Chart of the Day: The Cost of 9-9-9

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The Tax Policy Center has done yet another analysis of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, and guess what? Unless you’re really rich, your taxes will go up! If you earn, say, $50,000 per year, you currently pay about 14.3% of your income in federal taxes. Under Cain’s plan, you’ll pay 23.8%. Whee!

And if you make the big bucks? Well, millionaires currently pay about 32.9% of their income in federal taxes. Under Cain’s plan, they’ll pay 17.9%. Ka-ching!

I actually think the TPC analysis is probably kinder to Cain’s plan than it should be. But in any case, this is certainly the minimum damage that middle-class families can expect to see. So what do you think Cain’s response will be when he gets asked about this tonight? I’m putting my money on “They’re wrong.” Other possibilities are “It’s just a proposal, we can always tweak it,” and “I was just joking.”

UPDATE: Yep, Cain’s answer was “They’re wrong,” almost verbatim. Plus some more nonsense about apples and oranges.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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