Candidate - Herman Cain

[Geee]

We are in the fight of our lives.

“The United States of America, will not become “The United States of Europe.”

 

 

Common Sense Solutions For America

 

Introduction: We are America!

 

People are sick and tired of being sick and tired of politicians talking about problems and not solving them. For decades the big three, Social Security, Medicare, the national debt and a long list of other problems have only gotten worse, while the politicians just keep on talking, making promises, and creating new problems.

 

We know Social Security cannot be sustained as it is currently structured, so the political elites just keep talking about the problem. We know Medicare cannot be sustained, so the Obama administration cuts 500 billion dollars out of it and says they will make it up in efficiencies. And instead of getting government out of the way to make health care more affordable and accessible, President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress passed a huge new bureaucracy that’s already making health care more expensive and less accessible.

 

People want solutions. The solutions do not have to be perfect, but they need to be moving in the right direction. Right now they are just getting worse.

 

Many of our national problems have plenty of “low hanging fruit” ideas to get us out of this national quagmire, but politics keeps getting in the way. There are plenty of good ideas about how to fix stuff, but they never go anywhere. They get stuck in a congressional committee, stuck in another proposed legislation, stuck in a compromise, or they get stuck on stupid.

 

The biggest barrier to solving many of our national problems is lack of leadership. Leadership is not being the sharpest knife in the drawer. It is working on the right problem, asking the right questions, and removing barriers to success (WAR). So instead of solving a specific problem, both chambers of Congress will try to pass a “compromised bi-partisan” solution to any and everything that comes up as a problem, and we end up with another half baked solution. And when one political party controls both houses of Congress we will sometimes get a completely one sided solution instead of the right solution.

 

The leadership for solving national problems the right way must come from the president. Indeed, the president needs the input, cooperation and approval of both chambers of Congress, but 535 Members of Congress can’t lead by committee. The president has to lead. That’s how the Founders set it up.

 

But if the president is more of a politician than a problem solver, we end up with more half baked or one sided solutions. We have not had a problem solving president in the White House for decades, which is why our big problems have only gotten worse, little by little.

 

This booklet is about solutions, low hanging fruit solutions. They are not complicated to understand, but they are difficult to get through the political bureaucracy. With a problem solving president and an inspired public they can happen. These ideas come from people, other organizations and yes, sometimes from Members of Congress.

 

That’s why we call this booklet “The People’s Platform.” This is what the people want now. They want some common sense, and they are tired of waiting.

 

America is an exceptional nation. It is exceptional because of its history of success, it’s resiliency through tough times, and the tenacity of the American people to keep America strong, independent, and free. We refuse to let our problems fester any longer. We refuse to continue on this fast track to socialism. We refuse to become the United States of Europe.

 

We are America!

 

 

 

 

Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945) is an American businessman, political activist, columnist, and radio host from Georgia. He is best known as the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. He is a former deputy chairman (1992–94) and chairman (1995–96) of the civilian board of directors to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Before his business and economics career he worked as a mathematician in ballistics for the United States Navy. Cain's newspaper column is distributed by North Star Writers Group. He lives in the Atlanta suburbs.

 

 

He graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and received a Master of Science degree in computer science from Purdue University in 1971, while he was also working full-time in ballistics for the U.S. Department of the Navy. Cain has authored four books: Leadership is Common Sense (1997), Speak as a Leader (1999), CEO of SELF (October 2001), and They Think You're Stupid (May 2005).

 

Business career

 

After completing his master's degree from Purdue, Cain left the Department of the Navy and began working for The Coca-Cola Company as a business analyst. In 1977, he joined Pillsbury where he rose to the position of vice president by the early 1980s. He left his executive post to work for Burger King – a Pillsbury subsidiary at the time – managing 400 stores in the Philadelphia area. Under Cain's leadership, his region went from the least profitable for Burger King to the most profitable in three years. This prompted Pillsbury to appoint him president and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, another of their then-subsidiaries. Within 14 months, Cain had returned Godfather's to profitability. In 1988, Cain and a group of investors bought Godfather's from Pillsbury. Cain continued as CEO until 1996, when he resigned to become CEO of the National Restaurant Association – a trade group and lobby organization for the restaurant industry – where he had previously been chairman concurrently with his role at Godfather's.

