By Rod Boshart
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain said Monday he opposes raising the federal debt ceiling and believes it is wrong for congressional Republicans to entertain the idea.
Cain, 65, a Georgia businessman and political activist, told reporters during a Statehouse visit that rather than raise the federal debt limit, he would authorize payment of the interest owed, money for military soldiers and their families, medical programs and Social Security checks and then "prioritize everything else, even if you have to do some severe cuts."
The former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said he also would require passage of a balanced budget amendment, otherwise Congress and the president would be back facing another decision to increase the debt ceiling in the future.
"I wouldn't raise it. I would force the hard discipline now," said Cain, who expects to make an announcement concerning his political future in Atlanta on Saturday. "I think they should just say there's not going to be an increase. That's the approach that I would take."
Cain, who met with state GOP senators as part of several campaign-related events in Iowa this week, said has he has started to build a very strong base of support "on the ground" in Iowa. Not having held public office is an asset in the 2012 election cycle, Cain said, and he believes his 40 years of business experience and problem-solving abilities are resonating with voters. He said he has scored well in several straw polls in Iowa that have not been widely reported and expects to benefit from decisions by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and New York entrepreneur Donald Trump not to run for president next year.
"I was never threatened or concerned about Donald Trump in the first place, to be really honest, because bullying, being a bully, is not a leadership strategy," said Cain, who formed an exploratory committee in January 2011 for a potential candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination.
Cain said he was not surprised that Trump bowed out of the 2012 race and he expected Huckabee's support among social conservatives in Iowa would be divided up among the developing field, including some of the ex-Huckabee backers joining his camp.
Cain is sharing the Iowa stage this week with another Georgian, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whom he said has more political experience than all of the other GOP candidates put together and is "one of the brightest, most intellectual people that we have in the conservative movement today." However, knowing how Washington works won't necessarily be an advantage in trying to "change the culture" in the nation's capital, he said.