Joe The Plumber

[toasty]

Something tells me Joe the Plumber, the star of last night's debate, might soon regret his new found notoriety:

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. "Joe the Plumber," is the topic of the day on the campaign trail, in part because he held an impromptu press conference Thursday morning in front of his house to discuss tax policy, his disdain for Social Security, and his critiques of Barack Obama.

Already, however, there is some dispute as to whether or not Wurzelbacher was being accurate with his critique of Obama. His business, as ABC reports, would almost certainly get a tax cut under Obama's plan, given that he does not expect to make anywhere close to $250,000 in profits.

Moreover, for someone worried about his taxes, Wurzelbacher doesn't -- it appears - always pay them. A filing with the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas shows that he has had state tax liens filed against him, meaning he was either delinquent or didn't fully cover taxes that he owed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/16/joe-the-plumber-is-it-see_n_135211.html

I do honestly feel for the guy. He has a discussion with Obama that gets a little press, he unwittingly becomes the centerpiece of McCain's message in the debate, and now the press is prying into his private life. Aren't you glad you decided to get engaged in the political process, Joe?

[toasty]

Re: Joe The Plumber

Don't want to postthe whole article here -- that's what the link is for -- but I do want to add this in the interest of protecting the guy's good name:

A representative at the court explained that Wurzelbacher had not paid $1,182.98 of personal income tax. The state filed a lien on January 26, 2007, and the payment remains outstanding. But the court rep also cautioned that this all may have occurred without Wurzelbacher's knowledge.

"We get hundreds of state liens every day and we don't have to make a judgment on them. We are just putting in there what the state says is owed. We don't notify that person and neither does the state. If there was activity on this lien, if they attempted to collect it on this case - which they haven't -- it would show up. But I am 99.9 percent positive that he doesn't even know about this."

[Huggie Smiles]

Re: Joe The Plumber

so the state could put a lien on my home and not even tell me! news to me! I'm off to check.

[Jenks]

Re: Joe The Plumber

plumber joe could turn this 15 minutes of fame into a nice pocket of change with an agent and commercials.

[toasty]

Re: Joe The Plumber

plumber joe could turn this 15 minutes of fame into a nice pocket of change with an agent and commercials.

yep, maybe then he could buy that plumbing business he evidently couldn't otherwise afford.

[i!!ustrious]

Re: Joe The Plumber

^ lol. lets hope he morphs into bob the builder with this opportunity.

[Jenks]

Re: Joe The Plumber

Joe isn't even registered to vote.

[toasty]

Re: Joe The Plumber

or licensed to plumb

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JOE_THE_PLUMBER?SITE=ILEDW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I love the last line of the story:

"I just hope I'm not making too much of a fool of myself," he added.

Feeling a bit less sympathetic about this dude now, especially since he decided to hold a press conference outside his home.

[88Mariner]

Re: Joe The Plumber

i just was told my a 300lb naked man in a sauna (he had shorts on tho) that the plumber is related to charles keating.

hmmm. i kinda doubt it, but who knows?


edit: holy. fucking. shit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-elisberg/john-mccain-and-the-joe-t_b_135319.html

just saw this on huff. you have got to be kidding me.

there is NO fucking way some random dude in the sauna could know this before me. i'm johny on the fucking spot. wow, impressed.

oh, and this is going to blow up in McCains face. I also wanted to say that too.

[i!!ustrious]

Re: Joe The Plumber



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYnaLGBcpYk[/youtube]

[shosh]

Re: Joe The Plumber

doesnt make the issues less relevant though...

[toasty]

Re: Joe The Plumber

doesnt make the issues less relevant though...

Well, now that we know that he does not, in fact, make over $250,000, one thing it does is highlight the brainbending stupidity of those, like Joe, that would actually benefit from Obama's tax plan but who vote against their own economic self-interest based upon what I can only imagine is a belief that they really ought to be making more than $250,000 or delude themselves into the belief that they will be making that much in the imminent future.

Is Joe not going to pursue his dream of owning his own business because he'll be taxed a slightly higher rate on the amount her earns in excess of $250K? That's madness. "Fuck it, I'll make $249,999.99, but not a penny more, 'cuz it ain't worth it." No one likes paying taxes, but people do not make decisions on whether or not they want to make more money based upon their tax rate. There will always be an incentive to make as much money as possible -- it's the American way.

[DIDI]

Re: Joe The Plumber

If he was a plant this was the biggest backfire of all time

[shosh]

Re: Joe The Plumber

Well, now that we know that he does not, in fact, make over $250,000, one thing it does is highlight the brainbending stupidity of those, like Joe, that would actually benefit from Obama's tax plan but who vote against their own economic self-interest based upon what I can only imagine is a belief that they really ought to be making more than $250,000 or delude themselves into the belief that they will be making that much in the imminent future.

Is Joe not going to pursue his dream of owning his own business because he'll be taxed a slightly higher rate on the amount her earns in excess of $250K? That's madness. "Fuck it, I'll make $249,999.99, but not a penny more, 'cuz it ain't worth it." No one likes paying taxes, but people do not make decisions on whether or not they want to make more money based upon their tax rate. There will always be an incentive to make as much money as possible -- it's the American way.

toasty you cant spin this one dude. who cares who the guy is? the fact remains that obama said he wants to redistribute wealth. that is a socialist ideal. the guy could be the poorest person in this nation, a bum. doesnt make the issue, the question, and fuckbama's answer less relevant. so would you have been happier had i asked the question?

[toasty]

Re: Joe The Plumber

toasty you cant spin this one dude. who cares who the guy is? the fact remains that obama said he wants to redistribute wealth. that is a socialist ideal. the guy could be the poorest person in this nation, a bum. doesnt make the issue, the question, and fuckbama's answer less relevant. so would you have been happier had i asked the question?

First off, I cringed when he said "share the wealth," but Karl Marx, he is not. He may have said "share the wealth" but looking at his economic proposal and tax plan, he clearly doesn't mean it in the way that you're suggesting.

That has nothing to do with anything in this thread, though, let alone with the post to which you were responding. Fact is, here's a guy raking Obama over the coals over his tax plan when Obama's tax plan is actually more favorable to him than McCain's. I gather that this dude earns somewhere around $40K, which is odd considering that he's become the standard bearer for successful small business people who earn in excess of $250K who don't want to see their taxes go up. Delusions of grandeur, IMO.

"Uh, Senator Obama, I'm pissed that you're going to tax me more on the fluke chance I'm able to increase my income six-fold, even though you're giving me a tax break now."

Makes loads of sense.