so he said he would think about it.

“We had a conversation as late as this morning when he said he could embrace the idea. That isn’t to say that he is going to be the cheerleader for it — that’s my job — but he did say he would embrace the idea.”

Cain made the 9-9-9 plan the central plank of his own run for the presidency before he dropped out in December. Under it, the current tax codes would be abolished and replaced with a flat rate 9 percent rate for personal income tax, corporate tax and a new national sales tax.

Along with accepting the endorsement, Gingrich appointed Cain to co-chair his tax reform and economic growth advisory committee. “That means I will have an opportunity to convince others of 9-9-9, and I took that as a very positive sign,” Cain said.

Cain said he accepted that the Republican race now has just two realistic candidates, Gingrich and Romney.

Romney’s 59-point economic plan "is not connecting with the American people, they don’t even know what that’s about. The American people want specific ideas that are going to address the problem,” he said.

Cain said he and Gingrich agree on all other major issues, specifically noting there is no difference in their approach to energy independence, regulatory reform and the question of sound money.

“I wanted him to be stronger on replacing the tax code and we had a conversation and that put us over the fence."

But he also said he likes the “boldness” of Gingrich’s thinking. “He talks about energy independence and Made in America. He’s bold in saying he will sign authorization for the Keystone pipeline, that’s what you call bold, not dancing around being generic and political.”

The two men first met in the early 1990s when Gingrich was speaker and Cain was leading the business opposition to then-First Lady Hillary Clinton’s plans to reform healthcare.

“I remember the first time I ever met Speaker Gingrich, we sat down in his office for a 10-minute conversation,” he said. “He canceled two meetings to spend some more time with me because he understood where I was coming from and he wanted to hear the businessman perspective.

“The one thing that impressed me the most is that when I had that initial conversation with him, it wasn’t ‘Let me do this because I think I should.’ He genuinely listened to my ideas and what I thought the business community wanted to do.”

Gingrich’s experience also added to Cain’s conviction that he is the man for the job. “He [was] in Congress for a long time, but the good news is he was out of Congress for a long time, that gave him an opportunity for him to clear his head, and he did.

“He will go back as president with a fresher, bold approach about what he needs to do in order to change Washington, D.C. — rather than somebody who has been stuck in Washington, D.C. or stuck in politics for most of their career.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Cain to Newsmax: Why I Stand With Newt "/>

By Martin Gould and John Bachman

Newt Gingrich has the best chance of winning the White House for the
Republican Party in November because his economic plan to create jobs will work and Mitt Romney's won't, former candidate Herman Cain said.

"The biggest domestic challenge we have is stimulating this economy. I don't happen to think Gov. Romney's 59-point plan is going to do it," Cain explained during an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, just minutes after formally endorsing the former House speaker.

Cain said he made his final decision to back Gingrich on Saturday morning, the same day he made his announcement. He said he has no doubt that Gingrich, rather than his most serious rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Romney, is the man who can defeat President Barack Obama in November and win back the White House for the GOP.

“The distinction between Newt Gingrich’s ideas and President Obama’s are the widest,” he said minutes after making his endorsement in West Palm Beach, Fla. “When you look at Gov. Romney, too many of his phrases and too many of the things he talks about are more moderate in the middle.

“That’s too close. The American people need to see a wide, clear distinction between the two.”

Cain announced his decision during a surprise appearance at the Palm Beach County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner, just three days before the vital Florida primary. He said the two Georgians had had extensive conversations at least once a week recently.

“I presented to him a couple of weeks ago the idea that I aligned with all of his ideas, but I didn’t think that his ideas for economic growth and jobs were strong enough,” said Cain, who dropped out of the presidential race in December.

“I said you need to be bolder, and I said I offer you 9-9-9, so he said he would think about it.

“We had a conversation as late as this morning when he said he could embrace the idea. That isn’t to say that he is going to be the cheerleader for it — that’s my job — but he did say he would embrace the idea.”

Cain made the 9-9-9 plan the central plank of his own run for the presidency before he dropped out in December. Under it, the current tax codes would be abolished and replaced with a flat rate 9 percent rate for personal income tax, corporate tax and a new national sales tax.

Along with accepting the endorsement, Gingrich appointed Cain to co-chair his tax reform and economic growth advisory committee. “That means I will have an opportunity to convince others of 9-9-9, and I took that as a very positive sign,” Cain said.

Cain said he accepted that the Republican race now has just two realistic candidates, Gingrich and Romney.

Romney’s 59-point economic plan "is not connecting with the American people, they don’t even know what that’s about. The American people want specific ideas that are going to address the problem,” he said.

Cain said he and Gingrich agree on all other major issues, specifically noting there is no difference in their approach to energy independence, regulatory reform and the question of sound money.

“I wanted him to be stronger on replacing the tax code and we had a conversation and that put us over the fence."

But he also said he likes the “boldness” of Gingrich’s thinking. “He talks about energy independence and Made in America. He’s bold in saying he will sign authorization for the Keystone pipeline, that’s what you call bold, not dancing around being generic and political.”

The two men first met in the early 1990s when Gingrich was speaker and Cain was leading the business opposition to then-First Lady Hillary Clinton’s plans to reform healthcare.

“I remember the first time I ever met Speaker Gingrich, we sat down in his office for a 10-minute conversation,” he said. “He canceled two meetings to spend some more time with me because he understood where I was coming from and he wanted to hear the businessman perspective.

“The one thing that impressed me the most is that when I had that initial conversation with him, it wasn’t ‘Let me do this because I think I should.’ He genuinely listened to my ideas and what I thought the business community wanted to do.”

Gingrich’s experience also added to Cain’s conviction that he is the man for the job. “He [was] in Congress for a long time, but the good news is he was out of Congress for a long time, that gave him an opportunity for him to clear his head, and he did.

“He will go back as president with a fresher, bold approach about what he needs to do in order to change Washington, D.C. — rather than somebody who has been stuck in Washington, D.C. or stuck in politics for most of their career.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Cain to Newsmax: Why I Stand With Newt

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/27

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

President Obama did it again. He missed a no-brainer. Why on Earth would President Obama reject the building of the Keystone Pipeline? The answer is clear: pure politics. This is typical of what members of the Tea Party and taxpayers all over the country are sick of. The administration says it needs more time to “study it.” The State Department has been studying it for three years now, and even they concluded that it would create jobs, strengthen trade with Canada, lessen our dependence on Middle East oil and make our country more secure. HELLO! What do they not understand here? What I understand is that the no-growth, anti-capitalist, environmental extremist far-left, which supports the administration, doesn’t want it, and that’s good enough for Barack Obama. Forget that by all estimates the building of the pipeline would create a huge supply of secure oil and create high paying industrial jobs right here in the United States. But again, President Obama is putting votes ahead of jobs… and here’s the kicker: I predict that if Barack Obama is reelected, IF he is reelected, he’ll approve the pipeline soon after the election. He doesn’t care about jobs. He cares about reelection.

We are NOT stupid. This is Herman Cain.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/26

By Ed Parry, Writer/Producer, CNN Newsroom

Herman Cain – he’s not seeking votes anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped campaigning.

The former GOP presidential front-runner, Mr. 999, the guy who gave the tea party movement’s response to the State of the Union address, and current BFF of Stephen Colbert paid a visit to Kyra Phillips in CNN’s Studio 7 Thursday.

In honor of his 999 plan, here are nine things we learned about Citizen (rather than candidate) Cain:

1) On his relationship with Stephen Colbert:
Cain says Colbert (and Jon Stewart) reach young voters – and that’s who Cain says he wants to inspire. Doesn’t he worry that Colbert is using him as a punchline? Not really. “It’s a mutual use.”

2) On GOP nastiness:
The divisive attacks discourage people from wanting to be part of the process.

3) On Romney:
He could beat President Obama. But he needs to be more specific with his plans for the economy and job creation. His current plan “isn’t cutting it.”

4) On Newt:
He can be bold. He’s been accused of being extreme. But he could beat Obama in November too. It all depends on how he hones his message before the general election

5) On why he likes Newt:
Because even though he’s a career politician, “he got out of politics for a while so his head could clear. That’s a positive.”

6) On why he’s not endorsing anyone:
Because solutions are more important than a person he endorses.

7) On the president’s State of the Union address:
Small ideas. Stop picking winners and losers. Let the marketplace do that.

8) On the tax code:
Toss it. Re-draw it. Please. Now. It will solve so many other problems.

9) On tonight’s GOP debate in Jacksonville:
Specifics please, on how to grow the economy, create jobs, inspire hiring, and get government out of the way. Have a great day.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/26

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

Billionaire, Warren Buffet, believes rich people should pay more in taxes. Go Ahead! Write a check and send it in to the government, but don’t drag other people along with you.

Warren Buffet has been known to say that his secretary pays more in taxes than he does. She probably does because of the complexity of the tax code and Warren Buffet gets an opportunity to take advantage of all the deductions, special exemptions, and loopholes in the tax code. It simply needs to be replaced and I believe it needs to be replaced with the 9-9-9 Plan. It would remove the cap off of what rich people pay. Buffet wouldn’t be able to say again that his secretary pays more than he does. Then he would be paying more taxes on his investments than anyone pays on their income. You see, the 9-9-9 Plan replaces 5 existing taxes with one simple structure. It replaces the personal income tax, the corporate tax, the payroll tax, the capital gains tax, and the death tax. The 9-9-9 Plan is the great tax equalizer and here’s the bonus benefit. It would supercharge our economy because it badly needs supercharging.
Let’s get rid of the insanity and replace the tax code.

We are not stupid!

I’m Herman Cain.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/24

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels will give the official Republican response to the address.

"We are enthusiastic that a successful conservative governor like Mitch Daniels of Indiana will be giving the Republican response," Russo continued. "I know that both Governor Daniels and Mr. Cain will contribute important ideas for the future of our country."

Cain's signature policy during his campaign was his 9-9-9 flat-tax plan — which would be a 9 percent flat tax, 9 percent income tax and 9 percent national sales tax. Russo alluded to that in his statement.

"Whether it is a flat tax, a fair tax or a combination of the two, reforming the tax code must be a priority. Americans want straight talk and honest solutions, and Herman Cain will deliver a pro-growth message strongly and clearly," Russo added.

Also on Thursday, Cain spoke at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in South Carolina, where he revealed his presidential endorsement. He said he decided to endorse "we the people.""/>

By Daniel Strauss

Herman Cain will deliver the Tea Party Express response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

Tea Party Express, a political action committee, announced on Thursday that the former presidential candidate would be the speaker. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who also ran for president, was the Tea Party Express speaker in 2011.

