With his unexpected rise in the 2012 GOP presidential polls, former businessman Herman Cain is suddenly a hot topic. And MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough took a few shots at him on his Tuesday morning show. Scarborough’s criticism focused on Cain’s signature “9-9-9” tax plan.
Scarborough co-host Mika Brzezinski cited a Nov. 22, 2010 Cain op-ed that appeared on The Daily Caller website, in which Cain argued against a national sales tax — an idea which is now a component of the “9-9-9” plan.
“That’s exactly what your good friend Grover Norquist said when he was here the other day,” Scarborough exclaimed. “He said it’s not sticking three needles in your arm. And that they can draw blood from three separate needles. So if you have these three sources of tax revenue, trust me, trust me. trust Mark Halperin, trust us all. If you give Congress a national sales tax, 9 is going to 11 is going to be 15 is going to be 20.
“And, by the way, he’s not getting rid of the income tax. He’s not getting rid of the business tax. So yeah, he opposed his own plan 11 months ago.”
Scarborough also took aim at Cain’s remarks about erecting an electric border fence, chiding Brzezinski, a Democrat, for her own hand-wringing on the subject.
“You shouldn’t be concerned,” Scarborough told her. “It’s not even your party. By the way, he hasn’t backed down from that. This is ‘exhibit 800’ over the past year of why my Republican Party has lost their way in such a serious, serious way. We laugh about it, but it is actually tragic.”
Watch:
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