Comrade Cain

For years I have observed a significant difference in the ways that white liberals and white conservatives view their movements' black political figures: white liberals have a psychological desire to support black political figures of the left, while white conservatives have a pathological desire to support black political figures of the right.

I don't want to go deep into my grand theory on that topic here and now. But in part that theory contends that since there are so very few black Republicans, pretty much any African-American willing to slap an R next to his name can become a national conservative superstar. Not to the point of getting elected or promoted to a position of significant authority, but to the point of getting a leadership appointment and/or an enthusiastic national following: Michael Steele, Allen West, Alan Keyes, Thomas Sewell, Clarence Thomas, Tim Scott... and now, it seems, Herman Cain.

And again, I don't want to get into a big debate here about whether Cain is really an impressive Presidential candidate or a rambling buffoon. I want to restrict myself here to one specific issue: the Fair Tax.

Cain's most memorable moment in last Thursday's debate was his profession of support for the "Fair Tax," a national consumption tax to completely replace the current income and business taxes -- and his harrumphing response to Chris Williams's suggestion that such a proposal would help the rich and hurt the poor and middle class.

But my issue is two ways in which Cain's Fair Tax plan is clearly socialism in action.

First, as Cain specified in response to Williams, the Fair Tax