The mood was lighthearted as the GOP debate kicked off in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, even as Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan was immediately attacked by every other candidate onstage. Michele Bachmann pointed out that his 9-9-9 code would raise taxes because it’s essentially a “value-added tax.” Rick Santorum echoed Bachmann’s sentiment, citing a statistic that “84 percent of Americans will pay more taxes under his plan,” and adding that families would suffer from the code. Rick Perry said it’s simply “not going to fly,” while Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Newt Gingrich all voted nay as well. Gingrich articulately argued that Cain’s plan is more complicated than he makes it out to be, and said change on such a large scale would take years to do it right—years that we don’t have when our main focus should be on creating jobs.