Herman Cain: SimCity rumor 'a lie'

October 17, 2011

U.S. presidential candidate denied a suggestion from ' reporter Amanda Terkel that his  was derived from ' 2003 computer game '. During an interview that aired on  Friday, Cain bluntly characterized the suggestion as "a lie".

Cain, the former CEO of, has risen to first place in some polls for the 's presidential nomination. His campaign features the 9-9-9 plan, which calls for the implementation of a 9 percent national sales tax, and a shift of the personal and corporate income tax rates to 9 percent.

Terkel compared Cain's plan to that of the default setting on SimCity 4, which institutes a 9 percent rate for commercial, industrial and residential taxes. She contacted both Maxis and Rich Lowrie, a employee credited with helping Cain formulate the plan. Though Lowrie did not respond, Maxis producer Kip Katsarelis commented:

Cain maintains that the plan is original. When probed on the issue, he remarked "that's the difference when you become one or two in the polls. People make up stuff."

Cain received similar attention in August after closing a GOP debate with a quote from the theme song for , which he referenced to an unnamed poet. It was later reported that Cain had quoted the song on previous occasions.