Harry Belafonte’s comments about Cain are right on the mark.
As the comments I’ve made here about Cain have indicated, this man has forgotten who he is and where he came from by looking down on his own race and blaming them for being poor.
He seriously thinks he is superior to black people because of his wealth and social class.
He is the root of the social ills caused by the ruling class.
No person aspires to be poor or chooses to be poor but Cain thinks that is what causes poverty in America.
Who wants that? Who wants to be jobless, homeless or hungry?
Seriously what world is he living in?
Harry Belafonte said it right he’s a bad apple and I’ll add in the rest of that right winged bunch.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 11, 2011 @ 11:13 pm
Yes Deborah. Great insights. Frankly, old white dudes like many of us, who’ve hung with or witnessed speeches by plenty of significant brothers as down as Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, and even more recently brothers like Sanyika Shakur & Cornell West, who know what time it is, have a hard time commenting on cats like Cain, these old Clarence Thomas Uncle Tom “House Negroes” (as Malcolm would’ve said) because it’s just such an embarrassment to Black folk (and all working folk for that matter) that white folk have no real credibility adding their 2 cents or sticking their noses into such a debate. It’s just not white folk’s place to mount such criticisms, plain and simple, albeit amongst ourselves we wonder where in the hell such a character could have emerged from if not from a twisted Republican strategist because this dude is clearly at odds with reality.
Comment by Karl Friedrich — October 12, 2011 @ 12:36 am
Thank you Doug and Karl for the positive commentary as I’m always grateful to have my views understood and appreciated.
I think it’s not a coincidence that he threw his name into the race because it’s obviously a ploy concocted by Republicans to make them appear more minority friendly.
What people just don’t get is that he doesn’t support minority causes and didn’t support the civil rights movement or think it had any relevance or importance.
He is not the best person for the Republicans to use as a minority recruiter for their party.
People don’t thinks it’s possible for a black man to be a racist against black people.
If you listen to Herman Cain in his very own words, he’s grossly guilty of racism.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 12, 2011 @ 2:34 am
To paraphrase, Cain said that “if you are poor, blame yourself” I wonder, as an example, how he would explain Godfather’s Pizza employees’ poverty?
Who, great comment and may I respectfully add: If you’re poor and you work for Godfather’s Pizza, BLAME HERMAN CAIN.
I don’t know if you’ve heard any other of Herman Cain’s comments during his televised interviews or excerpts from his book, but they make the blame yourself for being poor comments appear rather tame.
I only wish Malcolm X could be here today to call this man out for his blatantly racist and stereotypical views of America’s black community.
Society should not let racism be more acceptable because a member of the same race is guilty of it.
If anything, it’s worse because people like Cain think that the black community is inferior to them because they run in a higher social circle.
I think a man like Herman Cain who is a privileged bourgeois snob who can’t possibly relate to a proletarian like me and also treats his own people like second class citizens, should never hold the highest office in the nation.
This isn’t a kingdom Mr. Cain, it’s supposed to be a democracy where all citizens count and not just the country clubbers like you.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 12, 2011 @ 7:54 pm
Let me see if I understand….
Herman Cain grew up poor in the pre-civil rights era South and experienced racism first hand. His Dad worked three jobs as a barber, chauffer and a janitor. His mother was teacher. Does this sound like sophisticated people to you? That sounds like hard core working class to me. If you come from a background like this, you have worked and earned your way from the bottom.
Just because he managed to ascend throughout his life he is now suddenly a “snob”? How so exactly?
It’s not about the class you’re from, but the class you serve.
Comment by Brian Gallagher — October 15, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
Thank you Brian. That was my whole point when I said he’s forgotten where he came from.
JKS, I would suggest that you do some more research on the man before coming to his defense so quickly.
I think it’s fair to say that Mr. Cain’s own statements and views would lead any reasonable person to classify him as a snob. These statements came from his mouth, not mine.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 15, 2011 @ 6:53 pm
I read an article by Leonard Pitts who is a syndicated columnist with the Seattle Times from an interview with Herman Cain.
Cain branded himself a victim of racim.
Specifically he said some black people are racist because they disagree with his politics.
Well there you have it comrades yet another outrageous statement from Herman Cain.
