(Corrects third paragraph to say Joe about to buy a business)
Joe the Plumber was the surprise star of the third and final presidential debate, getting no less than 13 mentions in the opening minutes.
So who is this guy? His full name is Joe Wurzelbacher, and it turns out he had a close encounter with Barack Obama a few days ago. John McCain adopted Joe’s cause as a way to tar his opponent as a tax-and-spend liberal. 
The apparent problem is that Joe is about to buy a company that makes a little over $250,000 a year, and under Obama’s proposal that would put him into a higher tax bracket. Obama told Joe that he wasn’t trying to punish his success, only to spread the wealth around.
“Joe wants to buy the business that he has been in for all of these years, worked 10, 12 hours a day. And he wanted to buy the business but he looked at your tax plan and he saw that he was going to pay much higher taxes,” McCain said.
“Joe, I want to tell you, I’ll not only help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for and be able — and I’ll keep your taxes low and I’ll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees,” McCain said, staring straight into the camera.
McCain got a little caught up in the moment and muddled in his message to Joe by saying at one point that “fifty percent of small business income taxes are paid by small businesses.”
Still, Joe the Plumber has become a bit of Internet celebrity and Republicans quickly latched onto his plight, issuing a statement saying his comments to Joe showed that Obama would “tax to death” the American Dream.
Obama’s response was that Joe the Plumber needed a tax cut five years ago, and Obama wants to “make sure that the plumber, the nurse, the firefighter, the teacher, the young entrepreneur who doesn’t yet have money, I want to give them a tax break now. And that requires us to make some important choices.”
As for Joe himself, directory assistance had no telephone listing for him in Toledo, Ohio. If you’re listening, Joe, we’d love to hear how you’re handling fame!
Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Gary Hershorn (McCain makes a point at the presidential debate)
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All this leftist cr*p makes me sick.
- Posted by MIke in PaWhy shouldn’t I be allowed to make as much as I desire, and allowed to reward myself for all my hard work with whatever I choose to buy, without someone saying you make too much money, give half of what you earn to the lazy bums who don’t want to make anything of there lives?
I work for ME and my FAMILY, so we could live comfortable lives. Not ‘ditch digging Dave’ who only has the mental capacity to do that job. Work 2 jobs like I did in tough times if need be to get by.
In case you want one of those Joe the Plumber, Toilet Tattoos, you can get them on Amazon.com.
- Posted by PorcelaingoddessGood for Joe, some one need to ask some questions?
- Posted by carleneI am originally from Ohio and just want Joe to know that I am very proud of him. He represents many of us who have worked our whole lives for our families and don’t feel that we did that to give it to SOMEONE who didn’t work at all.
- Posted by SusieYOU GO JOE!
Are you serious in thinking that you deserve some of the money that Joe is making? It’s his money, he worked for it end of story. All you voting for Obama will be sorry when you get taxed as well. He has no loyalty to the U.S. Obama reads muslim books, burned our flag, and smoked weed. You want change? Vote for change and see what happens. Yes, if Obama wins we will all learn a valuable lesson.
- Posted by AndreaWhat we need to hear from these knuckleheads in Washington is how they’re planning to CUT their spending. They are way out of control. Doesn’t anyone up there know you can’t spend money you don’t have?
- Posted by Sooz in nvLook, a small business making 250,000 a year, is an established business, small or not. He said it himself, he’s buying the company he’s been working for all these years. I am college educated, as is my husband, and we are upper middle class for where we live. I’ve worked my whole life, and the more money I’ve made over the years, the more taxes I’ve had to pay. We don’t have children, my friends with children, who’ve made far less than us over the years, get far more back at income tax return time than we do. I think that’s fair. We can afford to give more, so we do. Struggling new businesses will hopefully not be affected by the tax increases. But, an established business making over 250,000 a year should pay more taxes. I give credit to Joe, and anyone else who has worked hard to achieve success in their own business. It’s tough. But I worked hard to achieve my dream, too. I’m a nurse, and I get to help people every day. I certainly didn’t get into it for the money. But I think that if my boss makes more than me, she should pay more taxes. And so should anyone else. Not everyone’s dream is to make money, some of us just want to do a good job and take care of our families.