Cain became a member of the board of directors to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 1992 and served as its chairman from January 1995 to August 1996, when he resigned to become active in national politics. Cain was a 1996 recipient of the Horatio Alger Award.

 

Cain hosted The Herman Cain Show on Atlanta talk radio station News Talk 750 WSB, a Cox Radio affiliate until February 2011 and serves as a commentator for Fox Business and a syndicated columnist distributed by the North Star Writers Group. In 2009, Cain founded "Hermanator's Intelligent Thinkers Movement" (HITM), aimed at organizing 100,000 activists in every congressional district in the United States in support of a strong national defense, the FairTax, tax cuts, energy independence, capping government spending, and Restructuring Social Security.

 

Herman Cain

Presidential 2012

Website

 

Links to the Candidate News Threads

 

Herman Cain:

 

Tim Pawlenty:

 

Bachmann

 

Rick Perry

 

Mitt Romney

 

Gary E Johnson:

 

Newt Gingrich

 

Rick Santorum

 

Jon Huntsman Jr:

 

Ron Paul: Candidate

[Geee]

In an interview with The State Tuesday, the 65-year-old Cain acknowledged he is seen as a long-shot candidate, in part because he never has held political office. “But most of the people in Washington have held office before,” Cain said, repeating a line that got him cheers in Greenville. “How’s that working for you?”

 

“I’m not a politician. I’m a problem solver,” said Cain, a favorite of the Tea Party, which also supported S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley. “We’ve got plenty of politicians already running.”

 

“If you get the national economy growing, the state economies will benefit and the local economies will benefit,” said Cain, who has a five-point plan including lowering the top corporate income tax rate, reducing the capital gains tax rate to zero, and cutting the payroll tax for workers and employers for one year.

 

Cain is less certain of what to do about the war in Afghanistan.

 

Miami Herald snips

[Geee]

When it comes to passion, Herman Cain has the lead.

 

According to a Gallup survey released Tuesday, Cain leads all his potential rivals in "positive intensity," calculated by measuring the difference between the potential candidates' strongly favorable and strongly unfavorable ratings. Cain gets a score of 27.

 

But for all that enthusiasm, he still lacks name recognition: Only about one-third of those polls actually know who he is.

 

Running closest with Cain is Michele Bachmann, who receives a positive intensity score of 23. Her name recognition is higher, but it’s dropping — 55 percent of those surveyed were familiar with Bachmann, down five percent in recent weeks.

 

Sarah Palin is in third, scoring 16, and with near-universal recognition among those surveyed.

 

Both Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney received scores in the middle of the pack, with Romney taking 14 and Pawlenty 13. Ron Paul had a positive intensity score of 11. Jon Huntsman, who scored 15 earlier this year, dropped to 8. However, Huntsman’s name recognition among GOP and GOP-leaning independents rose to 27 percent, from 20 percent.

 

Though the numbers are early, they point to some trouble for Newt Gingrich. Both his favorability rating with Republicans and his positive intensity numbers slid after his criticism of a Republican Medicare overhaul plan and having to answer questions about as much as $500,000 in debt to Tiffany’s.

 

Politico

Gingrich's positive intensity score slipped from 13 to 11, and his unfavorable rating among Republicans rose from 24 to 29 percent.

[Geee]

Ex-pizza chain chief Cain ‘not running for second’

 

ATLANTA — Herman Cain has run the Godfather’s Pizza chain, hosted a talk radio show and sparred with Bill Clinton over health care. He has never held elected office. Now the Tea Party favorite wants to be president.

 

“In case you accidentally listen to a skeptic or doubting Thomas out there, just to be clear . . . I’m running for president of the United States, and I’m not running for second,” he told a crowd at Centennial Olympic Park on Saturday.

 

Cain, 65, supports a strong national defense, opposes abortion, backs replacing the federal income tax with a national sales tax and favors a return to the gold standard. Cain lost a three-way Republican U.S. Senate primary bid in Georgia in 2004 with one-quarter of the vote.

 

Sun Times snips

[Valin]

He has my heart, and $100.00 of my money.

