TPMLivewire: Rick Perry Picks Up Southern Baptist Convention Endorsement At VVS

10-07-2011 11:52 AM

Rick Perry Picks Up Southern Baptist Convention Endorsement At VVS

The leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Robert Jeffress, will endorse Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit in Washington today, according to a release dropped off with reporters by SBC staff at VVS today.

Jeffress will introduce Perry later this afternoon when he speaks at VVS.

GOP candidates take on social issues at Value Voters Summit
By Josh Lederman - 10/07/11 06:00 AM ET

Gay marriage, abortion and God will take center stage in the GOP presidential race this weekend, as the Republican hopefuls converge on the Family Research Council’s Value Voters Summit.

The list of speakers scheduled to address the Washington summit reads like a Who’s Who of the Republican Party and the American right: All the major presidential candidates will be there — save for former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman — as will House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R). Conservative media stars Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin will also make appearances.

Perkins’s group, a conservative Christian organization that strongly opposes abortion rights, homosexuality, premarital sex and embryonic stem-cell research, holds the summit every year. Yet it takes on a higher profile in the year before a presidential election.

Organizers expect to set a new record in 2011 with almost 3,000 participants. In addition to hearing from A-list conservative figures, attendees will vote in a straw poll for their preferred presidential candidate. The winner will be announced Saturday afternoon.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/186153-social-issues-to-get-top-billing-when-gop-candidates-address-value-voter-summit

Southern Baptist leader to endorse Perry

By Cameron Joseph - 10/07/11 11:31 AM ET

The leader of the Southern Baptist Convention will endorse Rick Perry onstage at the Values Voter Summit on Friday, a major endorsement for the Texas governor, The Hill has learned.

The backing of Robert Jeffress is a big get because of his stature in the Southern evangelical community. Perry has long enjoyed close ties Christian conservative activists, and Jeffress in particular. Most recently, the two partnered to organize "The Response," a prayer rally in Houston this summer that drew more than 30,000 people.

Jeffress will take some veiled shots at Mitt Romney's Mormon religion and accuse him of shifting positions on some issues when he introduces Perry on Friday afternoon, according to remarks provided to The Hill.

"Once the smoke clears in several months, conservative Christians will have a choice to make," Jeffress plans to say. "Do we want someone who is a conservative out of convenience, or one who is a conservative out of conviction? Do we want a candidate who is a good, moral person, or one who is a born-again follower of Jesus Christ? I believe that in Rick Perry we have a candidate who is a proven leader, a true conservative and a committed follower of Christ."

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/186225-southern-baptist-convention-leader-to-endorse-perry

John Stemberger from tweets that Cain would not sign his pro-life pledge. Stemberger is head of the Florida Family Policy Council and is in attendance at the VVS.

@JohnStemberger

John Stemberger

Voter Guide on life and marriage is out. Cain & Romney refuse to sign pro-life pledge. Cain refuses to sig… (cont) deck.ly/~3VT6g

http://twitter.com/#!/johnstemberger

Herman Cain's '999 plan': long overdue tax reform or job killer?

But probably the largest economic impact would be shifting the tax burden. “It's a huge tax reduction on the very top and a huge tax increase for moderate and low income people," says Michael Graetz, a professor at Columbia University who has testified before Congress on taxes.

For example, economists have a measure called marginal propensity to consume. Low income people tend to spend about 98 percent of their income, middle income people spend 97 percent and high income people spend 90 percent.

Thus, Cain’s proposal would result in an individual who makes $20,000 per year, paying $1,800 in income taxes, plus another $1,605 in sales taxes, assuming they spend 98 percent of their income. The combined income and sales taxes would amount to 17 percent of income.

By way of comparison, using today’s tax rates, that individual – married filing separately – would pay $2,575 in combined taxes or 12.8 percent of their income, according to the website moneychimp.com.

A middle income taxpayer that makes $55,000 per year would pay $9,319 in combined taxes, coming to 16.9 percent of their income. Today, that individual would pay $9,875 and would pay 17.95 percent of their income in taxes.

And, a high income earner who makes $300,000 per year would pay $49,113 in taxes, which would amount to 16.3 percent of their income. But, today, that individual would pay $83,897 or 27.97 percent of their income in taxes.