Now who’s playing the victim card?
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 16, 2011 @ 3:29 pm
Comrades, I suggest going to Clarence Page’s column on the Chicago Tribune’s website (chicagotribune.com).
It’s called Page’s Page and his commentary about Cain is accurate and brilliant and comes from a well known and well respected political columnist.
It will give you a very clear picture of Cain’s opinions, statements and his political views.
And it’s not pretty folks.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 16, 2011 @ 4:59 pm
Herman Cain’s deep ties to Koch brothers key to campaign
By Associated Press, Sunday, October 16, 9:54 AM
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has cast himself as the outsider, the pizza magnate with real-world experience who will bring fresh ideas to the nation’s capital. But Cain’s economic ideas, support and organization have close ties to two billionaire brothers who bankroll right-leaning causes through their group Americans for Prosperity.
Cain’s campaign manager and a number of aides have worked for Americans for Prosperity, or AFP, the advocacy group founded with support from billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which lobbies for lower taxes and less government regulation and spending. Cain credits a businessman who served on an AFP advisory board with helping devise his “9-9-9” plan to rewrite the nation’s tax code. And his years of speaking at AFP events have given the businessman and radio host a network of loyal grassroots fans.
The once little-known businessman’s political activities are getting fresh scrutiny these days since he soared to the top of some national polls.
His links to the Koch brothers could undercut his outsider, non-political image among tea party fans who detest politics as usual and candidates connected with the party machine.
AFP tapped Cain as the public face of its “Prosperity Expansion Project,” and he traveled the country in 2005 and 2006 speaking to activists who were starting state-based AFP chapters from Wisconsin to Virginia. Through his AFP work he met Mark Block, a longtime Wisconsin Republican operative hired to lead that state’s AFP chapter in 2005 as he rebounded from an earlier campaign scandal that derailed his career.
Block and Cain sometimes traveled together as they built up AFP: Cain was the charismatic speaker preaching the ills of big government; Block was the operative helping with nuts and bolts.
When President Barack Obama’s election helped spawn the tea party, Cain was positioned to take advantage. He became a draw at growing AFP-backed rallies, impressing activists with a mix of humor and hard-hitting rhetoric against Obama’s stimulus, health care and budget policies.
Block is now Cain’s campaign manager. Other aides who had done AFP work were also brought on board.
Cain’s spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael, who recently left the campaign, was an AFP coordinator in Louisiana. His campaign’s outside law firm is representing AFP in a case challenging Wisconsin campaign finance regulations. At least six other current and former paid employees and consultants for Cain’s campaign have worked for AFP in various capacities.
And Cain has credited Rich Lowrie, a Cleveland businessman who served on AFP’s board of advisors from 2005 to 2008, with being a key economic adviser and with helping to develop his plan to cut the corporate tax rate to 9 percent, impose a national sales tax of 9 percent and set a flat income tax rate of 9 percent
“He’s got a national network now that perhaps he wouldn’t have had 15 or 20 years ago because of his work with AFP,” said Republican Party of Wisconsin Vice Chair Brian Schimming, who has introduced Cain at events in Wisconsin. “For a presidential candidate, that’s obviously helpful to have.”
He said Cain was smart to hire Block.
Cain’s recent victories in straw polls in Florida and Minnesota highlight the importance of organizing supporters and Block, who has a deep network in the tea party, “gets that side of it,” Schimming said.
But Block has had his problems as well. He settled a suit in 2001 accusing him of illegally coordinating a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice’s re-election with an outside group. Block agreed to pay $15,000 and sit out of politics for three years.
While Cain is quick to promote his career at the helm of the Godfather’s Pizza chain, his ties to AFP aren’t something the candidate appears eager to highlight.
His campaign did not respond to inquiries seeking comment, and Cain does not include his AFP work on his biography on his website.
But Cain continues to work with the group.
While several other candidates will be at an Iowa Republican Party dinner on Nov. 4, Cain is scheduled to be in Washington mingling with activists at AFP’s annual “Defending the American Dream” summit. He is the only confirmed presidential candidate for the event.
AFP spokesman Levi Russell said Cain has spoken at dozens of AFP rallies and events over the years to support a number of the group’s activities. AFP has often covered his travel expenses or paid a “pretty modest honorarium” but he has not been paid since becoming a presidential candidate, he said.
