Herman Cain 999 Plan: Did It Come From SimCity?

[pahs1994 6]

Don't want to start a political hot topic but i wanted to post this here because it involves SIM CITY 4.

Herman Cain 999 Plan: Did It Come From SimCity?

WASHINGTON -- In Herman Cain's America, the tax code would be very, very simple: The corporate income tax rate would be 9 percent, the personal income tax rate would be 9 percent and the national sales tax rate would be 9 percent.

But there's already a 999 plan out there, in a land called SimCity.

Long before Cain was running for president and getting attention for his 999 plan, the residents of SimCity 4 -- which was released in 2003 -- were living under a system where the default tax rate was 9 percent for commercial taxes, 9 percent for industrial taxes and 9 percent for residential taxes. (That is, of course, if you didn't use the cheat codes to get unlimited money and avoid taxes altogether.)

A screenshot from the game's default settings:

There has been all sorts of speculation about where Cain came up with the idea for his catchy plan -- Unnamed economic advisers? A clever marketing promotion pulled from the pizza industry? -- but beyond a few hardcore gamers in the comments sections of blogs, few have looked to SimCity, the land where there's a "God mode."

Kip Katsarelis, a senior producer for Maxis, the company that created the SimCity series, was excited that politicians may be looking to video games for ideas.

"We encourage politicians to continue to look to innovative games like SimCity for inspiration for social and economic change," said Katsarelis. "While we at Maxis and Electronic Arts do not endorse any political candidates or their platforms, it's interesting to see GOP candidate Herman Cain propose a simplified tax system like one we designed for the video game SimCity 4."

Adopting such a simple tax structure, Katsarelis said, would allow fantasy political leaders to focus their energy on infrastructure and national security. "Our game design team thought that an easy to understand taxation system would allow players to focus on building their cities and have fun thwarting giant lizard attacks, rather than be buried by overly complex financial systems."

When asked about similarities between Cain's plan and SimCity's default tax rates, Cain campaign spokesman JD Gordon replied, "Well, we all like 9-9-9."

Rich Lowrie, the Ohio Wells Fargo employee who is the brains behind Cain's plan, did not return a request for comment regarding whether he is a fan of SimCity and looked to the game for inspiration.

A receptionist at Lowrie's Wells Fargo office said she doubted his idea came from SimCity. "Probably not," she told The Huffington Post. "I don't think he's much of a game person."

Presumably, under the Cain plan, disasters would be turned off.

Pretty funny but doesn't get my vote, because, if Ron Paul had it his way the personal income taxes would eventually be 0%

[Halen Of Dania 350]

First of all Your city will run on that sort of 999 system but it won't grow at all under that 999 system. If your following me on this continue reading. Let me get into a huge explanation about the simcity tax code versus our real life tax system. Basically 9.0 is the ledger tax rate in your city and is the default revenue setting for all new city's whether you want to argue you have a money mod or not . When you change that number say to 9.1 there is one value of tax revenue taken away as two are created (e.g jobs economic growth , commercial attraction and so on) This Value essentially was based on the entire continium of the game and if It didn't have this system there would be no darn point of having the game at all. As you look at herman cains 999 plan I myself do not look directly at simcity as you did I presume. I think that his basis of 9 for everything is just a simple way to get a vote cause of the simpleness of the plan. As you may see these days people are sick and tired of congress flipping past bills and argueing about party's issues that practically didn't even arise from the one discussion of passing the bill or not. Simply I think this plan won't click with congress easily Cause it's politically one sided and hasn't been discussed much in the official houses to the point that it seems legible. I wanted to also comment before I rap this on that comment you posted that Kip Katserlis made about the GOP candidates and there choices especially Herman Cains.

cheers

[Hellken 1,658]

I read somewhere that the U.S. tax code could take the average reader 24,000 years to finish reading. I wonder how he will do this.

Sorry I think its 2500 ~ 2,500,000 pages and millions of words (numbers vary depending on who you ask.

http://www.trygve.com/taxcode.html

How long would it take too read the entire U.S. tax code?