"We are excited to have Herman Cain deliver the 2nd Tea Party State of the Union response next week," Tea Party Express chief strategist Sal Russo said in a statement.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels will give the official Republican response to the address.

"We are enthusiastic that a successful conservative governor like Mitch Daniels of Indiana will be giving the Republican response," Russo continued. "I know that both Governor Daniels and Mr. Cain will contribute important ideas for the future of our country."

Cain's signature policy during his campaign was his 9-9-9 flat-tax plan — which would be a 9 percent flat tax, 9 percent income tax and 9 percent national sales tax. Russo alluded to that in his statement.

"Whether it is a flat tax, a fair tax or a combination of the two, reforming the tax code must be a priority. Americans want straight talk and honest solutions, and Herman Cain will deliver a pro-growth message strongly and clearly," Russo added.

Also on Thursday, Cain spoke at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in South Carolina, where he revealed his presidential endorsement. He said he decided to endorse "we the people."

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/24

Hello, I’m Herman Cain and they think we are STUPID!

I have eight guns and that’s not enough. That’s how my friend Joe the Plumber defines his 2nd amendment rights. It’s no secret that this administration is actively trying to strengthen gun control laws here in the United States, but they allow guns in the hands of drug smugglers which end up killing Americans. Even our Attorney General now admits there are more deaths tied to these guns in the future. But he never approved it… and knew nothing about it! That’s a pack of lies! And it needs to be stopped by right minded adults in this upcoming election. Did you ever think you would live to see the day when our government would purposely force the sell of guns to drug cartels in a foreign country. It sounds like the plot from a horror film but it’s not…it happened and it happened on Barack Obama and Eric Holder’s watch.

They say they were unaware of it. Do they think we are that stupid?? Did you vote for that in 2008? Did Barack Obama run for president on the promise of more guns for drug lords? There’s a reason for this despicable and outrageous scheme. You see, the Tea Party, myself, and other pro constitution Americans believe in the 2nd amendment and as Benjamin Franklin once said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well- armed lamb contesting the vote.”

Let’s give a lamb a gun.

We are not stupid!

This is Herman Cain

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/23

Steven Foley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  January 17, 2012

Steve Foley, congressional candidate in California’s 47th District, announced today that he supports the “9-9-9 Plan,” a package of tax reforms first proposed by former presidential candidate Herman Cain.

The 9-9-9 Plan has gained a substantial following among voters nationwide, both for its simplicity and the economic benefits it would yield.

“I support the 999 Plan because it’s time for bold solutions and broad reform,” Foley asserted. “Our elected leaders habitually tinker around the edges of tax reform, making small insignificant changes. Real action and reform are now required.”

First and foremost, the 9-9-9 Plan would provide a pro-growth shot in the arm to a struggling U.S. economy. “The departure of business from the U.S. to more business-friendly nations has become an epidemic,” Foley acknowledged. “Our country now has the highest corporate tax structure in the world. It hurts average Americans. When business goes, so do jobs.”

Foley explained that the 9-9-9 Plan would contribute to a reversal of this negative trend by establishing a much lower corporate tax structure. “Many existing companies would return to U.S. shores under less burdensome tax conditions.” Just as importantly, the 9-9-9 Plan would provide emerging business with strong incentive to base operations in the U.S. “Thriving business is the lifeblood of a healthy economy,” Foley stated.

Foley noted that the 9-9-9 Plan had many additional advantages. In shifting the burden of taxation from production to consumption, it would increase capital formation, fueling productivity and wage growth. It would also allow immediate expensing of business investments. All deductions and special interest favors would be eradicated under the 9-9-9 Plan, making for greater fairness, neutrality, and transparency.  Moreover, some of the most hated taxes would completely disappear, including:

•    All payroll taxes
•    The death tax
•    Double taxation of dividends
•    Taxation of capital gains and repatriated profits

Foley observed that the everyday citizens can no longer hope to comprehend the vastness and complexity of the existing, antiquated, oppressive federal tax code. “At 72,536 pages and growing yearly, the current tax code is the very definition of out-of-control government. The 9-9-9 Plan would instead be simple, powerful, and effective. It’s time for common sense on Capitol Hill.”

“In embracing the 9-9-9 Plan,” Foley declared, “I’m sending a clear signal that I’ll be an agent of real, positive reform in Washington. Idle chatter just won’t cut it anymore.”

9-9-9 Scoring Tables
9-9-9 Scoring Report

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/23

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/stephen-colbert-gives-herman-cain-the-colbert-bump-in-south-carolina/"/>

By: Amy Bingham

It seems South Carolinans may have a “hunger” for comedian Stephen Colbert’s presidential bid. Either that or the Cain Train is gaining steam.

In Saturday’s primary roughly 6,324 South Carolina voters, about 1 percent, cast their ballot for former presidential candidate Herman Cain, the man Colbert dubbed his surrogate in the Palmetto state primary after the comedian failed to get his own name on the ballot.

That’s more than 30 times the number of votes Cain got in the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary combined and more than double the votes former GOP candidate Rick Perry, who dropped out of the race Thursday, received.

“Because Herman Cain and I are so similar, I think that if this Saturday Herman Cain were to get a significant number of votes that would be a sign that voters are hungry, hungry for a Stephen Colbert campaign,” Colbert said on his Comedy Central show Monday night. “Anybody who shares my values can show it by voting for Herman Cain.”

Cain seems to have no problem acting as the stand-in for Colbert’s satirical campaign.

“American needs to lighten up,” Cain said Friday in a speech at Colbert’s “The Rock Me Like a Herman Cain: South Cain-olina Primary Rally” at the College of Charleston.

Colbert’s flirtation with launching a presidential campaign has served to highlight new campaign finance laws — made possible by the Citizens United Supreme Court decision — that allow super PACs to raise unlimited amounts of money from undisclosed donors and spend that money to support or oppose political candidates.

“Tomorrow, Jan. 21, the two-year anniversary of Citizens United, you can thank the Supreme Court by going into the voting booth and voting for Herman Cain. Because, sadly, it is still illegal to vote with just pure cash,” Colbert said at Friday’s rally.

Shortly before announcing his intention to explore a possible White House bid, Colbert transferred his super PAC, “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” to fellow comedian Jon Stewart.

The PAC spent $7,600 to run four ads in South Carolina over that past week.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/stephen-colbert-gives-herman-cain-the-colbert-bump-in-south-carolina/

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/23

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

There were two winners in the South Carolina Republican presidential contest last Saturday. Newt Gingrich, because he got the most votes by a convincing margin, and the other winner was the people of South Carolina, because the voters did not let the smear attacks, or any attack, keep them from voting for the candidate of their choice. More people are waking up to the dirty side of politics and how not everything you see and hear in the media is true. Sometimes, it is blatantly false. So congratulations to the South Carolina voters for deciding on not being distracted by deliberately timed and orchestrated, personal attacks on a presidential candidate. That’s a lesson all voters should keep in mind as the process continues to move forward. Make up your mind based upon what’s important to you, not based upon what’s important to the media and not what the media spin is against the candidate for the day. Political analysts and talking heads, they’re going to be trying to analyze what brought Newt from down in the polls to winning. Many factors, but a big factor is that the personal attacks did not keep him down in the voter’s mind. The voters should decide, not the media.

I’m Herman Cain. We are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/22

I made my much publicized unconventional endorsement at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference last week in Charleston, South Carolina. As predicted, the media did not like it, but the people loved it.

I endorsed “the People”. We the people!

The media did not like it because it did not fit their desire to have another quick hot scoop news story that would have about a hot minute-long news cycle. Just look at the endorsements of Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry. They were not stories very long and their impact on the endorsees was questionable.

A single presidential candidate is not going to save this country. “We the People” are going to save this country from its current path of collapse. Yes, collapse is a strong word, but if one honestly considers the facts, that’s the only conclusion one can make about the direction we are headed.

Facts: The national debt is out of control. The economy is not in a recovery. We have an energy crisis. Our space program no longer leads the world . The world is not safer. Our military has been weakened. Most people are not better off than they were three years ago when President Obama took office.

Big government liberals don’t consider the facts. They can’t even handle the facts because the facts do not validate their preconceived emotional motives and objectives. They don’t always know what those objectives are, such as the ill-purposed “Occupy Wall Street” protests. They just want to protest and distract attention in the media from the failures of this administration, and from the need for real solutions to problems.

Our nation is broke. Washington is broken.

It is clear that we are not going to change Washington from the inside. We will have to change it from the outside and from the bottom up. The people!

That means we will have to get specific commitments about specific solutions from candidates before they get elected. The heat must come from that candidate’s constituency, which is hereby endorsed and empowered to take the heat to them. Asking them to adopt the 9-9-9 tax reform plan would be a good start.

But regardless of who is elected, neither he nor the next Congress will take the steps that are necessary to turn this country around unless the people demand that he do so.

I was encouraged by some students at the College of Charleston during a rally with Stephen Colbert last week, when they shouted out “thanks for endorsing me”. Endorsing the people is a wake-up call to action.

Several reporters kept asking me during interviews what endorsing the people means. This shows just how insulated and out of touch with the people they are. The media class and the political class believe they are in charge.

Endorsing the people was a reminder that elected officials work for us, and that we are in charge if we assert our collective power. They forget that, so we have to remind them.

We the People are coming. We want our power back.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/21

The White House has not outlined policy proposals that the president intends to make in the address, according to the AP. Obama will follow up the speech with stops in five battleground states.

Cain dropped out of the Republican presidential race in December 2011 and has since been touting his "Solutions Revolution" with a bus tour and a new website.
By delivering the Tea Party State of the Union response, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza is following in the footsteps of another former Republican presidential hopeful. Michele Bachmann delivered the Tea Party response to Obama's 2011 State of the Union address.

On Thursday, Cain endorsed an "unconventional candidate" for president during the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Charleston, S.C. "My unconventional endorsement is the people," Cain said. "We the people are still in charge of this country, and I am endorsing we the people!""/>

The Huffington Post
January 19, 2012

Herman Cain will deliver the Tea Party's response to President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 24.

"Herman Cain has been a steadfast advocate for the values of the Tea Party and the practical solutions needed to solve the problems that face our nation," Tea Party Express Chief Strategist Sal Russo said in a release Thursday. "Americans want straight talk and honest solutions, and Herman Cain will deliver a pro-growth message strongly and clearly."

The White House has not outlined policy proposals that the president intends to make in the address, according to the AP. Obama will follow up the speech with stops in five battleground states.

Cain dropped out of the Republican presidential race in December 2011 and has since been touting his "Solutions Revolution" with a bus tour and a new website.
By delivering the Tea Party State of the Union response, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza is following in the footsteps of another former Republican presidential hopeful. Michele Bachmann delivered the Tea Party response to Obama's 2011 State of the Union address.

