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Subscribe to RSSHerman Cain lit up the crowd at Republican Leadership Conference, delivering the keynote address before the socially conservative crowd, and getting several standing ovations
“I have a dream,” said Cain, who is African American, invoking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and some friendly chuckles. “I have two dreams,” he added – (1) retain control of the House and and Senate, and (2) “You are looking at the next president of the United States of America.”
He took aim at conservatives who said he shouldn’t run.
“I didn’t get the memo,” he said, weaving it throughout the speech.
On substance, he laid out five tax-policy items that he said would improve the economy: a maximum 25% tax on corporations and individuals; make cap gains zero; sustain taxes on “repatriated foreign profits”; a payroll tax holiday of 6.2%; and make tax cuts permanent.
But there were also plenty of dog whistles with talk of American exceptionalism, Obama apologizing for the United States, not being Brazil’s best customer but “our own,” Israel (“You mess with Israel, you mess with the United States”), the Founding Fathers, spending, children and grandchildren, and taking American back.
He touched on his bio as well: “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, we didn’t even have a spoon to put in my mouth.”
He repeated his parents’ three lessons. Belief in: God, self, and the “greatest country in the world.”
“You don’t know how Washington works,” said Cain, who’s never held office, but has parlayed that into his biggest strength. “I know how it works. It doesn’t.”
He even got one shout with a twangy, “Yes, we Cain.”
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I have a dream to...
Actually it's more of a nightmare...
I dream I woke up on 11.7.12 and won of these jackwagons actually WON the election!
New GNOP 2012 slogan - WE GOT NOTHING!
*correction s/b: ONE*
Darn auto-correct!
So much originality coming from this guy I can envision instant economic recovery in .99 second once he steps into the Oval Office. We will be down to 1% on unemployment and Cain will make the world Sane...
Wait a minute, Cain slew Abel... never mind. Definitely not my brother's keeper.
Feisty,
An Obama loss in 2012 is neither a dream nor a nightmare, it is reality.
Have you have seen the latest Gallup poll of registered voters?
Generic Republican 44%
Obama 39%
Enough to make you choke on yer popcorn, eh?
Cain made his millions by selling pizza's with a phony, processed, pasteurized substance he passed off as cheese! ;o)
Kentucky first time below 10% unemployment in the last few years. Good job Mr. President. First of a substantial amount of good news to come in the coming year.
You mean to tell me the election is next week?
Someone's gonna be choking alright, when a black President is re-elected with unemployment OVER 7.2%!
It will be another historic election!
You heard it here first!
LouisJ,
Spot on. It is embarassing that he feels the need to "Go There". Where is the POUTRAGE from the right? Does anyone remember Michael Steele's Chairmanship run? Yeah, this is EXACTLY like that. Well except that Steele knew something about politics.
Cain is more of a pizza by product (kind of like his 'cheese'). It never ceases to amaze me how people think government CAN and should be run like a business. Where is the profit motive? Someone who is good at MAKING money does not necessarily know how to serve the public. This is one of many prime examples of simpletons wanting simple answers for very complex issues. More instant gratification without a lot of thought or analysis. Sound familiar?
Cain calls for a payroll tax holiday.
Actually as an employer and as a Conservative he wants it eliminated as a means to totally defund Medicare and Social Security (putting the extra money in his pocket) before many on this board get a chance to get to collect even a dime of it after they have paid into it all their life. More for the rich on the backs of the middleclass!
If any of you libs things are going to get better for Obama, you'd better polish your crystal balls. Right now you are looking through the haze with dreams and false optimism.
What magic bag of tricks is Obama going to pull from to increase the employment in this country. So far he's done nothing... nothing to improve employment... the largest factor in any presidential election. Has Obama brought jobs back to America? Where's the policy change? Has Obama waved his wand over the country to magically make the economy improve?
The libs are living in dreamville. I'm looking forward to the day when Carrot Top in drag loses it the day after the election. When her hopes and dreams are dashed and America finds hope for a change.
This guy acutally cabbaged one off Dr King? How original can one man get?
DBO,
I know, right?
PS. Did you get my email about Dew Drop Tunes? Can you help?
I fear that Mr. Cain isn't worth more than a very, very short analysis. Government is not a business enterprise. It cannot be run like a business enterprise. It has a very contentious Board of Directors - Congress. You don't snap your fingers and tell Congress what they WILL do. They make sausage, not pizza. The Presidency is far beyond the grasp of Mr. Cain. Lots of platitudes and generalities. Nothing more.