[Geee]

Gallup Study Shows Cain With Highest Positive Intensity Score -- Voters Like His Honesty

 

According to Gallup, businessman Herman Cain “has the highest Positive Intensity Score among Republicans of any potential GOP candidate still in the race” and his “intensity Score of 27 matches the highest yet recorded for any candidate or potential candidate this year.”

 

The same survey, though, found that “Cain's name recognition among Republicans remains quite low -- at 33%, better than only Gary Johnson's 20% and Jon Huntsman's 27% -- but has climbed 12 points since March.”

 

Cain, who formally announced his run for the presidency this past weekend before an overfill crowd of over 12,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia showed this week why Republican primary voters who have heard him or gotten to know him have a strong, positive feeling for him.

 

After his announcement, Cain went on national television last Sunday and, by many conventional metrics, flopped. When asked by “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace where he stood on the right of return, Cain seemed puzzled by what “right of return” meant.

 

This exchange, especially because it occurred the weekend before Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before the United States Congress and after Barack Obama’s remarks about how the peace process use the 1967 borders as a starting point, ignited the requisite controversy any comment about the Middle East always does. It caused the chattering class to pause and wonder if Cain, whose appearance on “Fox News Sunday” was similar to John Edwards’ maiden appearance on Meet The Press that was widely panned, was actually ready for primetime.

 

The next day on “Hannity,” though, Cain showed why his anti-politician persona and theme is resonating. Cain admitted candidly to Hannity that Wallace’s question about the right of return “caught me off-guard” and he “didn’t understand the right of return” and that the question, to him, “came out of left field,” and “out of all the questions I anticipated him asking me, I didn’t even conceive of him asking me about the right of return.”

 

Human Events

[Pepper]

Candidate News Threads courtesy of Geee:

 

Herman Cain: Candidate News Thread

 

Newt Gingrich: Candidate News Thread

 

Jon Huntsman Jr: Candidate News Thread

 

Gary E Johnson: Candidate News Thread

 

Ron Paul: Candidate News Thread

 

Tim Pawlenty: Candidate News Thread

 

Mitt Romney: Candidate News Thread

 

RIck Santorum: Candidate News Thread

[Geee]

DNC sets sights on Herman Cain

 

 

While conservative commentators Charles Krauthammer and Karl Rove might not see Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain as viable, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is keeping an eye on the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO.

 

While the DNC has been barraging media and supporters with alerts criticizing Republican presidential hopefuls Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, and Mitt Romney’s media appearances, Cain has largely been out of the mix. Last week, the DNC sent out more than 25 alerts attacking the aforementioned GOP frontrunners, not one mentioned Cain.

 

Today, however, the committee ramped up its focus on Cain, issuing a “Rapid Response” attack against his morning “Fox and Friends” appearance, during which Cain praised the Paul Ryan budget.

 

“I support Ryan’s plan one hundred percent,” Cain said. “We don’t need to come up with another plan.”

 

 

The DNC took issue with his comments and sent out a round up of criticism on the GOP’s budget plan, including threats that it would end medicare, favors the rich, and would increase the debt.

 

Herman Cain spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael, told TheDC that Cain is definitely a threat to Obama and that they have been surprised the DNC’s attacks have been so sparse thus far.

 

http://dailycaller.com/2011/05/26/dnc-sets-sights-on-herman-cain/

[Valin]

[Geee]

Herman Cain: Barack Obama Is Not a Patriot

 

Presidential candidate Herman Cain is unafraid to speak his mind, and did so on May 23:

 

Throughout a Monday interview with Hotline On Call, Cain bashed Obama and his policies. When asked about Obama as a man, he complimented his family life. But when asked whether the president was a patriot, Cain hesitated. After asking for a definition (a man who is working to do what he sees as right for his country), he simply said “no.”

 

Cain is a reasonable man, and made a reasonable assertion based on the available evidence.

 

Rush Limbaugh didn’t intend to do so, but that same day, he essentially recited a nearly comprehensive list of the ways Barack Obama has not acted as a patriot during his two-plus years in office:

 

So where are we? Bottom line: Obama chose Palestinians over Israelis. Obama is essentially demanding that Israel commit suicide. Netanyahu says I’m not gonna commit suicide. People say Netanyahu was rude when he refuses to commit suicide. Obama chose Palestinians over Israelis. He did it after learning that Hamas became a part of the Palestinian ruling class, the terrorist group.