On Thursday, Cain endorsed an "unconventional candidate" for president during the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Charleston, S.C. "My unconventional endorsement is the people," Cain said. "We the people are still in charge of this country, and I am endorsing we the people!"

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/20

Appearing live in South Carolina, Colbert had the audience eating out of his hand from the very start. The highly energetic crowd chanted his name repeatedly. "They like you!" Mika Brzezinski told him.

Colbert talked about his "presidential run" in the state. Since he failed to get his name on the ballot, he has encouraged people to vote for Herman Cain — who does have a place on that ballot — instead. The two are appearing at a rally in South Carolina later in the day.

"Herman Cain has qualities I admire," Colbert said. "He's a family man, he's pro business, he has something I don't think I'll ever have — a place on the South Carolina ballot." He told the crowd, "If people hunger for a Colbert candidacy, they should vote for Herman Cain."

"Why do the leaders of South Carolina hate freedom so much?" a rather giddy Joe Scarborough asked.

"They love freedom," Colbert countered. "That's why we fought a Civil War." He then took a swing at Scarborough.

"I don't understand how you can be 'Morning Joe brought to you by Starbucks,' because when I see you, you look more like 'Evening Joe brought to you by Jack Daniel's,'" he said.

Willie Geist then asked him what his opinion on open marriages was (a reference to the allegations currently swirling around Newt Gingrich.)

"I just can't believe that a journalist of your stature would lead with such garbage like that!" Colbert blustered, echoing Gingrich's fury at Thursday night's GOP debate. "I don't care to answer that question, Willie." Then, he said, "I'm all for it...but you need two people to make that vote." Another quality line about l'affaire Gingrich: "Here's the thing I don't think Newt Gingrich gets credit for: a lot of politicians screw around...but he was enough of a gentleman to ask permission first! He is a Southern gentleman. That's what Robert E. Lee would have done!""/>

The Huffington Post
By: Jack Mirkinson and Rebecca Shapiro

Stephen Colbert appeared on Friday's "Morning Joe" for a raucous, hilarious chat with the MSNBC show's hosts.

Appearing live in South Carolina, Colbert had the audience eating out of his hand from the very start. The highly energetic crowd chanted his name repeatedly. "They like you!" Mika Brzezinski told him.

Colbert talked about his "presidential run" in the state. Since he failed to get his name on the ballot, he has encouraged people to vote for Herman Cain — who does have a place on that ballot — instead. The two are appearing at a rally in South Carolina later in the day.

"Herman Cain has qualities I admire," Colbert said. "He's a family man, he's pro business, he has something I don't think I'll ever have — a place on the South Carolina ballot." He told the crowd, "If people hunger for a Colbert candidacy, they should vote for Herman Cain."

"Why do the leaders of South Carolina hate freedom so much?" a rather giddy Joe Scarborough asked.

"They love freedom," Colbert countered. "That's why we fought a Civil War." He then took a swing at Scarborough.

"I don't understand how you can be 'Morning Joe brought to you by Starbucks,' because when I see you, you look more like 'Evening Joe brought to you by Jack Daniel's,'" he said.

Willie Geist then asked him what his opinion on open marriages was (a reference to the allegations currently swirling around Newt Gingrich.)

"I just can't believe that a journalist of your stature would lead with such garbage like that!" Colbert blustered, echoing Gingrich's fury at Thursday night's GOP debate. "I don't care to answer that question, Willie." Then, he said, "I'm all for it...but you need two people to make that vote." Another quality line about l'affaire Gingrich: "Here's the thing I don't think Newt Gingrich gets credit for: a lot of politicians screw around...but he was enough of a gentleman to ask permission first! He is a Southern gentleman. That's what Robert E. Lee would have done!"

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/20

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

Our nation is plagued with crises. We have an economic crisis, a spending crisis, a big government crisis, an energy crisis, an immigration crisis, a foggy foreign policy crisis, a deliberate assault on the Constitution crisis and a moral crisis. President Obama blames everybody except himself. He blames the Bush Administration, the Republicans in Congress, big business, rich people and even the American people by saying, in essence, that we have lost our optimism. That’s what happens, Mr. President, when we have a leadership crisis in the White House. The truth is the people of these United States are fed up, just as the colonists were fed up with ol’ King George and his abusive treatment of the colonies, and they showed their defiance with the Boston Tea Party in 1773--two years later, the start of the American Revolution. Eight years after that, we won. It’s time for another revolution. This time it will not be bombs and bullets; it will be brains and balance. In 1773, it was taxation without representation and other abuses. This time it’s too much government, period! It will not be easy, just as it was not easy 235 years ago. We the people are coming, and we want our power back.

This is Herman Cain. We are NOT stupid.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/20

The former pizza executive who dropped his bid for the White House in December after allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior toward a host of women has been telling supporters for weeks that he would make an "unconventional endorsement."

Using the lofty rhetoric for which he is famous, Cain told the audience gathered in Charleston, South Carolina that he "stopped by here to tell y'all today we need another revolution! We need a solutions revolution!"

"This time it won't be about bombs and bullets. We are not going to fight it with bombs and bullets. We are going to fight this solutions revolution with brains and ballots at the ballot box," Cain said.

Since dropping out of the race for president, Cain said he has been consistently asked who he would back for president this year.

"I have said consistently the unconventional candidate that ran an unconventional campaign and achieved surprising results," Cain said, building up to the big moment, adding that the media would not going to like his endorsement "but the American people are going to love it."

"Here is my unconventional endorsement: Not a candidate seeking the nomination. Not someone that it is not running. My unconventional endorsement is the people! We the people of this nation are still in charge. That is who I am endorsing," Cain shouted.

"We are the ones that are going to have to lead this revolution. We are the ones who are going to be able to take our power back. I am endorsing the people," he said.

Cain has launched a bus tour to promote his controversial 9-9-9 tax plan and his website, the Cain's Solutions Revolution. Cain's signature 9-9-9 tax plan to eliminate the current tax code in favor of a nine percent income tax, a nine percent corporate tax and nine percent sales tax was ridiculed by many of his opponents as overly simplistic and regressive.

Cain is set to appear Friday with comedian Stephen Colbert at a rally in South Carolina, The comedian, who is running for president as a joke, has urged his supporters in South Carolina to vote on January 21 for Cain, who remains on the ballot in the Palmetto state. Colbert was not able to get on the ballot."/>

Failed presidential candidate Herman Cain sought to extend his fifteen minutes of fame Thursday, telling the Southern Republican Leadership Conference that he was endorsing "the people."

The former pizza executive who dropped his bid for the White House in December after allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior toward a host of women has been telling supporters for weeks that he would make an "unconventional endorsement."

Using the lofty rhetoric for which he is famous, Cain told the audience gathered in Charleston, South Carolina that he "stopped by here to tell y'all today we need another revolution! We need a solutions revolution!"

"This time it won't be about bombs and bullets. We are not going to fight it with bombs and bullets. We are going to fight this solutions revolution with brains and ballots at the ballot box," Cain said.

Since dropping out of the race for president, Cain said he has been consistently asked who he would back for president this year.

"I have said consistently the unconventional candidate that ran an unconventional campaign and achieved surprising results," Cain said, building up to the big moment, adding that the media would not going to like his endorsement "but the American people are going to love it."

"Here is my unconventional endorsement: Not a candidate seeking the nomination. Not someone that it is not running. My unconventional endorsement is the people! We the people of this nation are still in charge. That is who I am endorsing," Cain shouted.

"We are the ones that are going to have to lead this revolution. We are the ones who are going to be able to take our power back. I am endorsing the people," he said.

Cain has launched a bus tour to promote his controversial 9-9-9 tax plan and his website, the Cain's Solutions Revolution. Cain's signature 9-9-9 tax plan to eliminate the current tax code in favor of a nine percent income tax, a nine percent corporate tax and nine percent sales tax was ridiculed by many of his opponents as overly simplistic and regressive.

Cain is set to appear Friday with comedian Stephen Colbert at a rally in South Carolina, The comedian, who is running for president as a joke, has urged his supporters in South Carolina to vote on January 21 for Cain, who remains on the ballot in the Palmetto state. Colbert was not able to get on the ballot.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/20

By Alexandra Petri

Charleston, SC — Rick Santorum is speaking in what feels like an empty room.

Then Herman Cain arrives — he’s introduced as “Mr. 9-9-9” — and the crowd goes wild.

Make no mistake. Staying power in the race and star wattage are two different things. The two may be inversely related, in fact. The only way Rick Santorum’s arrival would light up a room would be if Mitt Romney were the only person in that room when he got there.

But Herman Cain, he of the suspended campaign, showed up at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference on Thursday, after a lackluster speech by Rick Santorum, to deliver an endorsement — and the crowd was instantly on its feet, yelling “Amen!” and “Woohoo!” and breaking into his speech with applause.

The endorsement, he warned, would make the media upset, because it was “unconventional.”

He endorsed — “The People.” Then he urged them to visit his Web site — www.cainconnections.com, which sounds like the worst dating site of all time.

Say what you will about Herman Cain, he knows how to get people excited. This is a quality the rest of the field does not possess. (“I read a book on it once,” Mitt Romney says, helpfully.)

But Herman Cain shows up in his colorful bus with 9-9-9 on the side, and it’s like the crowd doubled in size and consumed lots of energy drinks. They’re eating it up. They’re on their feet. They’re hooting and hollering and carrying on.

“AMERICA IS BROKE!” Cain proclaims, beginning to rattle off a series of facts.

At this point my notes become illegible, because I started typing, “I LOVE HERMAN CAIN COME BACK TO THE RACE HERMAN YOU CHARISMATIC DOG YOU” over and over again. I have no idea of the contents of his speech, but when I woke up I had eight copies of “This Is Herman Cain” and a regrettable 9-9-9 tattoo on my lower back.

He has this effect on everyone.

Later he took questions from the media, who missed him nearly as much as the crowd had.

We’d forgotten it could be this much fun.

Any advice for Newt Gingrich for dealing with angry ex-wives?

“That is an irrelevant question, and the American people will learn absolutely nothing if I stand here and try to answer that irrelevant question.”

Endorse just one candidate? Cain didn’t want to, because “I want all my people and my supporters to remain inspired. I want all voters to remain inspired.”

Why wasn’t he still running? “Here’s why: real simple. I chose to put family first, folks.”

Are you concerned at all that people might think this is some sort of stunt or joke?

“The media might think that. The media is not gonna like it because it’s not traditional.”

He’s wrong. We’ll love it.

Why Charleston, SC? “I was available. I was available! Plus, they got a debate tonight. . .I was available.”

