After Herman Cain won the Republican straw poll in Florida on Saturday with 37 percent of the vote, more than double any other candidate, voters are taking a second look. Who is Herman Cain? What does he stand for?
Cain’s early life
Cain is from Atlanta. According to his campaign bio, he grew up with loving parents who worked tirelessly to buy a family home and send their two sons to college.
Education
Cain earned a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Morehouse College in 1967. He subsequently received a master’s in computer science from Purdue.
Work history
Cain worked as a civilian employee of the Navy while in graduate school developing fire control systems. After graduation, he went to work for Coca-Cola as a systems analyst. From there, he moved on to Pillsbury, where he worked up to the position of vice president, then became regional manager of Pillsbury’s Burger King division. According to his campaign bio, this division became the best-performing in the company under his management.
He took on the role of CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, a 620-store chain then-owned by Pillsbury, in 1986. Politifact looked at his claim that he turned the corporation from near-bankruptcy to success and judged his statements largely correct. Politifact concluded after interviewing industry executives that Cain united franchises, overhauled advertising and directed the team’s attention to the core mission of selling pizza to turn around the troubled chain. Cain and fellow investors bought Godfather’s in 1986. Cain effectively retired from active management in 1994 and officially relinquished the CEO role in 1996.
Since that time, Cain has made a living from public speaking, book authorship and hosting a conservative talk show. He is president and CEO of THE New Voice, a business consulting company, and head coach of Hermanator’s Intelligent Thinking Movement.
Political experience
Cain has never held political office. He lives in Atlanta, where he ran for unsuccessfully for Senate in 2004.
He arguably got his start in politics by attending a town hall at which former President Bill Clinton was speaking in 1994. Cain expressed support for national health care but told the president bluntly that he had run the numbers and Godfather’s couldn’t afford it. After considerable discussion, Clinton asked Cain to send his data to the White House.
In 1995, as head of the National Restaurant Association, Cain appeared publicly with Newt Gingrich to support welfare reform.
In 1999, Cain’s co-chaired Republican Steve Forbes’ presidential campaign.
Platform
The centerpiece of Cain’s platform is his ’999 plan.” “Get the government off our backs, out of our pockets and out of our way,” he proclaims. He would reduce business income taxes to a 25 percent maximum and eliminate taxes on foreign profits brought home. His other taxation proposals, which would “end the IRS as we know it,” he says, include:
* Killing the capital gains tax, payroll tax and death tax.
* Adopting a 9 percent flat tax for businesses and individuals.
* Creating empowerment zones entitling businesses to additional deductions.
* Imposing a 9 percent federal sales tax.
These are his positions on other critical issues:
* Budget: Shrink budgets by target percentages. “Every federal agency, every government program and expenditure must be reviewed and revised with a keen eye and a red pen,” he says.
* Immigration: Enforce existing laws.
* Health care: Repeal and replace health care reform with free-market reform.
* Entitlements: Fulfill responsibilities to current and future Social Security recipients; get the federal government out of the welfare business.
* Regulation: Minimize regulations, largely allowing the free-market to self-regulate.
* Education: Expand vouchers and charter schools. Reward teachers whose students excel. Keep control local.
Can Herman Cain keep up the momentum�…
Herman Cain is basking in the Sunday glow of his surprise win Saturday in the�… Full Story��Can Herman Cain keep up the momentum after his Florida straw poll win?
Christian Science Monitor (RSS)
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