The Razing Cain

Hello again, faithful readers! So far, I am on point with saying Sarah Palin was being nothing more than a poll tease. Let's see how I do with this next article.

Today, the topic is Herman Cain. I am sure you have probably read or listened to coverage about Mr. Cain and found yourself wondering if there is nothing more out there about him? Is there nothing more than what seems to be regurgitated by one source eaten by another, and then regurgitated again? The answer to your question is, "Yep, that's it". But, why??? Lucky for you (unlucky for me) I actually DUG..and I mean DUG to find ANY usable information about Mr. Cain including listening to as many of his former talk radio show archives this weekend as I could without losing consciousness. Not to say that he is a boring man, because he isn't. I only say that because when I surfaced from "Cain Immersion" there were so many things about him that just doesn't gel.

The excitement for Herman Cain seems to begin in 1994 when he was phoning in a question to President Clinton from Omaha Nebraska during a town hall meeting. In an exchange of numbers and "calculations", Herman Cain (then CEO of Godfather's Pizza) explained how he could not stay profitable enough to meet the employer mandate AND retain the same workforce he currently had. Going so far as to ask, "If I am forced to do this, what will I tell those people whose jobs I will have to eliminate?" Clinton didn't believe that Mr. Cain's figures were accurate and eventually asked Cain to send the figures to him. It is unclear as to whether or not that ever happened, but you can watch the exchange on YouTube if you should want to. The end result is that the Mr. Cain has since been lauded for defeating the Clinton Health Care Plan in GOP circles. Still, even though the exchange showed that Herman Cain was telling the President that he wouldn't make a profit, he was also a CEO that pointed out that he didn't want people to lose their jobs either. I was kind of impressed, until I dug a little deeper.

Now, if you accept the statements on Wikapedia (please don't, I'll explain why) that Herman Cain made Godfather's Pizza profitable again by cutting 911 stores down to 420 after his acquisition of the company in 1988....Then, you'd have to wonder WHY would anyone believe that this guy is about saving people's jobs? But, Wikapedia is wrong here. Godfather's Pizza did not have 911 stores when Herman Cain took over in 1988. According to a 1988 article about the acquisition in The New York Time's

"At its peak in 1984, Godfather's had 911 restaurants generating $365 million in annual sales."

later, the article adds:

"Pillsbury named him president of its then-troubled Godfather's unit in April 1986.

Since then, Mr. Cain has trimmed the number of Godfather's restaurants by more than 250, settled lawsuits and taken steps to insure consistent quality."

So, at first glance, it seems that the Wikapedia entry on Herman Cain is right, but the article also says this:

Mr. Cain said that while Godfather's 180 company-owned restaurants were profitable, many of its 420 franchisees were not, depressing results over all. The franchisees pay royalties to the parent.

So, quick math,,There were 911 Godfather's Pizza's before Herman Cain, and 600 with him. That means that a total of 311 restaurants that were closed (-34%) between April 1986 and September of 1988. But, if this---> article were true the changes happened all within a matter of months and in the same year!

Now, to Mr. Cain's credit, he did save and did end up owning the company. That was no mean feat for a company that was looking down the barrels of bankruptcy in 1986! Further, he has ALWAYS said, the company's money "IS THEIR MONEY" they can do what they want with it! If you are in business, then you are in business to stay in business and so on, and so forth. So, do I think that the closings were bad decisions for Godfather's Pizza? Absolutely not! They stayed in business because of those decisions. However, do I really want my country run like Godfather's Pizza? For me, that's the more important question!

I would like to believe that there should be someone in office that represented the American People as more than an afterthought. Mr. Cain is a "number's man" he is not a "people man". He was a mathematician in ballistics for the Department of the Navy, a president and owner of a corporation, CEO for the National Restaurant Association, and chairman of the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City. All in all, his entire business history speaks to making rich people even more rich. But, to the self proclaimed "99%" that are marching on Wall Street? To Mr. Cain, they are an afterthought. This was most apparent on his elaboration (not a retraction) of his statement to the Wall Street Journal that went like this:

"Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself...It is not a person's fault if they succeeded, it is a person's fault if they failed."

..to which he later stated on MSNBC to Lawrence O Donnell:

"Some people are unemployed to no fault of their own. I was referring to those people who have chose to go and demonstrate on Wall Street for whatever reason and it's not real clear what reason"

At this point, I would like to mention that the March on Wall Street is also comprised of working people. I am not sure why media is not pointing this out.

Mr. Cain also makes mention of caring for the 14 million people unemployed here...again, TO ME that's an after thought. As the interview progresses Cain makes mention that the march should be on Washington (not on Wall Street) because of it's "failed policies" that he believes is wholly to blame for the unemployment rates.So, what will save us all? Herman Cain's 999 plan!

The 999 plan is a 9% flat tax plan and its specifics are still being argued over. The contention on whether or not it will place more burden on tax payers is not only being held by democrats and republicans, but by economists as well. Because Herman Cain doesn't have a comprehensive blueprint that illustrates how 999, how it will impact the economy, or how it will impact the taxpayers, I will not even try to discuss it. To me, every time I see someone confront him on the plan, Mr. Cain simply bats away the questions with calculations and rules that he appears to make up on the spot. I really don't think its unfair to make that accusation, considering you can't find a comprehensive 999 blueprint anywhere yet. When it comes out, we can cover it then. But why isn't this guy more together than this? I had to know!

I dug around more and found a telling quote that Cain himself made last year on PoliticsDaily:

Cain says his presidential campaign in 2000 was more about making a point than winning. "George W. Bush was the chosen one," Cain told me. "He had the campaign DNA that followers look for." But Cain also added, "I believe that I had a better message and I believe that I was the better messenger."-Matt Lewis of Politics Daily

Could it be that Herman Cain was only attempting to do what he does best? Motivate? Did he get involved in the 2012 elections to simply "make a point" only to fond himself the upset winner of a straw poll in Florida? Did he then suddenly find himself thrust into the media and talk show grinding machine looking for a way to dog paddle his head above the pundit waters with a concocted 999 tax plan? Who knows?

What is clear, is that he now has a following of people who are the same people that said, "We don't know anything about Obama" during the 2008 elections, but don't seem to mind that Herman Cain has officially been involved with the GOP ticket since January of this year.

On his own radio show in August of 2010, Mr. Cain said that "I consider myself a Tea Party person" and pointed to how liberals try to label Tea Party People as something they are not. Specifically saying,

"Now the Democratic National Committee has launched a campaign to try and label tea party people as republicans [laughing] They['re] gonna call us republicans now! They couldn't make the other names stick!"

He also said, that he was a Tea Party person because

"they believe in fiscal responsibility, governing according to constitutional principals and allowing the free market to do what it does."

Today, self proclaimed "Tea Party Person" Herman Cain is not running on a 3rd party "Tea Party Ticket" he is running on a GOP (republican) ticket. Moreover, republicans have hoisted Herman Cain on their shoulders, raising Cain to a competitive level with Mitt Romney and have nearly all but forgotten Rick Perry.

Herman Cain, is being considered the "real deal" by his constituents, but has offered nothing substantial to America. He represents corporations, and banks and I believe that he will most likely continue to serve them if he becomes the President Elect.

Kisses,

Jose!!!