I am the 9 9 9

I just started a new website that offers free wall photos. www.liberalheartmoderatemind.com has photos of political thought, humor and satire that you can grab and post on Facebook and freely share with friends. My previous blog post here featured my first wall photo creation in response to words by Penn Jillette. This is my second wall photo creation, and it features quotes from Republican Presidential Primary candidate Herman Cain. The quotes are real, even though the sign obviously is not. Here are the gathered quotes in a little more context.

First - Occupy the White House. Not a quote, but an obvious play on the Occupy Wall Street movement to set up the satire.

"I'm going to only allow small bills - 3 pages." This quote comes from June 7th of this year when Herman Cain was complaining about the length of the Affordable Care Act. The complexity of the 2,700 pages of the new health care law bothers him so much that he offers the quote here. On June 8th, Stephen Colbert comically points out that our US Constitution is 4 pages, and the Emancipation Proclamation is 5 pages.

"it's class warfare." On July 17th of this year, Herman Cain was interviewed by Chris Wallace on FoxNews Sunday. When Chris asked him about Warren Buffet's tax rate being lower than his secretary's, Herman Cain responds - " This whole thing about Warren Buffett's tax rate is just playing the class warfare card. This whole thing about talkin' about people flying' around in corporate jets - it's just class warfare."  I agree that it's class warfare. When the ultra-rich can influence tax code in their favor through the influence of hired lobbyists to the point that the effective tax rate is lower for the rich than the middle class, then that is class warfare. Pointing out existing class warfare via the disparity the rich have in their favor through the tax code however is just simple observation.

OK. In double checking my quotes, I just realized that technically in this quote I should have placed ellipsis between "it's" and "class" since I missed the word "just" in between. Oh well. There goes my perfect transcription record. With that blunder noted, the next quote comes from a Face the Nation appearance.

On October 9th of this year Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain were interviewed together by Bob Schieffer. With Pastor Jeffers' recent comment calling Mormonism a cult amidst a Republican debate, Bob Schieffer squarely asks Herman Cain - "Do you think Mormons are Christians?" Cain responds "I believe that they believe that they are Christians based upon their definition, but getting into wether they are more Christian than another group, I don't think that's relevant to this campaign." I agree that one's faith or lack thereof is personal and should not be used as a means of political gain or image manipulation for various voter blocs. Not for the average citizen, not for the campaigning politician. Nonetheless, political reality must consider common views that prevail amongst any bloc of voters.  One such reality is that many Christian conservatives do view Mormonism as a cult, and Mitt Romney's Mormon faith is frankly a political liability for him within the Christian conservative vote. Making a clear statement in support of Mormonism is somewhat risky for any Republican candidate - especially in the primaries. Yet just as risky, if not more, is clearly stating any non-acceptance of others' religion. Cain tries to straddle that line by not actually answering. Cain never says if he believes if Mormons are Christians. He cops out by saying that he believes that THEY believe they are Christians. He even adds the "…based upon their definition." Though a politician's religion only becomes an issue for me if they parade it around with great showcase, the way one handles such direct questions like this (at least to me) says a lot about a person's character. Especially when you compare this reply here to his statements about how others tell him they don't understand Romney's Mormonism in relation to Christian Protestantism. Cain tends to talk about others' religions and religious comments, and distance himself from the act of casting aspersions by saying that this is what OTHERS have said.

Back to July 17 again for the next quote. Talking to Chris Wallace about the debt ceiling debate, they discuss the idea to not raise it, pay out bond holders just enough to not technically commit default, then cut the remaining spending by 44% in order to not have deficit this year. Without one specific cut offered, Cain says that this is do-able by eliminating "non-essentials". He argues that a 44% budget reduction is not as drastic as it sounds by saying that you would have to go through "…program by program and find that money. Some agencies you might need to cut 60%. Some agencies you might need to cut 30%. To say 40% across the board. No. That's not how you get there. The way you get there is you take agency by agency by agency and look for those cuts and some of them are gonna be bigger than 40%.""

"Restructure Medicare." comes from the Sept 12 tea party/CNN debate.

October 9 again - Face the Nation. Talking about his 9 9 9 tax plan, Cain says that it will not hurt poor people.  He says the plan is "…revenue neutral" continuing "This means people that are under-employed will be able to find a job that they are more qualified for.". Then he adds that this means those who "are low-wage earners, they can find a second job." Of course no explanation for these connections is offered. I can't find a way to make such a connection no matter how many times I scratch my head. When Bob Schieffer says some economists say this is wrong, Cain replies "They have changed our assumptions. That's why they say that it's not correct." There are actually more equally bizarre assertions on his 9 9 9 plan in this part of the interview, but let's move on to the next quote.

During the tea party/CNN debate on Sept 12, this question was asked. "All of you profess to be pro-business candidates for President. Can you be pro-worker at the same time?"  Herman Cain discusses the work ethic of his family growing up and eventually says "One restaurant IS the basic fundamental business unit in this country."

In an online Wall Street Journal interview with Alan Murray, when Occupy Wall Street comes up, Cain reduces the movement to a sense of unwarranted entitlement and offers the absolute philosophy of individual responsibility in this statement. "If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself." Now, compare that sentiment to what he said a year ago on Oct. 14, 2010. "The American Dream is under attack because our government is being hijacked by the liberals in DC." Is this a complete change of philosophy over a year's time, or just blatant hypocrisy? Hmmm. Considering that he doesn't understand what Occupy Wall Street is about, I have to wonder. In this same interview he says "I don't understand these demonstrations and what is it they are looking for." He also says he believes that Occupy Wall Street is an orchestrated and planned attempt to distract from what he calls the "failed policies of the Obama administration." But he also prefaces that very assertion with  "I don't have facts to back this up." (The last half of that WSJ interview had so many Herman Cain gems.)

"I'm the black walnut." is a phrase Herman Cain used when on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has been referring to himself as a black walnut in various ways in the past couple weeks, often saying black walnut is not just the flavor of the week. (This started when Sarah Palin had said that Herman Cain was the flavor of the week.)

I am the 999 is not a quote, just the satirical reference to all the "I am the 99%" signs. (Humor and satire really wither when you explain it, doesn't it? - lol) Now for the last real Herman Cain quote on the fictional sign in this wall photo.

During the Republican debate on August 11 of this year, a moderator brought up an earlier remark of Cain's. She asks "When President Obama joked about protecting the borders with alligators and a moat, not only did you embrace the idea, you upped the ante with quote "a twenty foot barbed wire electrified fence". Were you serious?" With great humor, Cain replies "America's got to learn how to take a joke."

Listening to Herman Cain in various debates and interviews, I am happily taking the joke for now. He is pretty funny. As long as his joke never gets to occupy the White House. Then this comedy would quickly turn to national tragedy.