• It would take 13 days (308.33 hours) of non-stop reading
  http://www.speedreadingblogger.com/how-long-would-it-take-to-read/the-us-tax-code-how-long-would-it-take-to-read/

  Edited October 14, 2011 by Hellken  

[pahs1994 6]

First of all Your city will run on that sort of 999 system but it won't grow at all under that 999 system. If your following me on this continue reading. Let me get into a huge explanation about the simcity tax code versus our real life tax system. Basically 9.0 is the ledger tax rate in your city and is the default revenue setting for all new city's whether you want to argue you have a money mod or not . When you change that number say to 9.1 there is one value of tax revenue taken away as two are created (e.g jobs economic growth , commercial attraction and so on) This Value essentially was based on the entire continium of the game and if It didn't have this system there would be no darn point of having the game at all. As you look at herman cains 999 plan I myself do not look directly at simcity as you did I presume. I think that his basis of 9 for everything is just a simple way to get a vote cause of the simpleness of the plan. As you may see these days people are sick and tired of congress flipping past bills and argueing about party's issues that practically didn't even arise from the one discussion of passing the bill or not. Simply I think this plan won't click with congress easily Cause it's politically one sided and hasn't been discussed much in the official houses to the point that it seems legible. I wanted to also comment before I rap this on that comment you posted that Kip Katserlis made about the GOP candidates and there choices especially Herman Cains.

cheers

Umm you have me confused... i did not presume anything, I simply posted an article that was on the Huffington post. I am also not sure what comment you are referring to? All i said was that Ron Paul would try to scrap the tax code all together.

[ccecill 52]

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/10/did-cains-9-9-9-plan-come-from-a-video-game/

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

If he was really smart, he'd be talking about a 20% rate for the polluting industrials. Gets them out of my region. Wonder what his screen name is at ST.

  Edited October 14, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[Meg 368]

Threads merged

[Ocram's Razr 964]

I rarely use 9-9-9 in any of the cities I play. Because crime and pollution don't cross borders, I alternate businesses (offices or industry) with residents. In my wealthiest cities, I tax away the poor and if there is any industry, I tax away polluting industry.

[Halen Of Dania 350]

First of all Your city will run on that sort of 999 system but it won't grow at all under that 999 system. If your following me on this continue reading. Let me get into a huge explanation about the simcity tax code versus our real life tax system. Basically 9.0 is the ledger tax rate in your city and is the default revenue setting for all new city's whether you want to argue you have a money mod or not . When you change that number say to 9.1 there is one value of tax revenue taken away as two are created (e.g jobs economic growth , commercial attraction and so on) This Value essentially was based on the entire continium of the game and if It didn't have this system there would be no darn point of having the game at all. As you look at herman cains 999 plan I myself do not look directly at simcity as you did I presume. I think that his basis of 9 for everything is just a simple way to get a vote cause of the simpleness of the plan. As you may see these days people are sick and tired of congress flipping past bills and argueing about party's issues that practically didn't even arise from the one discussion of passing the bill or not. Simply I think this plan won't click with congress easily Cause it's politically one sided and hasn't been discussed much in the official houses to the point that it seems legible. I wanted to also comment before I rap this on that comment you posted that Kip Katserlis made about the GOP candidates and there choices especially Herman Cains.

cheers

Umm you have me confused... i did not presume anything, I simply posted an article that was on the Huffington post. I am also not sure what comment you are referring to? All i said was that Ron Paul would try to scrap the tax code all together.

Ah indeed I was just explaining How much that article was wrong about so many things if that wasn't clear im sorry

[poiuy1208 46]

I'm just happy to see SC4 in the news again.

[Duke87 1,070]

Read a headline about this on the little TV screen in the elevator at work yesterday. Laughed hysterically. Was glad I was the only one in the elevator at that moment.

[squeaky024 14]

Haha lovely news to see SC4 being talked about, but I have to agree, there has to be more to that plan than just the number 9.

[z1 566]

For those who haven't noticed, SimCity is in the news:

Herman Cain 999 Plan: Did It Come From SimCity?

WASHINGTON -- In Herman Cain's America, the tax code would be very, very simple: The corporate income tax rate would be 9 percent, the personal income tax rate would be 9 percent and the national sales tax rate would be 9 percent.

But there's already a 999 plan out there, in a land called SimCity.

Long before Cain was running for president and getting attention for his 999 plan, the residents of SimCity 4 -- which was released in 2003 -- were living under a system where the default tax rate was 9 percent for commercial taxes, 9 percent for industrial taxes and 9 percent for residential taxes. (That is, of course, if you didn't use the cheat codes to get unlimited money and avoid taxes altogether.)

There has been all sorts of speculation about where Cain came up with the idea for his catchy plan -- Unnamed economic advisers? A clever marketing promotion pulled from the pizza industry? -- but beyond a few hardcore gamers in the comments sections of blogs, few have looked to SimCity, the land where there's a "God mode."

Kip Katsarelis, a senior producer for Maxis, the company that created the SimCity series, was excited that politicians may be looking to video games for ideas.