“He’s a dynamic, pro-business speaker that connects well with our activists,” Russell said. “AFP is a very large organization, and there is a natural overlap between Cain’s message of fiscal responsibility and the basic principles that AFP advocates for.”
A spokeswoman for the Koch brothers did not respond to The Associated Press’s request for comment on Cain.
To some liberals, Cain’s rise with the help of AFP shows the incredible influence that outside groups controlled by super-wealthy individuals with specific agendas can have on the political process.
“Herman Cain is the first presidential corporate spokes-candidate,” said Scot Ross, a liberal activist who leads One Wisconsin Now, which has often mocked AFP as a front group for corporate interests. “The best way to have your issues talked about in the issue debate is to have a candidate in your pocket with snappy comebacks and easily branded policy papers which mask how destructive they would be.”
AFP’s agenda also includes weakening private and public sector unions, opposing environmental regulations and undoing Obama’s health care reform law, among other policies. But before the tea party and Obama, Cain worked with AFP on more local issues.
In 2006, he campaigned all over Wisconsin in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have limited state government spending. A slew of officials and analysts said the plan would have ultimately devastated government services, and the Republican-controlled Legislature eventually backed off it.
In a statement announcing Cain’s tour, AFP sent out a press release touting his “in-depth understanding of the battle to control out-of-control government taxes and spending.” Block promised that Cain was a speaker that activists would not want to miss.
Comment by PatrickSMcNally — October 17, 2011 @ 3:41 am
Patrick, you’re correct on Cain’s association with the Koch brothers and AFP.
It would definitely make sense that Cain wouldn’t want to capitalize on his connections as to not alienate Tea Party supporters.
Aside from his many troubling statements that already make him unfit to lead the nation, this 9-9-9 tax deal is questionable.
It includes a national sales tax or a VAT tax (Value Added Tax) to goods and services.
Excuse me, but when Obama’s economic team proposed a national sales tax months ago the conservatives went ballistic saying it would slow economic growth.
Why is it a more acceptable idea now because Herman Cain supports it?
It’s the exact same proposal, the national sales tax part of the 9-9-9 plan I mean. I’m not a supporter of Obama, but hypocrisy is hypocrisy.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 17, 2011 @ 5:03 pm
Thanks for clearing that up for me, Deborah. However, I don’t need to be instructed to do more research before I come to his defense. The media is using racism and a bully-pulpit to try and quiet him down because he dares to be a black man that is openly conservative. What pray tell is so wrong with that?
Whatever happened to thinking for one’s self and making up one’s own mind what political persuasion they are going to be? Why doesn’t Hermain Cain have that same right? Based on your comments below, blacks can’t be rich and / or conservative and they must always stick together.
“It’s not about the class you’re from, but the class you serve.” Comment by Brian Gallagher — October 15, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
“Thank you Brian. That was my whole point when I said he’s forgotten where he came from.” – Comment by Deborah Jeffries
JH with all due respect, if conservatism is what you support then this forum may not be for you considering that the majority of participants here are marxists as in communist ideologues.
Herman Cain is intolerant period and not just a proud conservative black man.
You can be a proud conservative without degrading and demeaning others especially people who were laid off their jobs and have fallen on hard times in America through no fault of their own.
The number of citizens at or below poverty level is 46 million.
It’s easy for people like Herman Cain to look down from his throne at the peasant class and cast judgment.
Having such a narrow view doesn’t solve the country’s problems and only makes him another bourgeois snob who is full of himself but even more so full of shit.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 18, 2011 @ 7:43 pm
And he may have come from humble beginnings as we repeatedly hear, but his wealth has gone to his head. Badly.
I associate the word conservative when used in a political context, as meaning more cuts to Social Security and Medicare and of course poorer living conditions for the elderly and disabled.
Why do conservatives always have to sacrifice the elderly and sick with spending cuts?