Somehow the Republican voters have pulled off the alarming feat of eliminating the exciting and charismatic contestants to result in a drab stage full of demographically similar men and Ron Paul.

If this were a reality television series, the producers would be tearing out their hair trying to find a way to reintroduce the audience favorite right now.

“Do you have even a modicum of charisma?” the voters seemed to ask. “If so, please, leave the race.”

Watching Herman Cain speak reminded us of what we were missing. Forget the Trust Deficit. There’s an excitement deficit. Now Cain’s here, he says, to counteract the lack of enthusiasm.

The logic of this may be lacking. This is somewhat like the beautiful cheerleader you flirted with in high school showing up to urge you to rekindle the passion in your marriage.

But hey, anything to hear from Herman Cain.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/19

Kathy Hoekstra, Cain’s Director of Media Relations, said they were given a heads up that something was happening a few days ago.

"Colbert’s people got in touch with us late last week and Mr. Cain will be taping a segment with Mr. Colbert on Friday in South Carolina,” Hoekstra laughed. “The endorsement of course comes as a pleasant surprise.

Colbert outlined his plan in detail on his Comedy Central show 'The Colbert Report.'

“Because Cain and I are so similar, I think that if this Saturday Herman Cain were to get a significant number of votes, that would be a sign that voters are hungry for a Stephen Colbert campaign,” Colbert said. “Anyone who shares my values can show it by voting for Herman Cain. Independents, Democrats, college kids, viewers of my show, people who attended my rally, my Twitter followers, my good friends on Reddit. Young people of the Internet, stand up and shout! Because you are legally eligible to go down to the polls and tell the world how much you love Herman Cain.”

Hoekstra told Fox411 that Cain, who has yet to endorse one of the remaining Republican candidates and is currently on a cross-country tour behaving as if he is still a candidate, is hoping to bring some much needed levity to the campaign trail.

“Mr. Cain did say that he thinks this campaign needs a sense of humor. When he was on ‘Real Time With Bill Maher’ they agreed that America needs to lighten up,” Hoekstra said. “I know he is looking forward to meeting Mr. Colbert and recording a segment with Colbert.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/01/18/herman-cain-says-hes-in-on-stephen-colberts-sc-primary-prank-tells-detractors/#ixzz1jwPc5a5j"/>

By Jo Piazza
FoxNews.com

Last week, talk show host Stephen Colbert announced he was running in the GOP primary in South Carolina, and gave control of his very real Super PAC to fellow talk show host Jon Stewart.
Colbert then announced on his show Monday that he's unable to run as a candidate in South Carolina because the state does not allow write-ins in the primary. So he urged his supporters to instead vote for a surrogate candidate: Herman Cain. Why? Because though Cain is officially out of the race, his name remains on the ballot.

Tuesday, Stewart's pro-Colbert PAC released a commercial in South Carolina that urged voters to cast their ballot ... for Cain. None of this came as a shock to Cain, because the businessman is in on the joke.

"On Stephen Colbert’s endorsement of himself as Herman Cain, I find it very clever and humorous, as it should be," Cain told Fox411. "Anyone who finds what Mr. Colbert is doing offensive, should simply lighten up. To be perfectly clear, I will not be assuming Stephen Colbert's identity. We are very different when it comes to the color of our – hair."

Kathy Hoekstra, Cain’s Director of Media Relations, said they were given a heads up that something was happening a few days ago.

"Colbert’s people got in touch with us late last week and Mr. Cain will be taping a segment with Mr. Colbert on Friday in South Carolina,” Hoekstra laughed. “The endorsement of course comes as a pleasant surprise.

Colbert outlined his plan in detail on his Comedy Central show 'The Colbert Report.'

“Because Cain and I are so similar, I think that if this Saturday Herman Cain were to get a significant number of votes, that would be a sign that voters are hungry for a Stephen Colbert campaign,” Colbert said. “Anyone who shares my values can show it by voting for Herman Cain. Independents, Democrats, college kids, viewers of my show, people who attended my rally, my Twitter followers, my good friends on Reddit. Young people of the Internet, stand up and shout! Because you are legally eligible to go down to the polls and tell the world how much you love Herman Cain.”

Hoekstra told Fox411 that Cain, who has yet to endorse one of the remaining Republican candidates and is currently on a cross-country tour behaving as if he is still a candidate, is hoping to bring some much needed levity to the campaign trail.

“Mr. Cain did say that he thinks this campaign needs a sense of humor. When he was on ‘Real Time With Bill Maher’ they agreed that America needs to lighten up,” Hoekstra said. “I know he is looking forward to meeting Mr. Colbert and recording a segment with Colbert.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/01/18/herman-cain-says-hes-in-on-stephen-colberts-sc-primary-prank-tells-detractors/#ixzz1jwPc5a5j

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/19

"There will be speeches, there will be cheerleaders, there will be a marching band and a gospel choir," Colbert said on his show, The Colbert Report, last night.

Cain suspended his campaign on Dec. 3 amid allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity.

Last Thursday, Colbert signed over control of his super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, to his colleague and host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart.

Colbert's recent stunts are intended to embarrass sponsors of super PACs and their influence on campaign finance. His appearance with Cain on Saturday will spoof the idea that candidates cannot coordinate with super PACs.

Since he relinquished control of Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, the PAC has released two ads asking South Carolinians to vote for Herman Cain in the upcoming primary.

The first ad endorsing Herman Cain, called "Not Abel," features images of Colbert standing in patriotic poses before a waving American flag, asking South Carolinians to vote for Cain.

"He's such a Washington outsider," the narrator says, "he's not even running for president."

The ad features no images of Herman Cain, and it closes with a slow-motion, close-up shot of Colbert smiling that lasts 20-seconds, a parody of Cain's now infamous smoking ad.

Yesterday, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow released an attack ad against Colbert called "Modern Stage Combat." Actor Samuel L. Jackson, the ad's narrator, declares, "Enough is enough. I have had it with these money-grubbing Super PACs messing with our money to buy the election!"

The ad again endorses Herman Cain, and it closes with Colbert appearing on Conan O'Brien, explaining, "Look I just think that Rosa Parks was overrated.""/>

By BRIAN WILLIAM GREENE
www.usnews.com

Stephen Colbert isn't officially running for president yet, but he's doing his best to influence the upcoming primary in South Carolina.

Yesterday, Colbert announced that he will be appearing with former presidential hopeful Herman Cain at a rally at the College of Charleston in South Carolina this Friday. The event, titled "The Rock Me Like a Herman Cain: South Cain-olina Primary Rally," promises to be a spectacle.

"There will be speeches, there will be cheerleaders, there will be a marching band and a gospel choir," Colbert said on his show, The Colbert Report, last night.

Cain suspended his campaign on Dec. 3 amid allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity.

Last Thursday, Colbert signed over control of his super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, to his colleague and host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart.

Colbert's recent stunts are intended to embarrass sponsors of super PACs and their influence on campaign finance. His appearance with Cain on Saturday will spoof the idea that candidates cannot coordinate with super PACs.

Since he relinquished control of Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, the PAC has released two ads asking South Carolinians to vote for Herman Cain in the upcoming primary.

The first ad endorsing Herman Cain, called "Not Abel," features images of Colbert standing in patriotic poses before a waving American flag, asking South Carolinians to vote for Cain.

"He's such a Washington outsider," the narrator says, "he's not even running for president."

The ad features no images of Herman Cain, and it closes with a slow-motion, close-up shot of Colbert smiling that lasts 20-seconds, a parody of Cain's now infamous smoking ad.

Yesterday, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow released an attack ad against Colbert called "Modern Stage Combat." Actor Samuel L. Jackson, the ad's narrator, declares, "Enough is enough. I have had it with these money-grubbing Super PACs messing with our money to buy the election!"

The ad again endorses Herman Cain, and it closes with Colbert appearing on Conan O'Brien, explaining, "Look I just think that Rosa Parks was overrated."

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/19

January 19, 2012, by Rodney Ho

Starting this morning, he will provide pre-taped two-minute commentaries each weekday at 8:45 a.m. during Neal Boortz’s morning show and repeated at 6:45 p.m. during Erick Erickson’s evening program. (UPDATE: Cain’s first topic this morning: the Keystone pipeline.)

The Atlanta businessman will also speak to Boortz live at 10:35 a.m. every Monday and Friday. And he will do occasional fill-in work for Boortz and Erickson when they are on vacation. This arrangement is set for at least through Election Day this year.

Pete Spriggs, WSB radio program director, said Cain’s busy schedule precluded him from returning to his talk show full time.

This exclusive radio deal does not impact Cain’s TV commitments, Spriggs added.

The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO was a night-time host on WSB from 2008 until early 2011 when he left to pursue a run for the presidency. With his debate performances and “999″ tax plan, Cain hit a peak in early fall when he briefly led in polling for the Republican candidacy but lost steam when hit by allegations of sexual harassment and adultery. He strongly denied the allegations. In early December, he suspended his campaign.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/19

Hello, I’m Herman Cain. They think we are STUPID!

Here is a sad fact. In 2011, Americans paid more for gasoline than any other time in America’s history. The Obama Administration continues to procrastinate on approving the building of the Keystone Pipeline. It would lessen our dependency on foreign oil, create jobs, and reduce the price of gasoline. They say they need more time to “study” the environmental impacts of such a project. I know keeping our environment safe and clean is important but they’ve already been studying it for years. It’s time to act. We have a clear choice folks, continue to import oil from people in the Middle East, many of whom do not like us and are enemies of the United States, or begin tapping our own vast natural resources right here at home. Sounds like a no brainer to me, and speaking of no brainers….the president’s lack of a cohesive, productive energy policy is also killing jobs in this country and it has been since he took office. At a time when the nation is experiencing high unemployment, high energy prices, and stagnate economic growth, President Obama is allowing the environmental extremists to call the shots. It’s time for WE THE PEOPLE to call the shots, yet the administration continues to be a roadblock to energy independence while telling you and me we need more green jobs and they need to do more studies.
We are not Stupid!
I am Herman Cain.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/16

I have been hounded in media interviews to give them the scoop on which Republican presidential candidate I ‘m going to endorse. When I respond that it will be “unconventional,” they go nuts because they cannot conceive of what that means. That’s not the way they think.

So they try to guess what it means based on conventional political practice. You will be endorsing yourself getting back into the presidential race, they guess. Nope. You will be endorsing someone that’s not in the race, they suggest. Nope. You will be endorsing two of the remaining candidates instead of one. No again.

I was an unconventional Republican presidential primary candidate who ran an unconventional political campaign, and achieved unexpected results before I ended my quest for the position of president. Most of the people interviewing me did not get it. Namely, it wasn’t about the position as much as it is about the mission. I am still on a mission to help defeat President Obama, and to make the “9-9-9 Economic Growth and Jobs Plan” the law of the land.