- Posted by middleclassMy husband owns a small business that bills over $250,000.00 per year but what some people fail to realize is that the EXPENSES of running a business eat up alot of that. Where as if you work for someone else and make $77,000.00 per year that money is all yours, we have to pay other employees, advertising, maintain equipment, etc. We are spreading the wealth around all ready by employing other people and helping to support their households.
- Posted by BeckyOK. So you don’t want Joe to pay more taxes than he already does?
If Joe the Plumber owns a business that grosses $250000, who says he will fall into that higher tax bracket?
IF his company grosses $250000, he will pay expenses.
All of those expenses will be deductions. Once those deductions are made, his business will fall considerably under the $250000 cut off.
Under Obama’s plan, he will pay LESS taxes.
Under McCain’s plan, he will pya MORE taxes.
This is simple math.
Taxes are not intended to be used to give to others as welfare. Taxes are a necessary evil in order for us to build roads, bridges, locks and dams, schools, pay our elected and appointed officials, and pay our MILITARY.
How about making sure that in the wealthiest nation on earth we do not have VETERANS, the mentally ill, and families that do not have adequate living conditions, health care, or food. Obama’s plan aims to bring some of those people up to a level where then CAN pay some taxes, but not at the same percentage that people who make greater thatn $250000 a year.
I am a democrat and I work as hard as any republican. I have a good and stable job and had to make many sacrifices to get and keep it.
Get out of the stone age, just because someone has some liberal views, it doesn’t mean that he is a lazy @ss.
- Posted by AnnieNo, unlike Bill Ayers, Acorn and Tony Rezko, I don’t break the law.
What I’m saying is your analogy was asinine and nonsensical. You, AC, don’t get to determine that it’s “okay” to ORDER me to give up a little more because some lazy @ss liberal doesn’t work as hard as me but wants more than they have.
Since you bring up “making up numbers that suit us,” what is this $250,000 based on? Save your breath. It’s something that Obama and his advisors decided would sound like the salary of rich person, and as always in communist redistribution schemes, they had to play class warfare. Apparently it’s succeeded on you.
By the way, it’s spelled s-c-e-n-a-r-i-o.
- Posted by Matt** I’m giving “in proportion to my means.” I’ll decide what I’m able to give, nobody else should have that say.**
Sooo, you just make up a number that suits you on your 1040s?
- Posted by Average CitizenDoesn’t matter whether someone’s making $50K or $250K, the individual does not get to decide how much they want to “give” to the gov.
Matt, that scenerio does not fit at all.
The more accurate scenerio would be:
There is a large charitable organization that both you and your neighbor benefit from. From your garden, you give them 1 pepper; your neighbor, because his garden is larger, gives 2.
Your neighbor is not giving YOU a pepper to make things more even between the two of you - you are BOTH giving to a third party in proportion to your means.
I really don’t why people keep saying we’re stealing Joe’s money and giving it to someone else. Makes no sense. Both JoePlumber and Betty the lower-earning teacher down the street are paying into the same system - a system that benefits them both I remind you - Joe just pays more because he has more to spare. Noone is taking a chunk of Joe’s money and giving it to Betty in order to make things even between them.
- Posted by Average Citizen
Truly insane. Who is this large charitable organization? The US government? Last I checked there wasn’t a single charitable organization that had the ability to arrest you at gunpoint and throw you in jail for not contributing your fair share to their charity. What an *diotic comparison.
Even in your justification, you give away Obama’s and other liberals’ intent. I’m giving “in proportion to my means.” I’ll decide what I’m able to give, nobody else should have that say.