Tax the rich. A simple answer. They should not hide behind tax breaks and loopholes.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 18, 2011 @ 8:29 pm
Deborah: I guess I would only say that leftists and President Obama can also be proud democrats / progressives / socialists without degrading those with whom THEY disagree. Every other word out of this President’s mouth is about punishing the “rich” for the plight of the poor. Lumping everyone on the other side of the aisle as greedy and uncaring. Contrary to what you may think, not all “rich” people are greedy or acquired their wealth through screwing somebody. They simply worked, took risk, invested, and have made themselves a good life—and given generously because they want to and not because the govt mandates it via a punishing progressive tax system.
Oh…and the narrow view of “taxing the rich” isn’t going to the fix the problem either BTW. I wish you good luck in your mission to transform the US into a socialist state.
JH, I think there is one very big misconception of me as a marxist that you have.
I am not a supporter of Obama or any Democrat.
Democrats and Republicans play the game on team capitalism and that is a team that Red Debster does not play on or support.
I will ask you this, why does it mean when conservatives talk of austerity measures they always wind up throwing the seniors and disabled under the bus?
Seniors and disabled have to choose between food and rent or medicine when Social Security and Medicare are cut.
But yet conservatives never want the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes when they can afford to, but don’t because of generous tax cuts and circumventing tax laws with loopholes.
If it were someone you love on Social Security that was struggling because the government would rather punish them then fairly tax the wealthy, you would look at it differently.
I hope you never have to face hardships like that, but the reality is many Americans do.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 18, 2011 @ 11:42 pm
Cain just said it was only a “joke” when he recently hoped for a “electrocution” fence to be built along the border of my state of Arizona.
Never mind that for over 2000 years there’s been a natural human migration across that border and stopping it is about as humane as putting up electrified fences along the Wildebeest migration routes in Africa — but calling as a “joke” for starving peasants driven into destitution from a “bipartisan” disaster like NAFTA to be exterminated at some fence is the equivalent to that Texas cracker Rick Perry saying that the name of his hunting camp was just a “joke” or worse, it’s like making jokes about lynchings.
JH is obviously a Fox Noise, Glenn Beck indoctrinated fool if he thinks the 1% is comprised primarily of hard working entrepreneurs and investors. The 1% are congenitally degenerate greedheads mostly derived from war profiteers like Halliburton and other defense contractors plus environmental plunderers like Monsanto, Exxon-Mobile & BP.
The proof that he’s a fool with an irrelevant opinion is his idiotic notion that Obama is some kind of Marxist, or has a socialist bone in his body.
Obama, whose so far objectively carried out Bush’s 3rd term almost to the letter, is a creature of the banks & companies like BP who financed his election and knows about as much about Marxism as an onion knows about a union.
Any talk about taxing the rich is like some homicidal maniac who plunges a knife into your back calling “progress” the pulling out of the knife an inch.
JH is right about one thing though: “the narrow view of ‘taxing the rich’ isn’t going to the fix the problem.” Indeed, only the broad view of expropriating the expropriators will.
The global Occupy Movement has the potential to be the beginning of that end.
Comment by Karl Friedrich — October 19, 2011 @ 1:21 am
Right on comrade Karl.
I wrote about Cain’s joke about the electrified fence and how he said America needs to get a sense of humor.
Is he insane? Jokes about killing people fail to stir up the laughter in me and I suggested this man is in desperate need of sensitivity training.
He shouldn’t quit his day job to become a comedian.
You’re right about taxing the rich. It won’t solve all of the many flaws the capitalist regime we live in has, but the wealthy needs to stop getting a free pass courtesy of Obama renewing the Bush tax cuts.
And to say that Obama is a marxist or socialist?
All he’s done is continue on with the policies of Bush as if it were a 3rd term.
Same game, different player.
JH or whatever initials he’s using today is obviously a Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck troll trying to promote the benefits of conservatism when we know there just aren’t any.
Well there is if you prefer the continued social class struggle structure of our capitalist and corrupt government.
It’s just so good to be RED (not Republican obviously, communist of course).
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 19, 2011 @ 4:06 am
Harry Belafonte’s comments about Cain are right on the mark.
As the comments I’ve made here about Cain have indicated, this man has forgotten who he is and where he came from by looking down on his own race and blaming them for being poor.
He seriously thinks he is superior to black people because of his wealth and social class.
He is the root of the social ills caused by the ruling class.
No person aspires to be poor or chooses to be poor but Cain thinks that is what causes poverty in America.