 

Obama chose the Muslim Brotherhood over freedom when he invited them to his Cairo speech and when he endorsed the misnamed Arab Spring without reservations or conditions. We know now what’s happening in Egypt.

 

Obama chose lawlessness and open borders over protecting innocent citizens when he sued Arizona.

 

My friends, there’s a pattern here. Obama chose voter intimidation over civil rights when he chose not to prosecute the New Black Panthers in Philadelphia.

 

Obama chose the public sector over the private sector with his stimulus slush fund.

 

Obama chose socialism over the private sector when he took over two US car companies.

 

Obama chose a path to socialized medicine over free market solutions to health care when he signed Obamacare into law.

 

Obama chose true cowboyism over Congress when fighting a war on Khadafy and Libya, ignoring the War Powers Act by saying, well, we’re not really all in.

 

Obama chose czars over cabinet members.

 

He chose class warfare over prosperity when he demagogued taxing the rich over cutting out-of-control spending.

 

He chose politics over solutions when he failed to produce a budget or demand one from Congress.

 

It’s clear who Obama is. He’s the sum of his choices. We all are.

 

Let’s now run through exactly why Herman Cain’s claim is on such solid ground.

 

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/herman-cain-barack-obama-is-not-a-patriot/

[Valin]

[Geee]

Cain: ‘We’ve got to beat Mitt Romney’s money, not Mitt Romney’

 

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain told The Daily Caller that the biggest threat he expects from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the most recent entrant into the Republican primary field, is his loads of campaign cash. “We’ve got to beat Mitt Romney’s money, not Mitt Romney,” Cain said.

 

Cain thinks Romney’s deep war chest gives the perceived frontrunner an “advantage.” Even so, Cain said he doesn’t think Romney’s “message is stronger than” his. “I don’t think his business background is any more impressive than mine,” Cain said. “He just happens to have a deeper war chest and you can do a lot of things in terms of hiring staff, putting together programs, so we just basically have to work smarter with the dollars we will raise.”

 

To build a war chest himself, Cain said he’s raising money in two ways: through traditional fundraisers and through online donors. He said while his traditional fundraising events at supporters’ homes are aimed at bringing in “larger donors,” his campaign has been getting loads of smaller donations online.

 

“The online contributions have taken off and, what we have seen, is after the debate and that Frank Luntz focus group that said that Herman Cain did well and he was the winner, we saw our online contributions double right from there, frankly,” he said. “And, we’re not talking about huge, large numbers. We’re talking about people giving $50, $100. When we get a $250 contribution online, we go ‘Wow!’”

 

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/04/cain-%E2%80%98we%E2%80%99ve-got-to-beat-mitt-romney%E2%80%99s-money-not-mitt-romney%E2%80%99/

[Geee]

Cain presidential campaign gains momentum

 

Herman Cain’s presidential campaign is picking up steam as voters learn more about him, the New York Times reports.

 

Cain, the radio talking head and former chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza, has long been a Tea Party favorite. But his appeal in recent months has been spreading to mainstream Republicans. His name recognition, despite being at a fairly low 37 percent, has come up 16 points since March.

 

Pundits declared him the winner of the first GOP debate last month, and he’s won straw polls at several conservative conventions. And just last week, a new Gallup poll found Cain had the highest voter intensity score in the Republican field of potential candidates, meaning his supporters are actually excited about him.

 

On his 13th trip to New Hampshire, people are more enthralled with him than ever. One woman told the New York Times it was Cain’s enthusiasm that drew her to him. “Wasn’t that what we felt with Ronald Reagan, his enthusiasm?”

 

Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, said her group loves him. “He’s not a senator or a governor. He’s just a mister.”

 

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/05/cain-presidential-campaign-gains-momentum/

[Geee]

Herman Cain Leads Gingrich 2-1 in Georgia

 

More bad news for Newt Gingrich. Tea party favorite Herman Cain is leading the former Speaker in Georgia 2-1.