An unconventional endorsement is part of a bigger message. It can also be two-dimensional, a specific candidate and a specific cause. We already know the specific cause. I’m still looking for the right candidate to “adopt” the 9-9-9 plan. If that does not happen, the cause will still be part of a bigger endorsement message, which is to make sure we defeat President Obama in 2012, and that we transfer power out of Washington and back to the people.

Besides, I’m not convinced that one-dimensional endorsements make that big a difference in the outcome of how people vote. They probably do to some extent, but in today’s political climate most of them are not game-changers.

I want to change how voters think about candidates, not in terms of their media-focused flyspecked negatives, but to think of them in terms of their positives and their relevant experiences. I also want to change how voters think about solutions to our national crises.

Namely, stop accepting the usual political rhetoric of “what’s wrong,” because most of us already know what’s wrong. We also know that there is more than enough blame to go around for how we got so screwed up as a country. I want voters to focus on how candidates are going to fix stuff
I want people to focus on real solutions and real leadership.

I know that’s unconventional political and media thinking, but the conventional thinking, the conventional approach, the conventional compromises, the conventional promises, the conventional rhetoric and the conventional endorsements are not going to save this great country.

We need a Solutions Revolution.

We can’t just think outside the box, as the saying goes. We must redesign the box and fill the box with what the people want, not what the political class and the media class want.

We want our power back.

That’s unconventional.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/15

by Frances Martel | 5:32 pm, January 14th, 2012

Chalk this one up to a case of “opposites attract,” or perhaps things can be so vastly different that they circle back around to being near identical. Bill Maher had former Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain on his program last night, and not only did the candidate not say “999″ or quote Pokémon (that we know of), the two laughed and chatted like old friends. Maybe the world won’t end in 2012 after all.

RELATED: Bill Maher Defends Ron Paul: ‘[He Is] In My Heart On Foreign Affairs, Not Barack Obama’

“I haven’t seen you with a bow tie– you haven’t joined the Farrakhans have you?” Maher joked by way of introduction. Cain joked that he wouldn’t be allowed in the Farrakhans because of the dots on his tie, and the two got down to business. “Too many people are hung up on whether you are Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal… I would make fun of those labels– American needs not to be so uptight about everything!” If you’re having trouble figuring out who said that, it was Herman Cain, but Maher agreed 100%. This, for the most part, was the tenor of the conversation.

“I noticed you are standing in front of a billboard that says ‘Runaway Slave,’” Maher noted, to which the crowd laughed uproariously. Cain explained that he was at a movie premiere for a film about big government. “Slavery is being enslaved in your mind and believing that the government is the answer to your future and your issues,” Cain argued, which Maher didn’t seem to agree with, but he had more important things to ask about, like Romney’s victory: “Does it bother you that the least black candidate won?”

“I’m not about color– I’m about solutions,” Cain replied, continuing to argue that the job creators were being hampered. “I don’t agree with a word you say, but I like you a lot, I really do!” Maher replied, not bothering to get into the substance of the response. “You’re one of those people, like Reagan.” But Maher did press him on one comment that really bothered him– the “I’m a leader, not a reader” quip.” “Is it good to attack readers when you’re trying to sell a book? Why are these things mutually exclusive? Is your party anti-intellectual?” he asked. Cain replied that he was not going to attempt to defend his entire party, but that most who attacked him on that front were nitpicking.

Then there was one more order of business: Mark Block‘s “smoking man” ad. “What was that about?” A confused Maher asked. “We had a saying… let Herman by Herman, let Mark be Mark, and let people be people.”

No 999, no Pokémon, but at least one “Let Mark Block by Mark Block,” for old times sake.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/15

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He became a poster boy for the angry everyman in the 2008 campaign. Now Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher is mounting a populist bid for Congress, declining to endorse a 2012 candidate—and missing Herman Cain. By Allison Yarrow

Populist rage pulses across the nation. Class warfare is in the air. So, as the GOP presidential primary heads to blue-collar, Bible Belt South Carolina, it seemed like a good time to check in with everybody’s favorite 2008 everyman icon, Joe the Plumber, now running for Congress as a Republican in Ohio, the mother of all swing states.

Joe, né Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, 38, has not endorsed anyone in the presidential contest. But he misses the man he considers a political mentor. No, not John McCain, whose embrace of Joe the Plummer in the 2008 race made him a household name, before scrutiny of his plumbing credentials scuffed up his man-of-the-people street cred. The man Wurzelbacher wishes were still running: Herman Cain.

“The media throws up somebody and says this could be it. They give him a week, he raises money and then they tear him down,” Wurzelbacher laments, recalling Cain’s come-from-nowhere, go-back-to-nowhere trajectory.

Wurzelbacher shares with Cain an appetite for devolving power from the federal government to the states—and a zeal for tax reform. He, too, would like to blow up the federal income tax—a goal he traces back to Plato. “All day long, I can get down with that,” he says. In its place, Wurzelbacher favors a fair tax and a flat tax, and proclaims that Cain’s infamous “9-9-9” plan is better than “what we have now.”

And like Cain, he’s inherently suspicious of politicians too long in the game. “Political experience means experience in screwing you,” he said. Candor, in his book, trumps tenure. “I’m not an ambiguous person. I speak my mind. A lot of people don’t do that anymore.”

You can’t blame him; that’s how he got noticed in the first place. His vocal criticism of then–presidential candidate Barack Obama’s tax plan from the peanut gallery made him an overnight celebrity, his name in every paper and his face on countless screens. But America’s brief affair with the man from Holland, Ohio, burned out fast, as people questioned everything from his professional bona fides to whether a man named Sam could properly go by Joe. He says he is a regular guy and a plumber, and that he became angry watching his character picked apart on a national stage. The experience left him with an odd sort of residual celebrity, his name creating the sort of tainted familiarity you might associate with the star of a reality show about rehab.

He said some 300 people have asked him for endorsements since he became famous. But one name he can’t count on: McCain, once so eager to throw his arm around Wurzelbacher. The Arizona senator and 2008 GOP nominee hasn’t called to offer his support.

“I haven’t spoken to him since 2008,” Wurzelbacher says. “I have no idea what he’s doing other than what I read in the newspaper.” He put it more bluntly in a 2010 speech in which he said, “McCain was trying to use me,” and “I don’t owe him shit.” He thinks himself more straight-talking than McCain ever was. Thus commenced a new hunt for heroes: Cain, and Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, who, in Wurzelbacher’s view, “goes against the Republicans” and is Tea Party–tastic in the ways that count.

For now, Wurzelbacher is working on his ground game. In six weeks, he says he has knocked on about 3,500 doors. He has more than 3,000 Twitter followers and more than 5,000 Facebook fans. Democrat Marcy Kaptur holds the seat he wants, but due to the state’s redistricting gymnastics, Dennis Kucinich will challenge her in a March primary before the general election. All this sets up a potentially fascinating battle of unlikely cult heroes.

Both Wurzelbacher and Kucinich identify as strong conservationists, and the former first met Kaptur carrying a flag for her as a 17-year-old color guard in the ROTC. Wurzelbacher blames both Kucinich and Kaptur for Ohio’s trouble hanging onto residents and attracting new employers. He says he’ll do better than either Democrat, who have been in government for some 60 years combined. Despite the jab, Wurzelbacher swears he won’t run negative ads. He says he’s just as happy if supporters give to his veterans charity—Alaska’s Healing Hearts—as he is if they give to his campaign.

But his battle is uphill: Ohio Democratic consultant and activist Denise Dietemeyer says despite the gerrymandering that threw two popular incumbents together, they're both such local legends that even the most formidable Republican would have a hard time prevailing. And Dietemeyer doesn't see Wurzelbacher as the strongest challenger the GOP could put up. Wurzelbacher will face auctioneer Steve Krauss in an upcoming Republican primary.

He’s staffing up and has launched a photo- and video-rich website. He touts his Air Force duty as evidence that he’s got what it takes—and leads war veterans of both genders on Alaskan hunting expeditions for caribou, moose, and bear. He’s still plumbing, and building houses for hire. But he’s also a paid speaker, author, and blogger for one of conservative pundit Andrew Breitbart’s websites. Last fall, he married a 26-year-old political-science grad, and won a nine-year custody battle with a previous wife for his son, Joey.

He knows that he both needs and must transcend the middle-class plumber alias if he’s going to win office. For now, he is joining the American majority and directing his anger at an impotent Congress.

“At the end of my work day, you have a house. You can turn on your faucet for a drink of water,” he said. “At the end of their work day, nothing’s been done.”

Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

Allison Yarrow is assignment editor and a staff writer at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Her essays and journalism have appeared in Huffington Post, Slate, CNN.com, Poets & Writers magazine and The Forward. She created and hosted the Yid Lit podcast, which interviews authors of literary fiction and nonfiction. Previously, as an associate producer at NBC News Productions, Allison produced health segments for a nationally syndicated program hosted by Hoda Kotb, and long-form documentary hours for MSNBC.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/14

By Joe Holley, Houston Chronicle

Former presidential candidate Herman Cain rode his big, blue bus into Houston on Saturday, revving up a tea party gathering at Minute Maid Park with his impassioned speaking style, but at the same time counseling pragmatism when picking a president.

Cain told the crowd of 300 that even though he’s out of the race, they need to determine which of the remaining candidates has the best chance of winning the general election and then throw their support to that person. He didn’t say who that was, although he has promised he soon will be making “an unconventional endorsement” in South Carolina.

“I know that many of us are befuddled by the candidates we have left,” he said, “but don’t lose sight of the mission. … Our mission is to send Obama home.”

The former Godfather’s Pizza executive and motivational speaker, whose candidacy ended amid allegations of sexual harassment, was the climactic speaker at the two-day event sponsored by a confederation of Houston-area tea party groups. In addition to Cain, the Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll featured several U.S. Senate candidates and current and former elected officials, among them former Texas congressman Dick Armey. The former House majority leader also advised pragmatism.

“Once in a lifetime we had a Ronald Reagan. We can’t sit and wait for another Ronald Reagan,” he said. Armey, who heads a tea party support group called Freedom Works, is backing Mitt Romney.

Despite the calls for a pragmatic approach, many at the event admitted feeling conflicted. Their trouble, they said, was deciding whether to go with their heart — if they can figure out who to give it to — or, as Armey advised, to go with their head and support the former Massachusetts governor, the likely nominee.

Not an easy choice

Some among the crowd in the baseball park’s Union Station hall — a smaller turnout than organizers expected, perhaps due to the $75 fee — said they got the message, but it wasn’t an easy choice nonetheless.