Who wants that? Who wants to be jobless, homeless or hungry?
Seriously what world is he living in?
Harry Belafonte said it right he’s a bad apple and I’ll add in the rest of that right winged bunch.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 11, 2011 @ 11:13 pm
Brilliant reply, Deborah.
Comment by Doug — October 11, 2011 @ 11:55 pm
Yes Deborah. Great insights. Frankly, old white dudes like many of us, who’ve hung with or witnessed speeches by plenty of significant brothers as down as Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, and even more recently brothers like Sanyika Shakur & Cornell West, who know what time it is, have a hard time commenting on cats like Cain, these old Clarence Thomas Uncle Tom “House Negroes” (as Malcolm would’ve said) because it’s just such an embarrassment to Black folk (and all working folk for that matter) that white folk have no real credibility adding their 2 cents or sticking their noses into such a debate. It’s just not white folk’s place to mount such criticisms, plain and simple, albeit amongst ourselves we wonder where in the hell such a character could have emerged from if not from a twisted Republican strategist because this dude is clearly at odds with reality.
Comment by Karl Friedrich — October 12, 2011 @ 12:36 am
Thank you Doug and Karl for the positive commentary as I’m always grateful to have my views understood and appreciated.
I think it’s not a coincidence that he threw his name into the race because it’s obviously a ploy concocted by Republicans to make them appear more minority friendly.
What people just don’t get is that he doesn’t support minority causes and didn’t support the civil rights movement or think it had any relevance or importance.
He is not the best person for the Republicans to use as a minority recruiter for their party.
People don’t thinks it’s possible for a black man to be a racist against black people.
If you listen to Herman Cain in his very own words, he’s grossly guilty of racism.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 12, 2011 @ 2:34 am
To paraphrase, Cain said that “if you are poor, blame yourself” I wonder, as an example, how he would explain Godfather’s Pizza employees’ poverty?
Comment by who? — October 12, 2011 @ 6:38 am
CB: Wow, Lou, that’s a good thread.
Comment by charles — October 12, 2011 @ 12:40 pm
Hope we all can become so wise at 84 and also sharp as a tack.
Comment by Aaron — October 12, 2011 @ 4:51 pm
Who, great comment and may I respectfully add: If you’re poor and you work for Godfather’s Pizza, BLAME HERMAN CAIN.
I don’t know if you’ve heard any other of Herman Cain’s comments during his televised interviews or excerpts from his book, but they make the blame yourself for being poor comments appear rather tame.
I only wish Malcolm X could be here today to call this man out for his blatantly racist and stereotypical views of America’s black community.
Society should not let racism be more acceptable because a member of the same race is guilty of it.
If anything, it’s worse because people like Cain think that the black community is inferior to them because they run in a higher social circle.
I think a man like Herman Cain who is a privileged bourgeois snob who can’t possibly relate to a proletarian like me and also treats his own people like second class citizens, should never hold the highest office in the nation.
This isn’t a kingdom Mr. Cain, it’s supposed to be a democracy where all citizens count and not just the country clubbers like you.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 12, 2011 @ 7:54 pm
Let me see if I understand….
Herman Cain grew up poor in the pre-civil rights era South and experienced racism first hand. His Dad worked three jobs as a barber, chauffer and a janitor. His mother was teacher. Does this sound like sophisticated people to you? That sounds like hard core working class to me. If you come from a background like this, you have worked and earned your way from the bottom.
Just because he managed to ascend throughout his life he is now suddenly a “snob”? How so exactly?
Comment by JKS — October 15, 2011 @ 1:16 pm
JKS,
It’s not about the class you’re from, but the class you serve.
Comment by Brian Gallagher — October 15, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
Thank you Brian. That was my whole point when I said he’s forgotten where he came from.
JKS, I would suggest that you do some more research on the man before coming to his defense so quickly.
I think it’s fair to say that Mr. Cain’s own statements and views would lead any reasonable person to classify him as a snob. These statements came from his mouth, not mine.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 15, 2011 @ 6:53 pm
I read an article by Leonard Pitts who is a syndicated columnist with the Seattle Times from an interview with Herman Cain.
Cain branded himself a victim of racim.
Specifically he said some black people are racist because they disagree with his politics.
