999 or nein, nein, nein

Herman Cain's tax plan has gotten a fresh look after his fine performance in the Florida debate and straw poll. The WSJ's Stephen Moore defended the plan on Kudlow yesterday (at about 9:00), Ryan Streeter argues give it a chance.

NRO's Kevin Williamson says Nein, Nein, Nein.

Newt is unveiling his new Contract with America in Iowa today, featuring a Steve Forbes' favorite, the flat tax. [update here it is]

So taxes are on the table. That's a good thing, the core of an effective GOP growth message.

Spending's the other big lug on the dance floor, let's get more libertarian on that. Sarah Palin on Facebook, Now He's Blaming Europe, especially Germany, the bulwark of the EU:

On Monday, during a fundraiser in California, President Obama declared that Europe’s debt problems and their inability to solve them was “scaring the world.” He went on to explain that Europeans “have not fully healed from the crisis back in 2007 and never fully dealt with the challenges that their banking system faced” and that “they’re trying to take responsible actions, but those actions haven’t been quite as quick as they need to be.”

This of course is coming from a President who has done nothing to deal with our own country’s enormous debt crisis and who is in fact eager to incur even more debt with another useless stimulus bill (now called a “jobs bill” though the last stimulus failed to produce the jobs it promised, which is perhaps why Harry Reid doesn’t seem too eager to bring this new bill to a vote despite the President’s demands to “pass this bill”). Yes, Europe has serious debt problems, but for President Obama to be lecturing our allies about not being “quite as quick” in dealing with a debt crisis is downright hypocritical.

2012's a long way away, unfortunately, but, yes, we're off to a good start.

P.S.  Enron vet turns up in $737m solar loan guarantee 
The Pelosi connection. Instapundit.

More. Daniel Henninger, WSJ:  Taking Cain Seriously Why isn't a successful business résumé presidential material?:

Though he's got the governorship credential, Mr. Romney's emphasis in this campaign is on his private-sector experience. It's good, despite the knock on Bain Capital's business model. But measured by résumés, Herman Cain's looks deeper in terms of working on the private sector's front lines.

The details of his career path are worth knowing.

And Gov. Perry: Ben Bernanke, 'Money-Printing' Would Be Out at Fed

---your laugh of the morning: Janeane Garofalo: Racist Republicans Support Herman Cain