Both Gingrich and Cain are from Georgia, however, Gingrich has been living in Washington DC for decades, Cain currently resides in Atlanta.

 

Georgia has two favorite sons in the race for the Republican nomination in 2012, but according to a new poll of Georgia voters, Herman Cain is more of favorite than Newt Gingrich — by a 2-1 margin.

 

In an InsiderAdvantage/WSB-TV poll released today, the Atlanta businessman is way ahead of the former House speaker.

 

Cain leads the 2012 GOP pack in Georgia with 26 percent of the vote. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, in second place, has 13 percent support. Gingrich is in third place with 12 percent.

 

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2011/06/05/herman_cain_leads_gingrich_2-1_in_georgia

[Geee]

Herman Cain, CEO

 

 

When Pillsbury asked Herman Cain to take over as president of its Godfather’s Pizza chain in 1986, they knew the man could deliver. In 1982, Cain had resigned his post as vice president of corporate systems for the company and taken up a new position as manager of the Philadelphia branch of Burger King (also Pillsbury-owned), which until then had been its lowest-ranking region. Once Cain instituted a set of practical service-related reforms — such as making sure that shift managers were not being overworked — that quickly changed. By the time Cain finished and took up Godfather’s presidency three years later, Burger King’s Philadelphia region consistently placed first or second in performance.

 

As leader of Godfather’s, Cain brought this same set of strategies, and even some of the same managers, with him to the troubled pizza chain. One such person was Spencer Wiggins, a human-resources manager who started at Kraft Foods and whom Cain had specifically sought out to work for him at Burger King. In an interview with National Review Online, Wiggins recalled his first meeting with Cain and how taken he was by Cain’s charisma. “I walked into the [burger King regional] office, Herman was there by himself, and he acted like he had known me for ten years. As soon as I walked in he said, ‘Spencer Wiggins, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you, man. Where’ve you been?’ So we sat down, we talked for about two hours, and next thing I knew, I was coming on board with Burger King Corporation.”

 

After Pillsbury acquired Godfather’s Pizza and put Cain in charge, he set about reforming the chain’s management priorities: Cain wanted to measure success not by the number of Godfather’s units operating, but rather by the average sales of each unit, which Cain saw as more important for long-term success. So he closed unprofitable restaurants, reducing the number of Godfather’s units from 725 at the time of his 1986 takeover to about 525 by 1995. And Cain’s emphasis on quality over quantity proved effective. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that while the system-wide sales of the 725 units totaled approximately $260 million in 1986, by 1995 the much smaller network of 525 Godfather’s restaurants was making $250 million annually.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/269253/herman-cain-ceo-nat-brown

[Valin]

Herman Cain Leads Gingrich 2-1 in Georgia

 

More bad news for Newt Gingrich. Tea party favorite Herman Cain is leading the former Speaker in Georgia 2-1.

Both Gingrich and Cain are from Georgia, however, Gingrich has been living in Washington DC for decades, Cain currently resides in Atlanta.

 

Georgia has two favorite sons in the race for the Republican nomination in 2012, but according to a new poll of Georgia voters, Herman Cain is more of favorite than Newt Gingrich — by a 2-1 margin.

 

In an InsiderAdvantage/WSB-TV poll released today, the Atlanta businessman is way ahead of the former House speaker.

 

Cain leads the 2012 GOP pack in Georgia with 26 percent of the vote. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, in second place, has 13 percent support. Gingrich is in third place with 12 percent.

 

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2011/06/05/herman_cain_leads_gingrich_2-1_in_georgia

 

 

Who?

[Valin]

WSJ: Godfather vs. Tax Man

NASH KEUNE

6/9/11

 

So how good a businessman is Herman Cain? During a meeting with Wall Street Journal editors yesterday, the Republican presidential candidate said that his experience as a CEO in the restaurant industry was important training for the job of America's chief executive. But Mr. Cain was also quick to point out that when it comes to personal wealth he is no Mitt Romney, who made a fortune in private equity. And an Internal Revenue Service audit may be part of the reason why Mr. Cain isn't able to self-fund a political campaign.