Well there you have it comrades yet another outrageous statement from Herman Cain.
Now who’s playing the victim card?
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 16, 2011 @ 3:29 pm
Comrades, I suggest going to Clarence Page’s column on the Chicago Tribune’s website (chicagotribune.com).
It’s called Page’s Page and his commentary about Cain is accurate and brilliant and comes from a well known and well respected political columnist.
It will give you a very clear picture of Cain’s opinions, statements and his political views.
And it’s not pretty folks.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 16, 2011 @ 4:59 pm
More about Herman Cain:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/long-ties-to-koch-brothers-key-to-cains-campaign/2011/10/16/gIQAKTLPoL_print.html
Herman Cain’s deep ties to Koch brothers key to campaign
By Associated Press, Sunday, October 16, 9:54 AM
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has cast himself as the outsider, the pizza magnate with real-world experience who will bring fresh ideas to the nation’s capital. But Cain’s economic ideas, support and organization have close ties to two billionaire brothers who bankroll right-leaning causes through their group Americans for Prosperity.
Cain’s campaign manager and a number of aides have worked for Americans for Prosperity, or AFP, the advocacy group founded with support from billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which lobbies for lower taxes and less government regulation and spending. Cain credits a businessman who served on an AFP advisory board with helping devise his “9-9-9” plan to rewrite the nation’s tax code. And his years of speaking at AFP events have given the businessman and radio host a network of loyal grassroots fans.
The once little-known businessman’s political activities are getting fresh scrutiny these days since he soared to the top of some national polls.
His links to the Koch brothers could undercut his outsider, non-political image among tea party fans who detest politics as usual and candidates connected with the party machine.
AFP tapped Cain as the public face of its “Prosperity Expansion Project,” and he traveled the country in 2005 and 2006 speaking to activists who were starting state-based AFP chapters from Wisconsin to Virginia. Through his AFP work he met Mark Block, a longtime Wisconsin Republican operative hired to lead that state’s AFP chapter in 2005 as he rebounded from an earlier campaign scandal that derailed his career.
Block and Cain sometimes traveled together as they built up AFP: Cain was the charismatic speaker preaching the ills of big government; Block was the operative helping with nuts and bolts.
When President Barack Obama’s election helped spawn the tea party, Cain was positioned to take advantage. He became a draw at growing AFP-backed rallies, impressing activists with a mix of humor and hard-hitting rhetoric against Obama’s stimulus, health care and budget policies.
Block is now Cain’s campaign manager. Other aides who had done AFP work were also brought on board.
Cain’s spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael, who recently left the campaign, was an AFP coordinator in Louisiana. His campaign’s outside law firm is representing AFP in a case challenging Wisconsin campaign finance regulations. At least six other current and former paid employees and consultants for Cain’s campaign have worked for AFP in various capacities.
And Cain has credited Rich Lowrie, a Cleveland businessman who served on AFP’s board of advisors from 2005 to 2008, with being a key economic adviser and with helping to develop his plan to cut the corporate tax rate to 9 percent, impose a national sales tax of 9 percent and set a flat income tax rate of 9 percent
“He’s got a national network now that perhaps he wouldn’t have had 15 or 20 years ago because of his work with AFP,” said Republican Party of Wisconsin Vice Chair Brian Schimming, who has introduced Cain at events in Wisconsin. “For a presidential candidate, that’s obviously helpful to have.”
He said Cain was smart to hire Block.
Cain’s recent victories in straw polls in Florida and Minnesota highlight the importance of organizing supporters and Block, who has a deep network in the tea party, “gets that side of it,” Schimming said.
But Block has had his problems as well. He settled a suit in 2001 accusing him of illegally coordinating a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice’s re-election with an outside group. Block agreed to pay $15,000 and sit out of politics for three years.
While Cain is quick to promote his career at the helm of the Godfather’s Pizza chain, his ties to AFP aren’t something the candidate appears eager to highlight.
His campaign did not respond to inquiries seeking comment, and Cain does not include his AFP work on his biography on his website.
But Cain continues to work with the group.
While several other candidates will be at an Iowa Republican Party dinner on Nov. 4, Cain is scheduled to be in Washington mingling with activists at AFP’s annual “Defending the American Dream” summit. He is the only confirmed presidential candidate for the event.