"We encourage politicians to continue to look to innovative games like SimCity for inspiration for social and economic change," said Katsarelis. "While we at Maxis and Electronic Arts do not endorse any political candidates or their platforms, it's interesting to see GOP candidate Herman Cain propose a simplified tax system like one we designed for the video game SimCity 4."

Adopting such a simple tax structure, Katsarelis said, would allow fantasy political leaders to focus their energy on infrastructure and national security. "Our game design team thought that an easy to understand taxation system would allow players to focus on building their cities and have fun thwarting giant lizard attacks, rather than be buried by overly complex financial systems."

When asked about similarities between Cain's plan and SimCity's default tax rates, Cain campaign spokesman JD Gordon replied, "Well, we all like 9-9-9."

Rich Lowrie, the Ohio Wells Fargo employee who is the brains behind Cain's plan, did not return a request for comment regarding whether he is a fan of SimCity and looked to the game for inspiration.

A receptionist at Lowrie's Wells Fargo office said she doubted his idea came from SimCity. "Probably not," she told The Huffington Post. "I don't think he's much of a game person."

Presumably, under the Cain plan, disasters would be turned off.

Herman Cain Denies 'SimCity' Influence On His '999' Plan

WASHINGTON -- On Friday, Herman Cain responded to The Huffington Post's analysis of the similarities between his "999" economic plan and the default tax rate in "SimCity 4," saying he did not get the idea from the video game.

In a video aired Friday night on "The Rachel Maddow Show," a reporter asked Cain whether he had spent some time in the world of arcologies and flying lizards. "You said you had original ideas, successful people around you thinking ideas up," the reporter said while questioning Cain about the "999" plan. "Is it an original idea or modeled after a game?"

"It's an original idea, and for people to say it's modeled after a game -- it's a lie," Cain said during a campaign stop in Tennessee. "That's all I'm going to say. It is a lie. You see, that's the difference when you become one or two in the polls. People make up stuff. That is a lie. I'm not going to take it back and not going to politically say -- but unfortunately that is not totally true. It's a lie."

When asked for comment for the earlier report, Cain campaign spokesman JD Gordon replied, "Well, we all like '9-9-9.'"

In "SimCity 4," the default tax rate is 9 percent for commercial taxes, 9 percent for residential taxes and 9 percent for industrial taxes. In Herman Cain's America, the corporate income tax rate would be 9 percent, the personal income tax rate would be 9 percent and the national sales tax rate would be 9 percent.

Kip Katsarelis, a senior producer for Maxis, the company that created the 'SimCity' series, was excited that politicians may be looking to video games for ideas.

"We encourage politicians to continue to look to innovative games like SimCity for inspiration for social and economic change," said Katsarelis. "While we at Maxis and Electronic Arts do not endorse any political candidates or their platforms, it's interesting to see GOP candidate Herman Cain propose a simplified tax system like one we designed for the video game SimCity 4."

In the game, Katsarelis said, the hope was that a simpler tax code would enable a greater focus on infrastructure and national security. "Our game design team thought that an easy-to-understand taxation system would allow players to focus on building their cities and have fun thwarting giant lizard attacks, rather than be buried by overly complex financial systems."

On Friday night, Maddow quipped that Cain's denial of the "SimCity" influence was "giving up the opportunity to cultivate the aging but enthusiastic urban-planning video game market."

SimCity Creators Make Herman Cain Video, Lower Price Of Game To $9.99

WASHINGTON -- Presidential candidate Herman Cain swears he didn't get the idea for his 999 tax plan from SimCity, but the makers of that video game are still having fun with the connection.

On Monday afternoon, Electronic Arts will be lowering the price of SimCity games on its website to $9.99 -- a $10 discount -- for a limited time.

It has also put out a video about the similarities between Cain's plan and the default tax rates in the game SimCity 4, which were first noted by The Huffington Post.

"The team behind the famous city management game are having fun with this possible connection and have created this video in good natured fun," said EA in a statement.

The video ponders the origins of Cain's plan, with cameos by video game versions of President Barack Obama, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Its final conclusion: "No, Mr. Cain. The 999 is a video game plan."

Here's a link to the EA video.

  Edited October 18, 2011 by z1  

[Odainsaker 2,137]

Wait, I already pay 8.125% in combined state general sales tax and local general sales surtaxes in central Texas. Cain's added 9% national sales tax would bring my personal total sales tax rate to 17.125%. Milk is suddenly going to get very expensive.

The 9/9/17.125 Plan doesn't ring quite as sexy.

Opps, we all left out the local property tax. Depending on the combination of overlapping local taxing districts and authorities, which can change every year, it may for me this year be 2.703284% of assessed property value.

So now it is really the 9/9/17.125/2.703284 Plan.