 

(Snip)

 

Over the next decade and a half, sales fluctuated in the range of $250 million to $300 million. Mr. Cain said that in 1996 he struck a deal to sell his stake in Godfather's to his partners. That's when the IRS showed up and commenced an audit of his tax return for the year 1994, coincidentally the year he publicly challenged President Clinton on the impact of his health-care reform plan. Simultaneous audits of Godfather's and Mr. Cain's partners were quickly concluded, but Mr. Cain said that the audit of his personal finances dragged on until 1999.

 

When he finally concluded the sale of his Godfather's stake, Mr. Cain said that its value had fallen by 75% and yielded only enough money for him to "buy new golf clubs and move to Atlanta." As for the IRS, they claimed he owed $1.8 million in back taxes, but he said that as soon as he appealed this decision, they immediately dropped the claim and asked only for $40,000 to cover interest on "the money I didn't owe." Outraged, he nevertheless paid the bill to resolve the matter. He said that such treatment at the hands of the IRS happens all the time.

 

Clearly, Mr. Cain was no Mitt Romney, but many voters may find his story at least as compelling.

[Casino67]

Cain uses speech to tout rise of his candidacy

 

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) - Basking in the glow of his rise in the national polls, Herman Cain closed his speech to the Republican Leadership Conference by asking "how do you like me now?"

The Republican presidential candidate, a former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host, used his address to criticize those Republican pundits who said Cain didn't have a chance at winning his party's nomination. Once a longest of long shots for the Republican nomination, Cain has risen in the national polls in the GOP horserace, and now stands in the high single digits or low double digits in the most recent surveys.

 

Cain brought the audience at this major gathering of Republican activists to their feet four times during his Friday afternoon speech. Among the crowd pleasers: "The United States of America is not going to become the United States of Europe, not on our watch."

Cain also got the audience to rise from their seats with his strong defense of Israel, proclaiming that if "you mess with Israel, you mess with the United States of America."

That line also brought some boos from Ron Paul supporters, who were waiting for the longtime congressman from Texas to speak. Paul, who along with Cain, is one of about a half dozen GOP presidential candidates addressing the conference, followed Cain at the podium. Paul's a strident opponent of U.S. international alliances and of the country's military involvement in Afghanistan.

 

(Source)

[Rheo]

I'm going to post this in its entirety as it came from his FB page.

 

 

 

"Them that's going... get on the wagon. Them that ain't... get out of the way!"

 

 

I was raised in Atlanta, Georgia by loving and hardworking parents. We grew up poor, but we grew up happy. Things weren’t always easy, but my mom and dad knew that if they kept their faith in God, faith in themselves and their faith in the greatest country in the world, they, too, could achieve their American Dream.

 

That dream, we discovered, was for my parents to own their own home and watch their two sons graduate from college. Those dreams required that my father work three jobs to support our family.

 

The first dream was realized in a brick home on Albert Street. I can still recall the excitement of the day, as he surprised us—even my mother—when he drove us to our new home.

 

Their second dream was realized when I proudly accepted my degree in mathematics from Morehouse College in 1967 and my brother graduated from Morris Brown College. Both of my father’s American Dreams were achieved. Now, I set off to achieve mine.

 

One year after graduating, I married the love of my life, Gloria. And together, we started our journey to achieve our Dreams. This meant relocating to Indiana where I would begin my Master’s degree program at Purdue University, while working full-time as a mathematician at the Department of the Navy.

 

After earning my Master’s degree and six years working for the Department of the Navy, we returned home to Atlanta, where I began to climb the corporate ladder with the Coca-Cola Company. I faced challenges, but I always remembered the values my parents taught me. With enough faith and determination, I knew I could go as high in corporate America as I desired.

 

I enjoyed a successful career at the Coca-Cola Company and later moved to the Pillsbury Company. Within a short period, I rose to the position of Vice President. When I got there, I thought I had already achieved my American Dream on the 31st floor of the new Pillsbury Corporate Headquarters with a corner office. But I quickly realized I wanted something more.

 

I resigned my position and started on another path- the restaurant industry. I knew that in order to be successful, I had to start from “the ground up.” This meant broiling hamburgers at Pillsbury’s Burger King division. After nine months of a grueling restaurant experience, I was assigned to lead a low performing region of 450 Burger King restaurants. Within three years, we became the best-performing region in the U.S.