It's a "dream" for the ultra rich, especially the trust-fund layabouts living on their investments, they won't have to pay any income taxes if Cain's insane proposal goes through. Of course it means booming deficits, but the ultra-rich aren't worried as it will mean more Treasury notes that they can invest in with their extra money - and the high demand will mean they'll earn even higher interest rates, too!
Of course, interest payments on the rising National debt will slowly eliminate "entitlements" like Social Security, Medicare, public education and welfare, but when the debt starts threatening military spending and even corporate welfare the "Right" will call for "Shared Sacrifice" and increase taxes on the middle class and working poor. Result - the Rich will end up owning the country, and the rest of us will pay for it.
Yep, a dream for the rich, a nightmare for the rest of us.
When I tell any truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those that do. ~William Blake
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America 's debt limit is a sign of
leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own
bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from
foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.
Increasing America 's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.
Leadership means that 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the
burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.
America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.
Americans deserve better."
SENATOR BARACK H. OBAMA, MARCH, 2006
1/20/09 - Approval Rating 65% ..............6/24/11 - Approval Rating 45% and tanking!
LOL...spot on !
So this all took place at the RLC. The Republican Leadership Council.
Do the Dems have a DLC?? Which would be called the Democratic Leadership Council.
Wouldn't that be an oxymoron?? LOL
Apparently, it doesn't take much to light up the RLC crowd. What a pathetic move by Cain to invoke the powerful words of Martin Luther King and turn them into a joke.
Jody, you are a sourpuss. Making a joke is allowed, Herman Cain's light joke was well received; too bad for your moonbat 'sensibilities'.
Nothing quite like invoking the Dreams by a man who would deny MOST the Dream. That Cain is a stitch. Yes, I am sure it was as well received as Huckabee's 'humor' when the chair fell and he laughed that then Candidate Obama was 'taking cover'. You righties are down right hysterical.
(PS. Martin Luther King, Jr was assasinated on April 4, 1968 - I am sure Cain can weave some anecdotal humor into THAT, as well, right?)
Not nearly as pathetic as Obama joking about "shovel ready jobs" after wasting nearly a trillion dollars on them.
Not to mention the billions on the rainbow factories. That manufacture in China.
Jody, Iowa
Apparently, it doesn't take much to light up the RLC crowd. What a pathetic move by Cain to invoke the powerful words of Martin Luther King and turn them into a joke.
What did he bring was his lantern? He certainly is not a guiding light for America or African Americans. Maybe next time he'll bring his banjo.
At 65, Mr. Cain, Herman Cain is fond of saying he refuses to "stay on the Democratic plantationlike he's supposed to" or that he refused to drink the liberal Kool-Aid.“My great, great grandparents were slaves, and now I’m running for president of the United States of America,” he says later. “Is this a great country or what?” He also upset many Tea Party supporters when he stated that African Americans are too poor to tea party. “They can’t afford to,” Cain said. “So I think the first reason is economics. If you just look at the sheer economics of it. If you look at the typical income of a black family of four it’s going to be lower than a non-black or white family of four,”.
Most tea partiers, Cain said, "own their own business, or they have the type of job where they have the flexibility where they can go to the rally."
"Or they're retired," he added.
That's just not the kind of job African Americans have, he said.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/herman-cain-most-black-people-too-poor-to-tea-party.php
I'm just not into to this guy he is such a phony. H e is a multi millionaire and does not care about anyone.
.
Most multi millionaires don't care about anyone but themselves and what's best for their pocketbooks even it means the rest of the country goes to hell. That's what capitalism is all about. If anyone thinks for one minute that capitalism benefits the working masses they better think again. The only thing that mitigates the vileness of capitalism are the regulations and restrictions placed on them by government and unions to protect workers. Unfettered capitalism swallows up all the wealth of the individual.
It is so entertaining how the liberals cajole every republican candidate. Even if there's nothing wrong with the candidate the hatred flows out. How entertaining to see them come up with all sorts of adjectives in their condemnation.
We conservatives, on the other hand, don't have to say anything about the liberal's master. He does enough on his own to self destruct. How does it feel liberals, to have hitched your wagon onto a falling star? Obama is going down and there's nothing you can do about it. Keep the hatred up, it shows how pitiful you are as human beings.
" Even if there's nothing wrong with the candidate..."
Interesting. Please expand on your comment. Share some of the good, positive things we should be finding in these candidates. Please include detailed plans to create jobs and improve the economy they have made public, (no hype or talking popints, now- actual plans) and maybe toss in some of their great accompishments (records) up to now for us to review.
I, for one, will be interested in your observations. Hell, if you produce enough real, solid 'stuff', I might even be a convert.
OK.... 'GO'.
"We conservatives, on the other hand, don't have to say anything about the liberal's master..."