AFP spokesman Levi Russell said Cain has spoken at dozens of AFP rallies and events over the years to support a number of the group’s activities. AFP has often covered his travel expenses or paid a “pretty modest honorarium” but he has not been paid since becoming a presidential candidate, he said.
“He’s a dynamic, pro-business speaker that connects well with our activists,” Russell said. “AFP is a very large organization, and there is a natural overlap between Cain’s message of fiscal responsibility and the basic principles that AFP advocates for.”
A spokeswoman for the Koch brothers did not respond to The Associated Press’s request for comment on Cain.
To some liberals, Cain’s rise with the help of AFP shows the incredible influence that outside groups controlled by super-wealthy individuals with specific agendas can have on the political process.
“Herman Cain is the first presidential corporate spokes-candidate,” said Scot Ross, a liberal activist who leads One Wisconsin Now, which has often mocked AFP as a front group for corporate interests. “The best way to have your issues talked about in the issue debate is to have a candidate in your pocket with snappy comebacks and easily branded policy papers which mask how destructive they would be.”
AFP’s agenda also includes weakening private and public sector unions, opposing environmental regulations and undoing Obama’s health care reform law, among other policies. But before the tea party and Obama, Cain worked with AFP on more local issues.
In 2006, he campaigned all over Wisconsin in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have limited state government spending. A slew of officials and analysts said the plan would have ultimately devastated government services, and the Republican-controlled Legislature eventually backed off it.
In a statement announcing Cain’s tour, AFP sent out a press release touting his “in-depth understanding of the battle to control out-of-control government taxes and spending.” Block promised that Cain was a speaker that activists would not want to miss.
Comment by PatrickSMcNally — October 17, 2011 @ 3:41 am
Patrick, you’re correct on Cain’s association with the Koch brothers and AFP.
It would definitely make sense that Cain wouldn’t want to capitalize on his connections as to not alienate Tea Party supporters.
Aside from his many troubling statements that already make him unfit to lead the nation, this 9-9-9 tax deal is questionable.
It includes a national sales tax or a VAT tax (Value Added Tax) to goods and services.
Excuse me, but when Obama’s economic team proposed a national sales tax months ago the conservatives went ballistic saying it would slow economic growth.
Why is it a more acceptable idea now because Herman Cain supports it?
It’s the exact same proposal, the national sales tax part of the 9-9-9 plan I mean. I’m not a supporter of Obama, but hypocrisy is hypocrisy.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 17, 2011 @ 5:03 pm
Thanks for clearing that up for me, Deborah. However, I don’t need to be instructed to do more research before I come to his defense. The media is using racism and a bully-pulpit to try and quiet him down because he dares to be a black man that is openly conservative. What pray tell is so wrong with that?
Whatever happened to thinking for one’s self and making up one’s own mind what political persuasion they are going to be? Why doesn’t Hermain Cain have that same right? Based on your comments below, blacks can’t be rich and / or conservative and they must always stick together.
“It’s not about the class you’re from, but the class you serve.” Comment by Brian Gallagher — October 15, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
“Thank you Brian. That was my whole point when I said he’s forgotten where he came from.” – Comment by Deborah Jeffries
Comment by JH — October 18, 2011 @ 6:49 pm
JH with all due respect, if conservatism is what you support then this forum may not be for you considering that the majority of participants here are marxists as in communist ideologues.
Herman Cain is intolerant period and not just a proud conservative black man.
You can be a proud conservative without degrading and demeaning others especially people who were laid off their jobs and have fallen on hard times in America through no fault of their own.
The number of citizens at or below poverty level is 46 million.
It’s easy for people like Herman Cain to look down from his throne at the peasant class and cast judgment.
Having such a narrow view doesn’t solve the country’s problems and only makes him another bourgeois snob who is full of himself but even more so full of shit.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 18, 2011 @ 7:43 pm
And he may have come from humble beginnings as we repeatedly hear, but his wealth has gone to his head. Badly.
I associate the word conservative when used in a political context, as meaning more cuts to Social Security and Medicare and of course poorer living conditions for the elderly and disabled.
Why do conservatives always have to sacrifice the elderly and sick with spending cuts?
