Does Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan make for good marketing, but bad policy?

Herman Cain has experienced a meteoric rise in the polls in recent weeks, and now the candidate who has vaulted into the top tier of the GOP presidential primary will need to add substance to the catchy, yet untested 9-9-9 plan, which forms the backbone of his economic policy. As Michael Fletcher reported, the devil is in the details:

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The GOP’s new ‘it man’: Presidential candidate Herman Cain was at ease in the spotlight as dozens of reporters and hundreds of supporters squeezed in amid the oversized shopping carts and towering shelves to catch a glimpse of the GOP's new “it man.” — Washington Post photographer Melina Mara

The “9-9-9” plan that has helped propel businessman Herman Cain to the front of the GOP presidential field would stick many poor and middle-class people with a hefty tax increase while cutting taxes for those at the top, tax analysts say.

The plan would do away with much of the current tax code and impose a 9 percent personal income tax, a 9 percent business tax and a 9 percent national sales tax, which tax experts say would mean that low- and middle-income Americans would pay more.

“Right now, we have a strongly progressive income tax. High-income people are paying a higher share of income in taxes than lower-income people,” said Alan D. Viard, a former Federal Reserve Bank economist and a resident scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. “That is a pattern that would be disrupted by adoption of the Cain plan.”

The 9-9-9 plan has helped define Cain’s candidacy. Coupled with his buoyant, plain-spoken style, it has helped transform the former long shot into a front-runner. Cain has touted the proposal’s apparent simplicity and fairness, but he rarely delves into details. His campaign Web site shows that the plan is only a step toward achieving his ultimate goal: to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service after replacing all federal taxes with a national sales tax.

Meanwhile, analysts said the 9-9-9 part of Cain’s vision would place a further burden on those hit hardest by the nation’s economic problems.

Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, is working on an analysis of Cain’s signature policy proposal. Although the plan’s details remain sketchy, Williams said that it would increase taxes for the poor and middle class, despite Cain’s statements to the contrary.

For starters, about 30 million of the poorest households pay neither income taxes nor Social Security or Medicare levies. “So for them, doing away with the payroll tax doesn’t save anything. And you are adding both a 9 percent sales tax and 9 percent income tax. So we know they will be worse off,” Williams said.

Herman Cain’s personal style and willingness to admit ignorance about certain issues has endeared himself to many voters. As Sandhya Somashekhar explained:

He opposes abortion, including in cases of rape and incest. He thinks Iran could be deterred from aggression by deploying more warships. And he is a proponent of privatized Social Security.

But just one topic — his “9-9-9” tax plan — has dominated Herman Cain’s rhetoric in this presidential race, helping to propel him to the top of Republican polls this month

And that has prompted questions about what else he stands for and whether he has the breadth of knowledge — particularly on foreign policy — expected of an occupant of the White House.