“We looked at Perry first, but when he got hurt, that made it tough,” said John Quigley, 66, of Spofford, a retired Methodist pastor.

“What we’re looking for is the best candidate to beat Obama,” said his wife, Yvonne Quigley, 77, also a retired Methodist pastor.
Evelyn Montalvo, 58, a retired registered nurse from Richmond, voiced a similar dilemma.

“We’re all in flux,” she said. “I’ve always been a Newt (Gingrich) supporter, but I don’t like his attacks on capitalism. I can support Romney, but he’s not my first choice.”

“I’ve been a Romney guy all along,” said Dave Rosenthal, 50, a geophysicist from Missouri City. “I was for Perry. … I think he’s been great for Texas, but now I think it’s time for him to come home.”

There was, of course, absolute consensus on the enemy.

“Barack Obama is the most radical president this country has ever seen,” said Ted Cruz, a former Texas solicitor general who is running for the U.S. Senate. Between jibes at his foe, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — who was scheduled to speak but didn’t show up — Cruz warned in a fiery speech that the state and the nation “are under assault.”

Wealth gap noted

Buddy Pilgrim, another speaker, declared Obama’s was “the most anti-business administration in the history of the country.” Pilgrim, the former president and chief executive officer of the chicken supplier Pilgrim’s Pride, is also running for a seat in the Senate.

“The gap between rich and poor is at its highest level ever because of the demagogue in the White House,” he said.

Also speaking was the newest U.S. Senate candidate in the race, former SMU football star and ESPN commentator Craig James, who grew up in the Houston area.

“We have two real good playbooks in this country,” James said. “We have the 10 Commandments, and we have the Constitution.”
Evangelicals check in

James, whose remarks rivaled those of Cruz on the fiery scale, told the crowd he was “a humongous free-market guy,” and “if you can’t agree to a balanced budget amendment, then you’re a fool — an absolute fool.”

State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, reported on the Friday-Saturday meeting of some 150 evangelical leaders from around the country at the ranch home of former Judge Paul Pressler, near New Ulm.

Patrick said they, too, were having a tough time agreeing on a candidate who both reflected evangelical, social conservative values and could challenge Romney for the nomination.

Many in the group had met with Perry in August, expecting him to be their champion. Patrick reported that after several rounds of voting Saturday, the group endorsed former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

Patrick also counseled pragmatism. “Our No. 1 objective is to defeat Barack Obama,” he said. “God will help us choose. If we listen, if we ask for wisdom, we will find the right candidate.”

‘Goliath’ holds forth

Cain was the rock star of the event. Wearing his signature black hat, he strode to the rostrum buoyed by a standing ovation. Even though he has ended his campaign, he assured the crowd he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Since they have forced Goliath out of the race because I chose to put family first, I’m going to create an army of Davids,” he intoned.

Cain told the crowd that his trademark 9-9-9 tax-reform plan was still alive, with congressional candidates across the nation making it their issue and with legislation being drawn up in Congress.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul won the presidential straw poll with 54 percent of the vote, followed by Santorum with 15 percent and Perry with 13 percent. Romney got 4 percent of the vote.

In the U.S. Senate straw poll, Cruz got 49 percent and James got 13 percent. Dewhurst, the presumed front-runner, came in last with 7 percent.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/13

by Leslie Bennetts Jan 13, 2012

Herman Cain may be out of the 2012 race, but he’s not licking his wounds. Leslie Bennetts talks to the maverick about sex and politics, his bus tour—and his plan to endorse in South Carolina.

The demise of an unsuccessful campaign can have a devastating impact on political veterans. “I came home, got under the bed, got in a fetal position, and sucked my thumb,” says David “Mudcat” Saunders, who was senior strategist for John Edwards’s 2008 presidential race. “That’s what most candidates do. It took me about six months to fully recover. As Leo Durocher said, ‘You show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.’”

Herman Cain ended his run for the GOP nomination in December, but if he’s now supposed to be licking his wounds in a darkened bedroom, somebody forgot to tell him.

Most candidates withdraw from a race and find their entourage has evaporated and they’re wrestling with their own wheelie bags in the airport. “It ain’t pretty,” says Ed Rollins, the longtime Republican strategist who advised Michele Bachmann last year. “You go off to pick up the pieces, and everyone’s gone.”

But these days, Cain is juggling media requests, hiring new staff, planning a grandiose national initiative to promote his 9-9-9 tax-reform proposal, and grinning his way from one engagement to the next with the gleeful relish of a fox surveying a packed henhouse. “I’m having a ball, because I can still be a thorn in the side of the establishment and those that are threatened by my success,” he says, flashing a dazzling smile. “I’m doing what the people want done. This new phase is going great.”

Some experienced political hands are bemused by Cain’s seemingly bulletproof good cheer. “The music has stopped, and he’s just dancing away,” observes Paul Begala, the former Clinton strategist and Democratic consultant (who is also a contributor to Newsweek and The Daily Beast). Instantly identifiable in his trademark fedora and yellow tie, Cain makes his way through public spaces at the stop-and-start pace of a celebrity beset by fans. As staffers try in vain to hurry him on to his next appointment, admirers grab his hands, ask to take pictures, and gush about their admiration. In the last week alone, Cain has been interviewed by everyone from Piers Morgan and Wolf Blitzer to Sean Hannity and Bob Schieffer. Barbara Walters chased him down a hallway to beg him to reveal his endorsement for the GOP nomination on The View, according to a Cain media aide whose smartphone now flashes a photo of Walters cuddling up to the former candidate.

Many ex-contenders find it hard to stop second-guessing their performance. “I was mad at myself because I made a lot of stupid mistakes during the race,” says former Vermont governor Howard Dean of his 2004 presidential run. “There were definitely things I would have done differently.”

But Cain insists he has no regrets. Although he admits that his campaign was “exciting,” and that terminating it was “bittersweet,” he claims to be “100 percent at peace with the outcome.”

“You make a decision and you go forward,” he says. “We never look back and say, ‘Wish we could have ...’ ”

Cain attributes his high spirits to Cain’s Solutions Revolution, the new initiative he is planning to launch in South Carolina before the state’s Jan. 21 primary. “Politics wasn’t my life, and the reason I didn’t hit that emotional rock bottom is that I immediately started to think about Plan B, and I started to get exhilarated about it,” he explains. “I was like David going up against Goliath, and Plan B is to create an army of Davids. The goal is for 9-9-9 to become the law of the land.”

In addition to tax reform, Cain is developing an agenda of regulatory reform, energy independence, and monetary reform he plans to promote in bus tours, rallies and town-hall meetings around the country—all part of what he describes as a mission to “transfer power from the government to the people.”

Some political veterans doubt that eager throngs will flock to hear his words of wisdom. “He’s not done in his head yet; he thinks, ‘I’m still going to have big crowds,’” Rollins observes. “In about a week, he’s going to see that there are no crowds. After you’re out, you become totally irrelevant in the political process. They don’t care.”

So far, however, Cain is savoring the advantages of ending his campaign. “The decision to drop out was difficult, in that my supporters and I had invested so much in getting to that point,” he says. “The sweet part is that I’m now back in control of my life, rather than the campaign and the media class being in control of my life. I’m back to a sense of liberation about what I can say and how I say it.”

“I think that focusing so much on someone’s personal, sexual or marital affairs is a distraction,” he says. “It’s a matter of degree.”
Cain—whose favorite saying is “Let Herman Be Herman”—blames the end of his run on “the constant negative spin because I had become a threat to the establishment. As long as I was just an unconventional candidate no one took seriously, they didn’t care, but all of a sudden this unknown businessman starts to rise to the top of the polls, and I believe the left and the political class became threatened.”

In suspending his campaign, Cain cited the adverse impact on his family of charges that he committed sexual misconduct in the workplace and had a 13-year affair with Ginger White. Although he denied any sexual impropriety, he admitted giving money to White without the knowledge of his wife. Cain says she has since recovered from the upsetting effect of those scandals. “Today she feels fine,” he says. “We know what the truth is.”

True or not, Cain believes such issues shouldn’t play a significant role in assessing a candidate’s fitness for office. “I think that focusing so much on someone’s personal, sexual, or marital affairs is a distraction,” he says. “It’s a matter of degree; if it’s above a certain point, yes. If you have someone who has lived a polygamous life, that would raise questions about their character and ability to obey the law. But the fact that somebody had been divorced and remarried—so what? Infidelity? If people want to put that into their evaluation, they have the right to do so. But the first thing I want to assess is your ability to lead and solve problems.”

The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO admits that his unexpected rise in the polls was so “surreal” that it gave him an “Alice-in-Wonderland feeling” that prompted him to pray for divine guidance. His lack of political experience led many to view his campaign as fundamentally unserious, but Cain denies he had ulterior motives for seeking a higher profile.

“I was accused of not running to win, of doing it to promote a book. That’s a lie,” he says. “I’d already published four successful books, and revenue was not an issue for me before I decided to run for president. My expectation was to give the American people an alternative to just another politician, and I felt I had just as good a shot of winning as anybody else.”

These days most interviewers want to know which Republican rival Cain will endorse, but he isn’t enthusiastic about any of them. “You listen to the candidates remaining, and when they get through talking, you don’t know what they said. They go to a secret school to learn how to do that,” he says mischievously. “I didn’t go to that class. I played hooky from politicalspeak.”

Although Cain has promised to announce his decision in South Carolina, his caginess about the nature of his endorsement suggests that he might not name anyone. “A conventional endorsement is you offer your support to another candidate,” he says. “I question their value, and if I endorse one of the primary candidates, it could fragment my supporters. They are broken-hearted that I am not in the race, but I want them to focus on bold solutions, and on defeating Barack Obama. I’m going to be making an unconventional endorsement. I want it to be part of a bigger message. Most people in the media will not like it, but the American people will love it, and it will have a bigger impact on the direction of the Republican Party, which is one of my main concerns.

Cain is equally unenthused about the current state of the GOP. “Too many Republicans and conservatives are looking for the perfect candidate, and he or she does not exist,” he says. “The party now is too scattered, too generic. Solid solutions—that’s the direction it should go in. That’s why I was so successful.”

At present, he doesn’t intend to run again. “I plan to have nine more working years in my career; by then I’ll be 75,” he says. “To spend half of those years contemplating another run, I’d be giving up half of my life to go through that sausage grinder again, and ‘stupid’ isn’t on my forehead. I’ve always practiced ‘decade goals,’ and my decade goal now is to make 9-9-9 the law of the land.”

