In the 1993 movie Dave, an average Joe (well, average Dave) becomes president through some strange circumstances and, in a famous scene, calls in an accountant friend of his, Murray, to rewrite the federal budget over “some fresh bratwurst and hot mustard.”
You might say this requires some serious suspension of disbelief. But it appears Herman Cain calls it a campaign plan.
During Tuesday night’s debate, Cain said a man named Rich Lowrie is one of the central architects of his 9-9-9 tax plan. Who is he?
The New York Times takes a look this morning into Cain’s own Murray:
Mr. Lowrie is an investment adviser at a Wells Fargo office in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Although he is an unpaid member of an advisory board of the American Conservative Union, he has never worked for a policy research group or an academic institution, or made a name through economic analysis.
In an interview, Mr. Lowrie said he had a bachelor of science degree in accountancy from Case Western Reserve University. On his Facebook page, he describes his political views as “free markets.” Mr. Lowrie said he had been inspired by two well-known proponents of supply-side thinking: Arthur Laffer, often considered the father of the concept that lower tax rates help pay for themselves by generating additional economic growth, and Jude Wanniski, who promoted the idea among politicians. Mr. Lowrie became involved with the Ohio chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the conservative organization supported by the billionaire Koch brothers.
On Tuesday, Politico‘s Juana Summers took a look at Lowrie as well as the rest of Cain’s economic team, which the former CEO has been less than forthcoming about:
The Cain campaign first acknowledged Lowrie’s ties to the campaign last month, after an interview on “Fox News Sunday” during which Cain repeatedly refused to name the advisers who had helped him develop his economic plan.
“They have their own independent businesses, and I don’t want to compromise their confidentiality at this point,” Cain told host Chris Wallace. “When they tell me it is OK to mention their names publicly, I will mention it.”
