Herman Cain: 5 steps to kick start job creation

"Here are those suggestions, plus three more, none of which were even mentioned at the jobs summit. Once again, these are not original ideas. They are just common sense ideas that several people have suggested, but somehow they have not made it to the president's ear:

1. Suspend the payroll tax for one year

This gives an immediate 7.65 percent increase in take-home pay to all workers. It also lowers the payroll costs for all employers by 7.65 percent for one year. A total of about $900 billion would be injected directly into the economy immediately, rather than through the inefficiency of the federal government.

2. Suspend federal tax on repatriated profits

Multi-national U.S. businesses are hungry for cash flow, which could come from cash they have sitting in foreign countries to avoid double taxation. The last time this was only partially done, in 2005 during the Bush administration, nearly $300 billion dollars came back to U.S. businesses from their overseas operations.

3. Pass tax-cutting legislation, not more tax credits

Tax credits come after the fact. Tax cuts for businesses come before you have to lay more people off. And if they are the "right" tax cuts, businesses may even be able to hire some people.

4. Suspend limits on business investment deductions

Accounting rules require businesses to depreciate large business investments over time, rather than deduct the full expenditure in the year it was spent. This puts a strain on business cash flow, which is needed to add jobs.

5. Suspend proposed job-killer legislation

Suspend work on passage of cap-and-trade legislation and health-care legislation. They are both huge new taxes on businesses, and the prospect of passage has businesses in a state of "stop." They stop hiring. They stop taking risks. And they stop investing in their businesses. All of these "stops" are job killers. They are not job creators.

6. Replace tax code with single consumption tax

This is popularly known as the Fair Tax, H.R. 25. It would produce a huge sucking sound of businesses from around the world wanting to establish businesses here in the U.S. It would super-charge our economy like never before. It gives power back to the people. What a patriotic idea!

"Mr. President, I know the sixth suggestion would cause your fellow Democrats in Congress to have massive political coronaries, so just focus on the first five and you could save this economy, and possibly your presidency. "