Tax the rich. A simple answer. They should not hide behind tax breaks and loopholes.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 18, 2011 @ 8:29 pm
Deborah: I guess I would only say that leftists and President Obama can also be proud democrats / progressives / socialists without degrading those with whom THEY disagree. Every other word out of this President’s mouth is about punishing the “rich” for the plight of the poor. Lumping everyone on the other side of the aisle as greedy and uncaring. Contrary to what you may think, not all “rich” people are greedy or acquired their wealth through screwing somebody. They simply worked, took risk, invested, and have made themselves a good life—and given generously because they want to and not because the govt mandates it via a punishing progressive tax system.
Oh…and the narrow view of “taxing the rich” isn’t going to the fix the problem either BTW. I wish you good luck in your mission to transform the US into a socialist state.
Comment by JH — October 18, 2011 @ 9:44 pm
JH, I think there is one very big misconception of me as a marxist that you have.
I am not a supporter of Obama or any Democrat.
Democrats and Republicans play the game on team capitalism and that is a team that Red Debster does not play on or support.
I will ask you this, why does it mean when conservatives talk of austerity measures they always wind up throwing the seniors and disabled under the bus?
Seniors and disabled have to choose between food and rent or medicine when Social Security and Medicare are cut.
But yet conservatives never want the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes when they can afford to, but don’t because of generous tax cuts and circumventing tax laws with loopholes.
If it were someone you love on Social Security that was struggling because the government would rather punish them then fairly tax the wealthy, you would look at it differently.
I hope you never have to face hardships like that, but the reality is many Americans do.
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 18, 2011 @ 11:42 pm
Cain just said it was only a “joke” when he recently hoped for a “electrocution” fence to be built along the border of my state of Arizona.
Never mind that for over 2000 years there’s been a natural human migration across that border and stopping it is about as humane as putting up electrified fences along the Wildebeest migration routes in Africa — but calling as a “joke” for starving peasants driven into destitution from a “bipartisan” disaster like NAFTA to be exterminated at some fence is the equivalent to that Texas cracker Rick Perry saying that the name of his hunting camp was just a “joke” or worse, it’s like making jokes about lynchings.
JH is obviously a Fox Noise, Glenn Beck indoctrinated fool if he thinks the 1% is comprised primarily of hard working entrepreneurs and investors. The 1% are congenitally degenerate greedheads mostly derived from war profiteers like Halliburton and other defense contractors plus environmental plunderers like Monsanto, Exxon-Mobile & BP.
The proof that he’s a fool with an irrelevant opinion is his idiotic notion that Obama is some kind of Marxist, or has a socialist bone in his body.
Obama, whose so far objectively carried out Bush’s 3rd term almost to the letter, is a creature of the banks & companies like BP who financed his election and knows about as much about Marxism as an onion knows about a union.
Any talk about taxing the rich is like some homicidal maniac who plunges a knife into your back calling “progress” the pulling out of the knife an inch.
JH is right about one thing though: “the narrow view of ‘taxing the rich’ isn’t going to the fix the problem.” Indeed, only the broad view of expropriating the expropriators will.
The global Occupy Movement has the potential to be the beginning of that end.
Comment by Karl Friedrich — October 19, 2011 @ 1:21 am
Right on comrade Karl.
I wrote about Cain’s joke about the electrified fence and how he said America needs to get a sense of humor.
Is he insane? Jokes about killing people fail to stir up the laughter in me and I suggested this man is in desperate need of sensitivity training.
He shouldn’t quit his day job to become a comedian.
You’re right about taxing the rich. It won’t solve all of the many flaws the capitalist regime we live in has, but the wealthy needs to stop getting a free pass courtesy of Obama renewing the Bush tax cuts.
And to say that Obama is a marxist or socialist?
All he’s done is continue on with the policies of Bush as if it were a 3rd term.
Same game, different player.
JH or whatever initials he’s using today is obviously a Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck troll trying to promote the benefits of conservatism when we know there just aren’t any.
Well there is if you prefer the continued social class struggle structure of our capitalist and corrupt government.
It’s just so good to be RED (not Republican obviously, communist of course).
Comment by Deborah Jeffries — October 19, 2011 @ 4:06 am