In formulating that plan, Cain is following the playbook established by some of his predecessors for dealing with defeat. “You can either wallow in the frustration or go and do something constructive and important,” says Robert Shrum, senior advisor to Al Gore’s 2000 campaign and John Kerry’s 2004 race. “Gore went off for a while to get his head together about all this, and then he came back with a roar on the issue of climate change and made an almost unique transition from being a political figure to a prophet. Whether you agree with him or disagree with him, he’s had a worldwide impact on one of the biggest issues of our time.”

For longtime public servants like Gore, losing the big race is a painful way to end a political career. But for a growing number of wildcard outsider candidates, both the costs and the benefits are different. A well-orchestrated flirtation with a presidential race can boost someone’s reality-show ratings—just ask Donald Trump—or speaking fees and book advances, as Sarah Palin might attest.

Cain would doubtless welcome being anointed as a prophet. Failing that, a bestseller, some whopping speaking fees, another radio show, or a juicy television contract might be the perfect consolation prize. But since nothing lasts forever, he would do well to manage his expectations, according to former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who lost the 1988 presidential race to George H.W. Bush.

“Make sure you’re ready for reentry,” says Dukakis. “Always anticipate the return to your previous life.”

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/12

As it turns out, it's just the opposite.

When the two men appear together in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, Miller will pledge his support for Cain's now-legendary 9-9-9 tax plan, a Cain aide told The Hill.

"He is the first U.S. office-seeking candidate to sign on to commit to Mr. Cain's 9-9-9 plan," the aide said.

The move is part of a push by Cain — in the wake of his presidential campaign, which ended amid a flurry of allegations of sexual harassment — to keep alive his trademark plan for 9 percent corporate, sales and income tax rates.

At first, it might seem dubious why any other political aspirant would want to attach their name to Cain's. But in Miller's case, he needs all the attention he can get.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed Miller capturing 1 percent in the Republican primary. At 39 percent, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) is the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination, and the only candidate to top 6 percent.

But appreciative as he might be for Miller's support for his tax plan, Cain has no current plans to return the favor by endorsing the Florida businessman.

"Mr. Cain is like a father, and now he wants to adopt children, so to speak. He's saying that kind of tongue-and-cheek, and some people may interpret that" as an endorsement, the aide said. "At this point, that's not in the stars."

What could be in the stars — according to Cain's team — are more federal candidates getting behind 9-9-9.

"I'll tip my hand on this one: Pete Hoekstra in Michigan is in the works to do the same," the aide said.

Hoekstra, a former Republican congressman, is the front-runner in the race to unseat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

A spokeswoman for Hoekstra did not respond to a message left Wednesday evening seeking comment."/>

When former Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse CEO and Florida Senate candidate Craig Miller (R) announced that he and Herman Cain would be making a joint "major announcement," Florida politicos immediately speculated that Cain would be endorsing Miller's Senate bid.

As it turns out, it's just the opposite.

When the two men appear together in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, Miller will pledge his support for Cain's now-legendary 9-9-9 tax plan, a Cain aide told The Hill.

"He is the first U.S. office-seeking candidate to sign on to commit to Mr. Cain's 9-9-9 plan," the aide said.

The move is part of a push by Cain — in the wake of his presidential campaign, which ended amid a flurry of allegations of sexual harassment — to keep alive his trademark plan for 9 percent corporate, sales and income tax rates.

At first, it might seem dubious why any other political aspirant would want to attach their name to Cain's. But in Miller's case, he needs all the attention he can get.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed Miller capturing 1 percent in the Republican primary. At 39 percent, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) is the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination, and the only candidate to top 6 percent.

But appreciative as he might be for Miller's support for his tax plan, Cain has no current plans to return the favor by endorsing the Florida businessman.

"Mr. Cain is like a father, and now he wants to adopt children, so to speak. He's saying that kind of tongue-and-cheek, and some people may interpret that" as an endorsement, the aide said. "At this point, that's not in the stars."

What could be in the stars — according to Cain's team — are more federal candidates getting behind 9-9-9.

"I'll tip my hand on this one: Pete Hoekstra in Michigan is in the works to do the same," the aide said.

Hoekstra, a former Republican congressman, is the front-runner in the race to unseat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

A spokeswoman for Hoekstra did not respond to a message left Wednesday evening seeking comment.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/12

By Daniel Malloy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

CONCORD, N.H. -- Herman Cain will not endorse a candidate in the Republican presidential primary, saying that such a move might imperil his larger goal: promoting his 9-9-9 tax plan.

In a phone interview Wednesday with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the morning after the New Hampshire primary, Cain said it was “bittersweet” to be no longer competing for the presidency. The campaign of the McDonough businessman was derailed in part by allegations of sexual misconduct that Cain maintains were false, yet still fatal to his bid.

He intends to mount a nationwide bus tour to promote his “Cain Solutions,” most prominently his plan for a flat 9 percent tax on personal income, corporations and sales that became his campaign trail mantra. There is no itinerary yet for the tour, but Cain said he has been flooded with speaking requests.

Cain will speak Jan. 19 at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Charleston, S.C., two days before the South Carolina primary. He said he will use that speech to make an “unconventional endorsement” in the presidential race, which means that he will not be blessing a single candidate.

“My mission is to help defeat Barack Obama,” he said. “I want my supporters to stay excited and enthused. And if I pick one person, some of them may not like that one person, and that would fragment my supporters.”

Cain said he does not plan to seek the presidency or any other political office in the future.

“I never say never,” he said, “but based on what I know today, I probably will not run again, because my biological clock is ticking.”

Cain, 66, said he figures he has nine -- yes, nine -- good years left, and he does not want to spend them campaigning for office. In addition to the bus tour, Cain will offer commentary on radio and television. He will be a regular guest on Neal Boortz’s radio show on Mondays and Fridays. Cain said he also will appear regularly on Sean Hannity’s national radio and television shows -- though the details have not been finalized. Cain also will remain a contributor on Fox News.

Once his new venture is fully staffed, Cain said he will have about 25 to 30 people working to promote his ideas. His chief adviser remains Mark Block, his presidential campaign’s chief of staff. For tax purposes, there are four separate entities Cain operates: a Super PAC, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, a 501(c)4 social welfare organization and an S corporation, the New Voice Inc.

Their immediate goal is to push 9-9-9. Cain said his staff is working on drafting a bill to implement the tax plan -- which he insists will incite explosive growth but was questioned by many economists during the campaign and has not been adopted by any of the other candidates. The next step, Cain said, is to put pressure on members of Congress to co-sponsor the bill and build a grass-roots support “so compelling that it will be almost impossible for a Republican Congress to be able to stop it.”

When asked why anyone would pay attention to his ideas anymore as he is no longer running, Cain replied, “If you go to my website, cainconnections.com, we have almost 400,000 people that have already signed up. Is that a good indication that they still want me to do this?”

At one point, Cain was leading in national polls in the GOP presidential primary, but his campaign began to unravel after news reports revealed that a couple of women had accused him of sexual harassment while he was head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Then Ginger White of Dunwoody came forward and said she had a long-running affair with Cain.

Cain denied all of the allegations, but the continued scrutiny put an undue strain on his family, he said. His standing in the polls began to drop as a result of the allegations as well as Cain’s gaffes when discussing foreign policy and other matters. He announced that he was ending his campaign at a Dec. 3 rally in Atlanta.

“When you run for office, you can’t anticipate everything -- especially those things that are unexpected,” Cain said, defending his campaign strategy. “How do you anticipate somebody fabricating -- fabricating -- stories in order to create a solid doubt in the minds of some of the voters?”

Cain said he believes “somebody was behind those attacks,” but he does not have evidence to back it up.

He said he is displeased with the increasingly negative tone of the presidential race and proud that he kept things positive.

“I don’t regret it at all,” Cain said. “I just regret the way it ended.”

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/12

DickMorris.com

Two facts emerge from the New Hampshire Primary with ominous implications for the GOP in 2012:

Pat Caddell reports that there were 25,000 fewer votes in the New Hampshire Republican Primary this year than in 2008, even though there was a Democratic contest between Obama and Hillary to siphon votes away from the GOP contest that year.

And exit polls show that Ron Paul won half of the votes of those under 30 in the New Hampshire contest. It is Ron Paul – with his message of fundamental economic change – not Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, or Rick Santorum – with their anti-Obama message that is spreading on American campuses, competing for the very heart of the Obama base.

Both data point to an enthusiasm gap for the 2012 Republican nominee that could be dangerous. As the campaigns descended into negative advertising, a decreased turnout was a predictable consequence. But the rallying of young people to Ron Paul suggests that the Republicans need more than just an anti-Obama message. After all, young people understand that the pre-Obama economy was bad and that the recession began before Obama was even running for president. They realize that their future depends on an affirmative program, not just on repeal of the Obama laws and regulations.

But, while we need the enthusiasm that Ron Paul ignites, we do not need Ron. Another Ronald — Reagan – built the Republican majority by baking the three disparate wings of the Republican Party into one political layer cake. He combined the national security conservatives with the evangelical social populists and the free market economy advocates into a force that won at the polls. Ron Paul is seeking to deconstruct the Reagan coalition by embracing economic conservatism while shunning the evangelical social agenda and the concerns of the national security voters. His recipe is one for a massive defeat.

But you don’t need to embrace Ron Paul’s nutty foreign policy and self-flagellation in blaming terrorism on our own policies to get the restructuring that our economy needs. Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 program will do the trick. It can appeal to the young Ron Paul voters offering them the kind of basic economic change that they seek. By transferring the locus of taxation from production to consumption, 9-9-9 can create jobs by incentivizing the creation of wealth. The Obama focus on economic stimulus that catalyzes demand for products and services often creates jobs in China more than it does in the United States.

Cain is planning a new effort to promote his 9-9-9 plan now that his candidacy is over. It could not come at a better time for the Republican Party. (Those wishing to join should go to www.cainconnections.com.) He is doing a bus tour and the rounds of television shows to push his substantive agenda. And, in the process, can breathe enthusiasm back into Republican ranks.

9-9-9 will satisfy the libertarian impulse that underscores Paul’s appeal, particularly to the young. It will simplify the tax code so that it is a means of raising government revenue, not of promoting social engineering. Tax laws won’t tell us what to buy, where to invest, and how to live. Instead, it will leave these decisions to each us.

9-9-9 offers an agenda to repair the flaws in the economy that led to the stagnation of the late years of the last decade before Obama even arrived on the scene. It will make America a land of incredible business opportunity, luring innovators and job creators to the nation with what would then be the lowest maximum personal income tax rate on earth. The repeal of the capital gains tax will eliminate the barrier that stands between innovation and capital and will encourage the kind of explosion of economic growth that we need.