Does JAS1, No Jo, Me-First-Bill, Spankie and others know you are posting these kinds of things.....
DBO - What do others have to do with my opinions? In my observation, Obama has already shot his foot off. He's his own worst nightmare. No need to expound... other than to say the economy will do all the talking.
OK DBO - Herman Cain - brought up through poverty and became a self made man. He saved a multi-million dollar company from bankruptcy. He didn't do it by any mumbo jumbo, he used sound business practices. He knew where to make the cuts, how many to make and strategically brought the company back from the dead. In contrast, what has Obama ever achieved other than campaign with his loud mouth rethoric? Herman Cain has a lot to offer in the way of leadership... Out of all the candidates, so far, he would be the one I'd vote for. Have you listened to any of his speeches? Do you know what he stands for? He has a clean history and he's NOT a Washington insider... a fresh and welcome change from the last few dozen presidents.
I'm sure he's good with foreign policy, too. I may have to reconsider my vote....
Any person would be better at foreign policy than what we are harboring now. My grandaughter has more ability to charm than the one the liberals think is the cat's pajamas.
"Not nearly as pathetic as Obama joking about "shovel ready jobs" after wasting nearly a trillion dollars on them."
Another lie … there was only $71 billion, 9% of the stimulus, spent on infrastructure projects. A full 30% was used for good old tax cuts.
Some people just love to toss that trillion dollar number around - no respect for the truth !!!
Give the man a break, eating pizza and then falling asleep gives me crazy dreams too.
I'm telling you - anchovy nightmares are the absolute worst! lol
I'm telling you - anchovy nightmares are the absolute worst! lol
Especially when you include about a dozen 12 oz beers and several shots of cheap whiskey...
Sounds like you've had plenty of practice.
A real nightmare... an actual living nightmare is waking up each morning knowing Obama is our president.
Reduce taxes again, that will work, because it worked so well during the last administration. I mean this economy is all Obama's fault. Once a republican gets in things will go back to the way they were under Bush, oh yeah that's right, things weren't so good when he left.
Yea, a full decade of Bush tax cuts resulted in a faltering economy, booming deficits, a 14 trillion dollar national debt, rising unemployment, inflation, and a crumbling national infrastructure. But some on the right want to try even more of the same, claiming even more tax cuts will do the trick!
The Conservative theory is that tax cuts will result in more business investment resulting in booming economy, increased tax revenue, and lower unemployment - but that theory doesn't work in reality. The reason is that the rich use that extra money to buy imported luxury goods and bid up the price of rare collectables, which does little for the economy. Instead of risking spare cash investing in businesses that might fail, they've been buying Treasury Bills (the National Debt) as a nice safe no-risk no-work investment, and big deficit demand mean good interest rates, too.
The solution to our economic woes is to increase taxes back to what they were in the booming '90s and start paying down the national debt, which will cut the supply of T-bills, which in turn would force the investor class to invest more money in businesses again. Of course, the Teapartiers would never agree to that, as it doesn't benefit the rich, just the rest of the nation.
Where is Alan Keys when you need him! Oh! Mr. Cain is the new Alan Keys! Amos & Andy would be laughing at these two!!
A common sense businessman like Cain has a good chance of being the next President. Seriously let's say we elected Presidents based on thier resume and experience not sound bites. In '08 Obama's resume wouldnt have made it past the mail room screeners. I think in 2012 we are going to take our vote for leadership much more seriously. Obama's poor leadership or lack of it has been an expensive mistake for this country.... VOTE FOR CHANGE IN 2012!
I agree, VOTE for change in 2012. Vote the Republicans out of office. That's Change we can live with.
The rent is too damn high guy is looking better all the time. I don't think he is a career politician HA but he seems to understands what people are really concerned with.
Cain's five tax-policy is Social Conservative Libertarian code for "We'll protect the richest two Percent(2%) from increasing taxes. First, reducing taxes has never produced any jobs in the past fifty years. A maximum 25% corporate tax transfers any future tax increases to the 98% lower and middle income populace. Changes to the Capital gains tax also would transfer future tax increases to the lower and middle class. Making tax cuts permanent is the ever used ploy to gains votes from the more affluent population.
I thought Herman Cain was for the FairTax? That's the only thing he needs to run on. What is this other dodo????
Bombastic FOOL. And, someone should tell this writer that Cain does not consider himself African-American. he spoke recently that he has no connection to Africa.
Doesn't this man truly understand that there is a Tea Party out there that will never ever allow his climb to the top. If the Tea Party does not stand in the way, the rest of conservative America will surely do so. Hell, the same people who gave him applause will not vote for him.