 

I could have been content with my executive role with one of America’s biggest corporations. Instead, after consulting with my wife, we decided to take one of the biggest risks of our marriage: picking up our young family, relocating yet again and accepting the call to become CEO and President of Godfather’s Pizza, a company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

 

In 14 months, we turned the company around and returned it to profitability, and I ultimately led my management team to a buyout of Godfather’s Pizza. The company never went bankrupt, and today, there are still hundreds of locations across the U.S.

 

My success at turning around Godfather’s got the attention of fellow restaurateurs around the nation who invited me to join the Board of Directors of the National Restaurant Association and later elected me its chairman. In 1996, they retained me as the full-time President and the CEO of the National Restaurant Association, working on behalf of thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

 

In 1994, as chairman of the National Restaurant Association, I had the opportunity to speak with President Clinton during a nationally televised town hall meeting. Here, I challenged the President regarding the impact on businesses if his health care overhaul proposal were passed.

 

President Clinton attempted to assure me and the millions of viewers watching at home that his legislation would not harm American business owners and their employees.

 

I was skeptical. “Quite honestly Mr. President, your calculations are incorrect,” I said. “In the competitive marketplace, it simply doesn’t work that way.”

 

Through these and other appearances on behalf of the National Restaurant Association, I began working with business leaders across all sectors of the American economy. This led to my acceptance of a position on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and I was subsequently elected their chairman.

 

Today, I host a radio talk show, “The Herman Cain Show,” on Atlanta’s WSB 750 AM/ 95.5 FM. I serve as a regular contributor on several broadcast networks and as a keynote speaker at conferences and events around the nation.

 

Despite the many professional commitments of my life, I continued to enjoy most the time spent with family and friends. As my children got married and had their own children, I knew that I had an extraordinary obligation to do what I could to make this a safe and prosperous nation for them. The paramount joys in my life are my wife, Gloria, our children and our grandchildren.

 

I am grateful for the many professional successes I have enjoyed. I am grateful for the steadfast loyalty and unwavering love of my family and friends. And I am grateful for this country that is so exceptional that was afforded the opportunity to achieve my American Dreams.

 

I’m not done yet!

[righteousmomma]

How about a Bachman-Cain ticket? or a Cain-Bachman ticket?

 

Bears thinking about. I have agreed with both in everything I have heard them say.

NOT making a commitment right now though to anyone because whoever the nominee is they will be a 100% improvement.

 

i had not known some of the details about Cain's earlier life than Godfather's Pizza.

Edited June 18, 2011 by righteousmomma
To thank Rheo for the auto-bio

[Geee]

Cain: ‘I Have a Dream’

 

“I have a dream.”

 

That’s how Herman Cain launched his keynote speech at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans today.

 

Cain clarified that he had two dreams. One, that the GOP win the House and Senate in 2012. Two, that the audience was “looking at the next president of the United States of America.”

 

Shooting back at critics who had decried his candidacy, Cain said, “To Mr. [bill] O’Reilly, Mr. [Karl] Rove, Mr. [Charles] Krauthammer, I didn’t get the memo that I’m not supposed to run.”

 

He also had a response for those who said of his lack of foreign policy experience was a fatal flaw. “You’re right,” Cain said. “I don’t have any foreign policy experience, but … you don’t need foreign policy experience to know your friends and your enemies.”

 

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure you stand by your friends and keep an eye on your enemies,” he added.

 

To those who charged him with not understanding the Washington culture, Cain replied, “I do. It doesn’t work. That’s why I’m coming.”

 

During the speech, Cain outlined his economic plan: eliminate the capital gains tax, make 25 percent the highest corporate and individual tax rate, institute a “real” payroll tax holiday, suspend taxes on foreign repatriated profits. The “most important” step would be to make all those cuts permanent: “Uncertainty is killing this economy.”

 

“When we put the right person in the white house — moi — America’s exceptionalism will be obvious again,” Cain said, referencing New Orleans’s French heritage.

 

He positioned himself as a problem solver. “People are sick and tired of being sick and tired of problems not being solved in Washington, D.C.,” Cain observed.