If Mitt Romney is to be the nominee, he needs a better message than his current reliance on his private sector credentials and his desire to oust the current Administration. His flat tax ideas have not ignited a wave of enthusiasm nor will they. They are yesterday’s ideas. He needs 9-9-9. The Republican Party needs it. And America needs it as well.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/11

(New York) While the media frenzy surrounds the unsurprising results of the Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire, there are other results that are being all but ignored, yet they have much more significance.

Voters also cast ballots in a Democrat presidential primary, and the results show that even democrats are beginning to see the failures of the presidency of Barack Obama.

According to the Associated Press, the results of almost all precincts are in and show that close to 20% of voters chose ‘other’ or wrote in a candidate, rather than voting for the sitting president.

Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says the fact that more than one in five of the democrat votes cast were not even for Obama, indicates increasing frustration with the crisis our country is in.

“A recent Gallup poll has shown that nearly two thirds of the American public believe that ‘big government’ is the biggest threat to the future of this country,” Cain said. “President Obama is leading that threat and now, even democrats know it.”

Cain also said the fact that recognition of Obama’s failed presidency has crossed party lines demonstrates that America is hungry for real and bold solutions. “When President Obama makes decisions that kill jobs such as the Keystone Pipeline instead of creating jobs,” Cain remarked, “Even the democrats and unions know it’s the wrong decision.”

Even democrats know that this administration is void of solutions. “That’s why I’ve created www.cainconnections.com,” Cain said. “This is how Cain’s Solutions Revolution will empower voters to reverse the failures of this administration.”

We the people want our power back. The New Hampshire primaries demonstrate this, and even the democrats are starting to wake up.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/10

"The biggest comment I got when I ended my candidacy was to keep 9-9-9 alive," Cain recently told Sean Hannity of Fox News. "That's what this is about, and I'm going to keep it alive with what I'm calling Cain's Solutions Revolution."

According to his new website, Cain says he's still trying to revive an American "economy on life support" by keeping his 9-9-9 plan in the forefront of the minds of voters and members of Congress prior to 2012 Election Day.

"The strategy is straightforward and simple," Cain's statement reads. "We will mobilize citizens by congressional districts to obtain commitments from candidates running for Congress before they get elected to cosponsor or vote for the 9-9-9 legislation."

According to statements issued in 2011 prior to Cain's departure from the GOP race, his 9-9-9 plan would effectively dismantle the current U.S. Tax Code and replace it with a 9 percent flat tax on businesses and individuals as well as a 9 percent national sales tax.

Cain argued the plan would drive production to stimulate the economy and unite disparate tax camps, such as "income taxpayers and payroll taxpayers" and "flat-taxers and fair-taxers."

Cain's 9-9-9 plan would:
Tax all businesses at 9 percent on their gross income, reduced by purchases from other businesses and dividends paid.
Tax individuals at 9 percent on their gross income.
Impose a 9 percent national sales tax.
Eliminate taxes on repatriated foreign profits.
End the payroll and death tax.
Feature zero taxation on capital gains.
Eliminate double taxation of dividends.
Preserve the individual deduction for charitable donations.
Launch "properly structured" empowerment zones to revitalize inner cities.
Eventually replace individual and corporate 9 percent income taxes with the 23 percent fair (sales) tax.
End the IRS "as we know it."

Today, Cain says his 9-9-9 "revolution" will "partner with like-minded organizations and use media, rallies, bus tours, and speaking opportunities" to promote the mission of making 9-9-9 the "new law of the land" to heal an America "abused by a broken tax code."

Cain has also hinted he will make an endorsement in the GOP presidential race on January 19 at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference just days prior to the South Carolina primary; however, he is still playing coy as to whether he will support a specific GOP candidate. He also continues to suggest his endorsement will be "unconventional."

In the meantime, the former GOP frontrunner, whose campaign was sidelined by allegations of personal scandal, vows he will not go down without an adamant and voluble fight on tax and economic reform.

"I will not be guilty of doing nothing," Cain said.

For more information on Cain's Solutions Revolution program, visit www.cainconnections.com."/>

By Deanna C. White (www.accountingweb.com)

Former presidential candidate Herman Cain may not have been on the dais for the recent Republican debates in New Hampshire or plying the voters in South Carolina, but he recently proved he still plans to be part of the political discussion in the GOP campaign.

Earlier this month, Cain announced that, despite the fact he is no longer on the GOP ballot, he will continue to take his 9-9-9 tax reform and economic recovery plan to the public through his newly formed "Solutions Revolution" bus tour and media blitz.

"The biggest comment I got when I ended my candidacy was to keep 9-9-9 alive," Cain recently told Sean Hannity of Fox News. "That's what this is about, and I'm going to keep it alive with what I'm calling Cain's Solutions Revolution."

According to his new website, Cain says he's still trying to revive an American "economy on life support" by keeping his 9-9-9 plan in the forefront of the minds of voters and members of Congress prior to 2012 Election Day.

"The strategy is straightforward and simple," Cain's statement reads. "We will mobilize citizens by congressional districts to obtain commitments from candidates running for Congress before they get elected to cosponsor or vote for the 9-9-9 legislation."

According to statements issued in 2011 prior to Cain's departure from the GOP race, his 9-9-9 plan would effectively dismantle the current U.S. Tax Code and replace it with a 9 percent flat tax on businesses and individuals as well as a 9 percent national sales tax.

Cain argued the plan would drive production to stimulate the economy and unite disparate tax camps, such as "income taxpayers and payroll taxpayers" and "flat-taxers and fair-taxers."

Cain's 9-9-9 plan would:
Tax all businesses at 9 percent on their gross income, reduced by purchases from other businesses and dividends paid.
Tax individuals at 9 percent on their gross income.
Impose a 9 percent national sales tax.
Eliminate taxes on repatriated foreign profits.
End the payroll and death tax.
Feature zero taxation on capital gains.
Eliminate double taxation of dividends.
Preserve the individual deduction for charitable donations.
Launch "properly structured" empowerment zones to revitalize inner cities.
Eventually replace individual and corporate 9 percent income taxes with the 23 percent fair (sales) tax.
End the IRS "as we know it."

Today, Cain says his 9-9-9 "revolution" will "partner with like-minded organizations and use media, rallies, bus tours, and speaking opportunities" to promote the mission of making 9-9-9 the "new law of the land" to heal an America "abused by a broken tax code."

Cain has also hinted he will make an endorsement in the GOP presidential race on January 19 at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference just days prior to the South Carolina primary; however, he is still playing coy as to whether he will support a specific GOP candidate. He also continues to suggest his endorsement will be "unconventional."

In the meantime, the former GOP frontrunner, whose campaign was sidelined by allegations of personal scandal, vows he will not go down without an adamant and voluble fight on tax and economic reform.

"I will not be guilty of doing nothing," Cain said.

For more information on Cain's Solutions Revolution program, visit www.cainconnections.com.

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/10

By Paul Scicchitano (www.newsmax.com)

Former presidential hopeful Herman Cain today described the battle of attack ads between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney as a political “food fight.”

Speaking on Fox News, Cain blamed Romney supporters for forcing Gingrich to respond to an estimated $2 million in largely negative advertising against him in Iowa.

“This is like being in the middle of a food fight,” said Cain, who has not yet endorsed a candidate. “I believe he was pushed into it. If you look at the amount of money that was spent in Iowa against Newt, he had no choice other than to try and retaliate with something like this. I know it’s ugly. I know it’s dirty.”

Gingrich supporters are planning to hit back with more than $3 million in advertising during the upcoming South Carolina primary, according to Fox. Those ads, funded by a super PAC, are expected to target Romney’s record as a job creator with Bain Capital.

Chris Chocola, who heads Romney’s super PAC — Club for Growth — today called the pro-Gingrich ads targeting Romney’s record with Bain “disgusting.”

Former Gingrich aide Rick Tyler, who plays a prominent advisory role in the former speaker’s PAC, told Fox News that the ads are meant to target Romney’s record with Bain and not capitalism, as some analysts have charged.

“This is baloney. No one is arguing over free enterprise. I’m for free enterprise. This is a free enterprise system,” Tyler insisted, drawing a distinction between Romney “who went in like the vulture” and entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs, whose inventions may unintentionally cause other businesses to close their doors.

“The market allows that. It’s not illegal. In some cases, some of the practices I would consider unethical or immoral, but that’s what he did,” Tyler said about Romney on Fox. “Don’t tell me you’re Steve Jobs on the creative side when actually you have a pattern on the destruction side where people lose jobs. He says, ‘I created 100,000 jobs.’ He forgot to mention they were in Mexico or Southeast Asia.”

Brad Woodhouse, Democratic National Committee communications director, welcomed the attack ads on Romney and said they help make the case that Democrats have been trying to make against the former Massachusetts governor.

“You know, we’ve been trying to make this case for a while, and now it seems to have bipartisan support,” he said, responding to Tyler’s comments on Fox. “The case about Mitt Romney’s time in the private sector as a corporate raider — where he broke down companies, laid off people and walked away with millions of dollars — it’s not just us saying it now. All of his Republican rivals are saying it. So it’s pretty good for us that we have that amplification of what we’ve been trying to say.”

Campaigning in New Hampshire today, Gingrich called on Romney to explain his tenure with Bain. Gingrich said that in three or four instances, Romney’s team did not appear to be operating like capitalists.
“They look like rich guys looting,” Gingrich said.

Read more on Newsmax.com: Cain: Attack Ads Are Like Political ‘Food Fight’

Posted by Herman Cain on 01/10

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71297.html#ixzz1j7FOnNKe
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By MJ LEE

Herman Cain on Tuesday scolded the Republican presidential candidates for attacking each other, citing Ronald Reagan’s “eleventh commandment” — except he was confused about the number.

“Look, these candidates have broken the Reagan’s rule from the beginning. Reagan’s ‘thirteenth commandment’, you know? Don’t go negative against another Republican, but they did it anyway!” Cain told Neil Cavuto of Fox News on the day of the New Hampshire primary.

Reagan is credited for having popularized the maxim that’s become known as the eleventh commandment: “Thou shall not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

Cain, who has promised to make a formal endorsement on Jan. 19, continued to blast the GOP field for engaging in a “food fight” of negative attacks.

“My criticism of all of the candidates is: Who’s talking about a specific positive solution to fix our most pressing domestic problem, which is the economy? You don’t hear enough about that, and the voters are getting sick of that,” he said.

Cain did, however, come to Newt Gingrich’s defense regarding his recent negative comments against Mitt Romney, saying the former House speaker was “pushed into it.”
“He had no choice other than to try and retaliate against something like this. I know it’s ugly, I know it’s dirty, but really, he had no choice, in order to be able to put together something to attack Romney on,” said Cain.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71297.html#ixzz1j7FOnNKe