Herman "Citizen" Cain, Wake-up and smell the coffee, dude.
Fact is that Cain is one of the darlings of the Tea Party and does very well at all such groups he speaks before.
I have two words for herman cain. UNCLE and TOM !!! he should "dream" about that !!! and if he thinks that the teabaggers are going to make a black man their candidate for president he is delusional !!! yes, mr.cain, I hate to burst your bubble but you are BLACK !!!
p.s. you can barrow my mirror if you need one !!!
Typical left wing racist. If a black man dares have any opinion that is not the offical approves line and varies of the plantation, then we must whip him verbally.
Mr. Cain is a smart man...he's showing the world just how biased the republicans are. When he drops out of the race, he can always tell people that he entered the race and said these things just to prove a point. He will be the one to expose the republicans for who they really are. Is this wishful thinking on my part? And I try to keep an open mind, but I find it hard to do so with the current crop of republican representative and their candidates.
There will never be another black man in the republican spotlight again. Did anyone notice that he did not stick around after the debate? No handshaking and networking for votes...that's not someone serious about seeking votes.
An argument may be made that Cain, even more so than Obama, embodies the American dream. That the true son of MLK is Cain. He was not born into great wealth or privilege, became a CEO, learned about America and the wants and needs of real people from the marketplace. And now, Cain wants to become President not to merely "become a name in the history books", but to actually DO SOMETHING. What you may ask? 1) create a favorable business climate, which will 2) create jobs, which will, 3) generate revenue and finally, 4) put America back on the path to getting her fiscal house in order. YES WE CAIN ! ! !
dear greg
cain has never been elected to any public office !!! and despite his personal business success, he's sh*t out of luck when it comes to the republican nomination !!! colin powell is the only black republican that I would vote for !!! he has integrity, experience and unlike cain, he would not debase himself by acting more stupid and idiotic than the candidates around him !!! but then again republicans/teabaggers don't want a real black man like powell !!! they prefer uncle toms like herman cain and clarence thomas !!!
Uncle Tom? Any comment like this against BO would have 3 news agencies on this.
You are very wrong if you think that Tea Partiers will not vote for Cain, or any black man. If Powell were to run he would have my vote right away and if he didn't run then I would definately research Cain some more, just the fact that he is not a politician at all scores him big points with a lot of people. I really hope that Hillary decides to run in the primaries b/c I think slews of people that were torn between her and Obama the first time would definately send their votes her way now after seeing the way Obama has made bad situations even worse. So far, I believe Cain has my vote. I would sure love to see Chris Christy decide to run, not just b/c I think he would be great for this country, but b/c I would love to see the unions get their panties all in a wad. One thing is for sure, this is going to be a very interesting and crazy 18 months. God Bless America.
Greg, how does Cain embody the American dream more than Obama? Their stories are both inspiring. Obama also came from very modest roots. His mother was only 18 when she had him. Obama's story is also inspiring because of his biracial background, his education, and his work in the community (which is constantly denigrated by those on the far right). I like Cain's story, too, but I don't like his conservative philosophy. I need to hear more than "cut taxes". Our country has been there and done that. Even Obama went against his own campaign promise and signed the bill to extend the Bush-era tax cuts--to what benefit?
It's also annoying for someone to invoke MLK's words "I have a dream. . ." totally out of context. He was talking about racial equality, peace, respect for others no matter what the color of their skin is. To apply it to politics (and his own personal ambition) seems crass to me.
P.S. Our lovely governor Perry just vetoed a bill that would have outlawed texting while driving. The Republican-controlled legislature was trying to take away our right to control ourselves, I guess.
Do you think that Mr. Cain will have to show his birth certificate?
He already showed it. He brought it along when he files paperwork to run for President. If Obama had done that, it would have stopped 2 years of arguing.
Using the Obama logic, whoever is against Cain is a racist! Right?
Cain is a Democratic nightmare. A smart, articulate, very successful black conservative. He can't be allowed to speak so they must silence him.
Exactly Like Michael Steele, I mean HE was a nightmare, too, right?
Enough about Obama, this article is about Cain, stay on subject!
Cain who doesn't refer to himself as African American use King speech. Refused to deliver pizza to the inner city and says Obama is not black enough. I must say Herman is interesting. I like seeing another Black man who is anything but mono lithic. But can he get the numbers?
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America 's debt limit is a sign of
leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own
bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from
foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.
Increasing America 's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.
Leadership means that 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the
burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.
America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.
Americans deserve better."
SENATOR BARACK H. OBAMA, MARCH, 2006
1/20/09 - Approval Rating 65% ..............6/24/11 - Approval Rating 45% and tanking!