Americans want a flat tax more than ever, writes publisher and one-time Republican presidential hopeful Steve Forbes.

GOP candidate Herman Cain's surging popularity, the product in part of his proposal to set income, sales and corporate taxes all at 9 percent, illustrates the point that Americans want a simplified flat tax code.

Texas Governor Rick Perry is expected to announce a similar fiscal revenue plan, and according to Forbes, the nation needs it.
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"The nightmare on Main Street — the federal income tax code — is ending, which is fantastic news for our beleaguered economy. Dramatically simplifying this monstrosity would unleash a powerful wave of prosperity and job creation," Forbes wrote in a New York Post column.

"The flat tax would stimulate risk taking and productivity. Combined with a stable dollar, it would usher in a great economic boom," Forbes wrote.

"The Cain plan would rid us of not only the federal income tax, but also the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes," Forbes wrote.

Steve Forbes (Getty Images photo)

Forbes championed a flat tax when running for president in 1996.

"The flat tax would junk the current code and replace it with a single rate that would apply to all incomes after generous deductions," Forbes wrote.

"There would be no tax on your savings and there would be no death tax — you should be allowed to leave the world unmolested by the IRS. The business profit tax would also be slashed — all those poisonous loopholes would be eliminated."

Current GOP candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney once criticized flat taxes, arguing they benefitted the rich, calling them a "tax cut for fat cats."

Now, Romney may be warming up to the idea.

"I love a flat tax," he said in August, according to the New York Times.

Officially, Romney favors extending the Bush tax cuts and cutting corporate taxes, and some conservatives remain wary of his recent hints at supporting flat taxes.

"His problem is that people don’t have confidence that they know what he believes in, and I think there is a pretty good reason for that," says Chris Chocola, a Republican former congressman from Indiana who is president of the Club for Growth, The New York Times reports.