Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a fan of Herman Cain, but not necessarily of his “9-9-9” economic plan. 
 
 
 
 Gingrich, who’s vying for the Republican presidential nomination, noted on Sunday that in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, there is no state sales tax, so voters there would be paying much more under the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO’s proposal. Cain’s plan would set a national sales tax rate, corporate tax rate and an income tax rate of 9 percent. 
 
 
 
 "If Herman figures out how to do it all right and if he can explain a 9 percent sales tax so people decide they want it, he has a good chance to be the nominee," Gingrich told CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union.” "If, however, in New Hampshire, for example, where they have no sales tax at all and no mechanism for collecting it, or in Iowa where senior citizens are going to say, wait a second, as my 79-year-old mother-in-law said on her Social Security, in her fixed income she's now going to pay 9 percent more?" 
 
 
 
 "As people look at 9-9-9 and disaggregate it, it gets to be a lot harder sale, I think," Gingrich added. 
 
 
 
 Gingrich also played strategist, saying that Mitt Romney has hit a “natural ceiling” of support among Republican primary voters and that Texas Gov. Rick Perry probably would’ have gotten the nod had he not faltered in recent debates. 
 
 
 
 “Perry was the natural alternative to Romney and, if Perry had a flawless campaign, he would’ve been the nominee,” Gingrich said. 
 
 Share this Article Digg 
 
 Delicious 
 
 Reddit 
 
 Yahoo 
 
 
 
 Google 
 
 Technorati 
 
 ||||| In the wake of a thwarted assassination plot against Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday called President Barack Obama’s policy toward Iran a “failure.” 
 
 
 
 Attorney General Eric Holder last week announced the attempt, which he said was “conceived, sponsored, and … directed from” the Iranian government. Asked by host Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union" whether Obama has been too soft on Iran, McCain replied, “I think his policy of engagement with Iran has clearly been a failure.” 
 
 
 
 McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, added the United States should pursue “severe” sanctions against Iran, and “covert activities of some kind should be considered” in light of the assassination attempt. 
 
 
 
 “It’s time the American people were told by the president of all of the activities that the Iranians have engaged in,” McCain said. 
 
 
 
 Earlier on the same show, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich also criticized Obama, saying the administration has been “absolutely clueless” on what to do regarding its policy toward Iran. 
 
 
 
 “We have done nothing of consequence to systematically undermine this regime,” Gingrich said. "You just asked what would a Gingrich administration do. The Gingrich administration would have said to the country, see? This is one more in a 32-year process of waging war against us and is further proof of why we need to replace the dictatorship." 
 
 Share this Article Digg 
 
 Delicious 
 
 Reddit 
 
 Yahoo 
 
 
 
 Google 
 
 Technorati 
 
 ||||| We’re currently testing the Facebook commenting system on our blogs. To find out more, please visit our FAQ. If you’d like to report spam or abuse, click the X in the upper right hand corner of the offending post. Remember, you must be logged into Facebook to comment. ||||| President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, insists he doesn't know whether Mitt Romney will ultimately face off against his boss in November 2012. 
 
 
 
 But if he does, it’s obvious how Axelrod and the rest of the campaign will try to paint the former Massachusetts governor. 
 
 
 
 “There’s a question about where his core principles are,” Axelrod said Sunday on ABC's "This Week," saying Romney has been a “pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-environment candidate for office and then he decides to run for office and did a 180 on that … time and time again, he shifts.” 
 
 
 
 Axelrod hosted the campaign’s first major conference call with reporters this week and spent the bulk of the conversation bashing Romney, though he wouldn’t say whether Team Obama thought Romney would be the ultimate Republican nominee. 
 
 
 
 As for Obama’s jobs proposal, which the president has traveled around the country to sell to voters, Axelrod insisted that Congress would ultimately vote on the entire plan – although the package has already been rejected by congressional Republicans. 
 
 
 
 “We hope to assemble the entire plan and we’re going to take votes on each one of them,” Axelrod said. “They will be done sequentially, and the sequence is being discussed right now.” 
 
 Share this Article Digg 
 
 Delicious 
 
 Reddit 
 
 Yahoo 
 
 
 
 Google 
 
 Technorati 
 
 ||||| Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain on Sunday defended the absence of his wife on the campaign trail. 
 
 Spouses are common at campaign events, yet Gloria Cain has not been much of a public presence for her husband, who has recently surged in polls. 
 
 "My wife supports me 200 percent," said Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza. "But let me tell why you haven't seen my wife. I'm running a different kind of a campaign. My wife and I, we have a family life, and she is maintaining the calmness and the tranquility of that family life so when I do get a day off of the campaign trail, I can go home and enjoy my family." 
 
 "Secondly, I don't want to subject my wife and my family to the rigors and the attacks and the criticism of this campaign at this point," he continued in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." "She will be visible at some point, but it'll be based upon when we want her to be visible, not when the powers that be or the media wants her to be visible."
– Sudden GOP frontrunner Herman Cain defended his 9-9-9 tax plan on the talk show circuit today, shooting back at critics who say it would jack taxes for the poor, middle class, and elderly. "There are invisible taxes that are built into everything we buy," said Cain, adding that his plan replaces those "with a 9% visible tax." If people "do the math on their individual situation, I believe more are going to see it's advantageous." Questioned by David Gregory, Cain reaffirmed his February statement that liberals want to "destroy this country" by stunting the business sector, and said that Occupy Wall Street should take their grievances to the White House's door. Cain also shot back at critics questioning his wife's absence from the campaign trail, saying that Gloria Cain "is maintaining the tranquility of (our) family life," and "will be visible at some point, but it'll be based upon when we want her to be visible, not when the powers that be or the media wants her to be visible." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial, as per Politico: John McCain on Obama and creating jobs: “It’s time the president came off the campaign trail, sat down and negotiated with us [on areas of] common ground." McCain on Iran: “I think his policy of engagement with Iran has clearly been a failure. It’s time the American people were told by the president of all of the activities that the Iranians have engaged in." David Axelrod on Mitt Romney: “There’s a question about where his core principles are." Axelrod hammered Romney as a onetime "pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-environment candidate for office and then he decides to run for office and did a 180 on that … time and time again, he shifts.” Newt Gingrich on Cain's 9-9-9 plan: "If Herman figures out how to do it all right and if he can explain a 9% sales tax so people decide they want it, he has a good chance to be the nominee. "If, however, in New Hampshire, for example, where they have no sales tax at all and no mechanism for collecting it ... it gets to be a lot harder sale." Gingrich on his competitors: “Perry was the natural alternative to Romney and, if Perry had a flawless campaign, he would’ve been the nominee."