The winning numbers in my native Ohio's "Pick 3 Midday" lottery were just released. Want to guess what they were?
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is riding a wave of momentum in the polls of late, and along the way he's been trying to make those winning lottery numbers "9-9-9" as ubiquitous as "five-dollar footlong" and "seven-up." It's his brand.
That "9-9-9" plan that Mr. Cain is hawking breaks down very simply: a 9 percent flat business tax, a 9 percent flat individual income tax, and a 9 percent national sales tax. Last night guest host Ezra Klein, head writer for the Washington Post's Wonkblog, took a closer look at the mystery economic advisers behind Mr. Cain's proposal:
If it were such a great plan, wouldn't they like their names attached to it? Wouldn't they want to be a part of history? Wouldn't they like to be famous for coming up with a plan that saved the American economy? You shouldn't be so humble, secret economic advisors!
The Cain campaign didn't respond to a TRMS request for comment, but the candidate did join our own Lawrence O'Donnell last night. Lawrence read an excerpt from Mr. Cain's book about the Freedom Rides of 1961. He told Lawrence:
I was a high school student. The college students were doing the sit-ins. The college students were doing the Freedom Rides. If I had been a college student, I probably would have been participating. But if you're a high school student in the 10th or 11th grade, you're under 18 years of age, you didn't need to be arrested and be in the middle of that. That was the intent of what I said relative to me not being involved.
If I'd been in 15-year-old Herman Cain's shoes, I'm not sure I'd have chosen to join the rides either (or gotten permission from my parents to go). Journalist Anna Holmes, who did excellent reporting on the 50th anniversary of the rides this year, both in print and on Twitter, sends over a list of the 59 high-school age riders (18 and under) she knows of who were arrested in 1961. It's after the jump.
AGE 18
Doris Jean Castle of New Orleans, arrested May 24.Frederick Leonard of Nashville, arrested May 28.William Mitchell Jr. of Nashville, arrested May 28. Larry Hunter of Nashville, arrested May 28.Glenda Gaither of Orangeburg, SC, arrested May 30.Charles Butler of Nashville, arrested June 2. Kenneth Shilman of Oceanside, New York, arrested June 2.Cordell Reagon of Nashville, arrested June 2.Shirley Thompson of New Orleans, arrested June 6.Jane Rosett of Washington, D.C., arrested June 8.Rev. Robert Wesby, of Washington, D.C., arrested June 8.Leora Berman of Chicago, arrested June 10.Bob Filner of Ithaca, arrested June 16.Karen Kytle of Oklahoma City, arrested June 16.Rita Carter of Oakland, arrested June 20.Claire Toombs of Silver Spring, arrested June 25.Michael Pritchard of San Francisco, arrested July 2.Mary Lou Bell of Jackson, Mississippi, arrested July 5.Percy Thornton of Jackson, arrested July 5.Robert Bass of Jackson arrested July 5.Ralph Floyd of Jackson arrested July 5.Marshall Bennett of Jackson, arrested July 5.Miller G. Green of Jackson, arrested July 5.Robert Green of Jackson, arrested July 5.Jesse Harris of Jackson, arrested July 5.Percy Johnson of Jackson, arrested July 5.James Jones of Jackson, arrested July 5.Frank Caston of Jackson, arrested July 6.Alfonzo Denson, Jr., of Jackson, arrested July 7.Landy McNair, Jr., of Jackson, arrested July 7.Morton Slater of Jackson, arrested July 7.Patricia Baskerville of Tuscon, arrested July 9.Fred Clark of Jackson, arrested July 9.Henry Rosell of Jackson, arrested July 9.Joe Watts, Jr. of Jackson, arrested July 9.Jimmie Travis of Jackson, arrested July 11.Eddie Austin of Jackson, arrested July 13.Charles Cox of Jackson, arrested July 13.Charles Booth of Los Angeles, arrested July 15.Marilyn Eisenberg of Van Nuys, arrested July 15.Candida Lall of Larkspur, California, arrested July 23.Catherine Prensky of Madison, Wisconsin, arrested July 29.Judith Scroggins of Cincinnati, arrested July 29.Rick Sheviakov of Berkeley, arrested July 19.George Raymond of New Orleans, arrested August 13.
AGE 17
Robert Mason of Los Angeles, arrested June 25 1961.Vance O'Neal of Jackson, arrested July 9.Jack Wolfson of Los Angeles, arrested July 15.
AGE 16
Samuel Givens of Jackson, arrested July 7.Paul Young of Jackson, arrested July 7.Mildred Blue of Jackson, arrested July 9.Erna Lee Horne of Jackson, arrested July 9.Luvaghn Brown of Jackson, arrested July 11.Alfonso Petway of Mongomery, arrested July 24.
AGE 15
Gainnel Hayes of Jackson, arrested July 9.Andrew Horne, Jr., of Jackson, arrested July 9.Delores Lynch of Jackson, arrested July 9.
AGE 14
Leo Blue of Jackson, arrested July 9.
AGE 13
Hezekiah Watkins of Jackson, arrested July 7.