I guess I am fortunate to so far have no state income tax. We won't worry yet about those localities increasing various rates to make up for projected shortfalls in budgets due to expected reductions in government outlays and subsidies. Perhaps we shouldn't look at the possibility of Congressionally targetted rate adjustments designed to stimulate activity or ease burdens among certain sectors, or we could have end up with:

2.7(1.02 with qualifying SEC Exemption) / 29.8(+/- max 4.99, refer Income Tax Forms W-9087a.S116c thru W-R09g.S86a-f) / 17.250 / 4.653402 Plan.

If only it was really as easy as SimCity!

[Meg 368]

Cain's added 9% national sales tax would bring my personal total sales tax rate to 17.125%. Milk is suddenly going to get very expensive.

So is everything else. How is this supposed to encourage economic growth?

[Unassigned 23]

According to teh Huffington Post, EA has now lowered the price of SimCity games to $9.99 for a time and is also otherwise having fun with all this.

Disclaimer: I am not involved in US politics, only posting this for the lulz.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Amusing. Too bad they didn't have time to fix the zero pointer errors in the game.

[Barbarossa 51]

.

  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

It won't. The simple fact is even Cain admitted that taxes would go up for "some" and down for other "others". It turns out that "some" is the middle and lower classes, and the "others" will gain, gain, gain. These people do not understand modern economics, social welfare and what it means to live in a society or a country - their country is the island of their life. They care not for other islands except to aborb them.

Barbarossa

Do you get the feeling that the economic system is broken and that nobody has an inkling of how to fix it?

Do the current set of public posturers have any idea what they are talking about? What they are doing to their standing with Joe Public?

The whole business reminds me of the dissolution of the Soviet system. We've been trying Keynesian economics for how long now? With the bail outs of 2008 which dealt out the last straw, the system is clearly a bust. The government cannot be the backstop of failed capitalists.

A new set of economic principles is needed, or should we all fall back on Paul Samuelson, and forget John Maynard Keynes and his silly disciple John Kenneth Galbraith?

Will someone explain to me why so many get to live a life of conspicuous excess while so many more are homeless and without the means to stay alive? In the bad old days, the 400 lived quietly and partied quietly among themselves, but now all these people want to flaunt their bling. Nouveaux Riches? Ach! I regurgitate!

  Edited October 18, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[Wren 12]

If you haven't already heard, SimCity has made some pretty big news because a lot of people are referring to the game's RCI default tax rates (9-9-9) being inspiration for Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan for a new national sales tax, income tax, and corporate tax. Check out Maxis' new official Facebook page for more news stories and video - Official SimCity Facebook page. I just thought it was pretty interesting, trendy, and who knows, maybe more news will come out of that page?

  Edited October 18, 2011 by Wren  

[z1 566]

Wait, I already pay 8.125% in combined state general sales tax and local general sales surtaxes in central Texas. Cain's added 9% national sales tax would bring my personal total sales tax rate to 17.125%. Milk is suddenly going to get very expensive.

The 9/9/17.125 Plan doesn't ring quite as sexy.

It's actually worse than that when you think about it. For every dollar you earn, you would pay 9% when you earn it and then 17.125% when you spend it on new goods (including food and clothing). So the total tax on every dollar you earn and spend on new goods would be 26.125% - flat rate.

That's almost 9+9+9...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

New Income Tax Short Form:

What did you make ____________________________?

Send it in.

[CaptCity 4,915]

Just FYI...

Moved a couple more posts here... Good reading, but some may seem out of order.

[Duke87 1,070]

Here's a link to the EA video.

Am I the only one who noticed that despite being an ad for SC4, the song used is from SC3K ("SIM Broadway")?

Cain's added 9% national sales tax would bring my personal total sales tax rate to 17.125%. Milk is suddenly going to get very expensive.

So is everything else. How is this supposed to encourage economic growth?

It won't. The simple fact is even Cain admitted that taxes would go up for "some" and down for other "others". It turns out that "some" is the middle and lower classes, and the "others" will gain, gain, gain. These people do not understand modern economics, social welfare and what it means to live in a society or a country - their country is the island of their life. They care not for other islands except to aborb them.

Dramatically illustrating this point, here's a fun graph:

(source)

[Schulmanator 5,812]

May I suggest that Cain, like any other candidate int he history of elections, simply do Ctrl-X and type "weaknesspays" until the debt is resolved?

[jacksunny 741]

moolah would probably be better

[emperordaniel 1,281]

With "moolah", the debt could be resolved with trillions to spare with just one click of the "enter" key

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Not likely. We are dealing with pols not gods. Besides, most of them couldn't spell it, if they could even operate a keyboard.