 

For Cain, the goal is to stay on offense: to change our current policies so that the future’s prosperity is preserved.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/269945/cain-i-have-dream-katrina-trinko

[Valin]

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Herman Cain Reaffirms Commitment to Pro-Life Principles

 

"I support right-to-life issues unequivocally and I adamantly support the first three aspects of the Susan B. Anthony pledge involving appointing pro-life judges, choosing pro-life cabinet members, and ending taxpayer-funded abortions.

 

However, the fourth requirement demands that I 'advance' the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. As president, I would sign it, but Congress must advance the legislation.

 

I have been a consistent and unwavering champion of pro life issues.

 

In no way does this singular instance of clarification denote an abandonment of the pro-life movement, but instead, is a testament to my respect for the balance of power and the role of the presidency."

________

 

I'm actually more with him, and for that matter Mitt Romney, on this issue. These pledges seem to be used mostly to try and pigeonhole a candidate on a single issue, which is not what the presidential election will be decided on.

[Valin]

Herman Cain Reaffirms Commitment to Pro-Life Principles

 

"I support right-to-life issues unequivocally and I adamantly support the first three aspects of the Susan B. Anthony pledge involving appointing pro-life judges, choosing pro-life cabinet members, and ending taxpayer-funded abortions.

 

However, the fourth requirement demands that I 'advance' the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. As president, I would sign it, but Congress must advance the legislation.

 

I have been a consistent and unwavering champion of pro life issues.

 

In no way does this singular instance of clarification denote an abandonment of the pro-life movement, but instead, is a testament to my respect for the balance of power and the role of the presidency."

________

 

I'm actually more with him, and for that matter Mitt Romney, on this issue. These pledges seem to be used mostly to try and pigeonhole a candidate on a single issue, which is not what the presidential election will be decided on.

 

 

 

Hey Conservatives, the Time for Pledges Is Over

by Mike Flynn

 

This morning, Erick Erickson at RedState issued a much needed salvo against the latest wave of ‘this-time-we-really-mean-it” pledges to cut spending. He focused his ire on the many DC-based institutions and individuals who are peddling this new magic elixir, but I think the problem actually goes much deeper than that. Of course, he is already experiencing significant blowback and complaints. And, also, of course, Erickson is being urged to ‘be reasonable.’ That is always the last line of defense for those without the stomach for a fight.

 

I stand with Erickson on this one; the time for pledges is over.

 

For the past several decades we’ve had pledges, commitments, frameworks, understandings, ‘down-payments’ on reform and countless ‘baby-steps’ towards fiscal sanity. And, yet, here we are on the edge of an existential crisis. In addition to a looming fiscal collapse, our government has taken over auto companies, bailed out Wall Street banks, set in motion a government take-over of health care and so overburdened the economy with regulatory red tape that the private sector job engine is permanently stalled.

 

All these pledges have gotten us what, exactly?

 

(Snip)

 

I am reminded of something Will Rodgers once said "On election day the promising season ends and the excuse making season begins."

 

In dealing with politicians one thing to keep in mind...these are the same people who ran for the student council in high school.

[Geee]

Herman Cain bashes Mitt Romney for playing ‘political games’ with Daily Caller/ATR/YouTube debate

 

Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain ripped former one-term Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney after finding out Romney’s recently-released schedule didn’t have The Daily Caller/Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)/YouTube debate on it.

 

Cain says he wants the American people to hear from all the Republican presidential candidates, not just some.

 

“Governor Romney, saying you’re a businessman simply isn’t enough,” Cain said in a statement. “I hope you will participate in this debate to showcase what experiences and vision we each have, and which of us would be able to best help stabilize and grow our economy.”

 

Cain also said he thinks Romney’s playing “political games” by not participating. “Now is not the time for political games,” Cain said. “It’s time to get serious about our anemic economy and the millions of Americans out of work because of it. People deserve to hear from all of us.”

 

Cain added that he plans to share what he’s going to do to fix America’s economy at the debate in Las Vegas on July 10, something Romney won’t get to do because he won’t be there.

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/22/herman-cain-bashes-mitt-romney-for-playing-%E2%80%98political-games%E2%80%99-with-daily-calleratryoutube-debate/