Fresh back from his trip to Israel, Republican presidential candidate and former WSB talkshow host Herman Cain made a stop by the State Capitol to shake hands with lawmakers and unveil his new economic plan.

"I'm not waiting until I get elected to put together the plans we need for economic growth," he told reporters during an impromptu press conference.

Cain's "999" plan replaces the current tax code with a nine percent tax on corporate profits, personal income, and national retail sales.

"It is revenue neutral, so it will raise the same amount of revenue that we're currently collecting with this messed up tax code that is being manipulated by the politicians to pick the winners and losers," he says.

Cain calls it "phase one enhanced".  He says phase two is the Fair Tax for which he has been a longtime proponent.

During the press conference, Cain also defended the tea party from recent remarks by U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., who said that some members of Congress affiliated with the tea party consider African-Americans to be "second-class citizens" and wouldn't mind seeing them "hanging from a tree."

"Those remarks are a distraction... those kind of remarks are intended to discourage citizens from speaking their voice through the tea party movement," says Cain. "If there were racism in the tea party movement, I would be one of the first people to recognize it."