Federal Reserve Board nominee Stephen Moore on Sunday defended former nominee Herman Cain and his 9-9-9 tax plan. Cain's nomination was withdrawn after four Senate Republicans indicated that they would vote against his confirmation.
During an interview on Fox News, host Leland Vittert challenged Moore on his claim that there is "nobody more qualified" than Cain to sit on the Fed Board.
"Really?" the Fox News host asked. "You can't think of a single other person in America?"
"What I meant to say, both my choice and Herman Cain's choice is unconventional," Moore agreed. "We'll both -- we'll probably go over there [to the Fed] and we'll be thinking outside the box. And what's wrong with that?"
"You're a little bit more in the river banks than [Herman Cain's] 9-9-9 [tax plan]," Vittert said.
"I think 9-9-9 is a cool plan," Moore replied. "But here's the point. Why does it have to be that you have to have all these Ph.D. economists over at the Federal Reserve? They're the same people that made the mistake in December in raising the rates."
Cain first outlined his 9-9-9 tax plan while running for president in the 2012 election. Under the proposal, would set the taxes on corporate and individual income at 9%. The plan would have also added a 9% national sales tax. According to the Tax Policy Center, Cain's plan would have lowered taxes on the wealthy and raised taxes on everyone else, which ThinkProgress calculated would create deficits at a level not seen since Watergate.
Moore has repeated sneered at the economic policies set forth by the Federal Reserve, once advocating for them all to be fired.
