Wondering how Herman Cain can stay at the top of the polls?

Perhaps one explanation comes from a new Des Moines Register poll that finds two-thirds of likely caucus-goers earning less than $50,000 believe they would be better off or in the same financial situation under the 9-9-9 tax plan. Except they wouldn't. Most every expert who has examined this cockamamie plan agrees that most families making $100,000 or less would pay thousands of dollars more in taxes. From the Register:

"The larger point is that people don't really understand what the 9-9-9 plan actually is, and they're assuming incorrectly that they may not pay one or any of these taxes," said Joe Rosenberg, a research associate for the Tax Policy Center, a group based in Washington, D.C., that bills itself as a nonpartisan economic research institute.

Sooner or later, the poll numbers are sure to change (the Register survey was conducted before those sexual harassment allegations surfaced). That 9-9-9 has such staying power, however, tells you a lot about voter ignorance when it comes to money matters.