So, if I’m giving one pepper and my neighbor is giving two, but nobody is “getting” anything from either of us, what the h3ll is happening to the peppers and why do they need to be confiscated?
- Posted by MattJoe would only be taxed higher on his take home pay above $250,000 a year. So his argument that it will slow down his business growth is not true. Once he makes over $250,000 of take home business pay he has two options either reinvest any money over $250,000 100% tax free back into his business OR pay 4% more taxes on that money if he wants to take it home. So if anything it will encourage him to reinvest the money above $250k back into his business to hire more employees or make capital investments. But who are we kidding, this Joe guy lives in a make believe world where he earns $250k. What a joke.
- Posted by JasonFunny how Palin/McCain campaign was pushing Joe sixpack in their campaigns and debate to try to relate to the everyday American and then Joe the Plumber confronts Obama and makes national news. Coincidence? I think not. More like a republican plant. But I guess they should have done a better job of vetting him after learning from their mistakes with Palin. He’s not even a real Joe. His name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher and he’s a registered republican. The fact that he isn’t even a licensed plumber and owes on taxes doesn’t help with his credibility. Now this not not slandering his character. I’m sure he’s probably a nice guy but you have to wonder why someone like Joe who would benefit more financially to be able to provide for his son would support McCain’s policy which would hurt him more unless like McCain joked that he hired him to work on his 7 houses maybe to the sum of over $250,000 in which case Obama’s plan would take more from him. How many plumbers do you know that make over $250,000? And what about the charges of blacks, like Colin Powell, voting for Obama on the grounds that he’s black and making it a race issue. Does that make Joe, who is white, a racist for voting for a white candidate? Does it make every other white person who votes for McCain a racist also following that same logic the republicans are trying to use on anyone who votes for Obama? Colin Powell said it best that what if he was a Muslim? So what? We are all Americans and even Muslims have died for wars for this country. Are we so stuck in the stone age that we fear what we don’t understand? Is ignorance and prejudice what builds the fabric of our society? Is this the type of image we want to the world to see of us as Americans? And Palin says that we should question Obama’s patriotism and character cause he was pallin around with terrorists. What about Palin? Does being married to someone who was an active member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a secessionist movement to have Alaska secede from these United States of America mean she was also palin around with terrorists? If they do not support America and want to secede, does that not make them domestic terrorists also? And did she not just tell the Alaskan Independence Party in her own words “Keep up the good work, and God bless you.” and thus give her support to a terrorist movement? And speaking of support, you republicans keep chanting that if you don’t support the president of the United States of America, you are therefore un-American and a terrorist. If Obama does get elected president of the United States of America, and if you don’t support the president at that time, are you also un-American and a terrorist or does that double standard only apply if McCain gets elected?
- Posted by The Real JoeFar be it from me that I screw up McCain’s crucade for Joe the Plumber with facts, but:
- He isn’t a licensed plumber
- The business he wants to buy isn’t for sale
- He has a tax lien he may need to pay before he buys
the business (which isn’t for sale)
- Obama did not “go to his door”. Joe spoke to him
while waiting in line.
- Joe doesn’t make 250,000 a year.
One would think that, after the Sarah Palin farce, McCain’s people would have vetted Joe before making him a poster child for a campaign which is going down the toilet.
I always respected Mr. McCain for his service to our country, but no more. Seeing his spin on Joe the Plumber when the facts clearly state otherwise make me suspect anything he has ever said. What a sad way to end a distinguished career of service.
- Posted by DianaWell at least Joe the Plumber has more experience than that giggly Sarah Palin.
- Posted by FranHow is it even possible that a guy without any education and papers can start a company of his own…
he was not even a student plummer…
is this the mirror image for republicxan incompotence with not knowing this about JTP ?
hes has experience but can not be calles a professional without the papers
- Posted by Rtechall
- Posted by BOBOguess what if joe works for a plumbing outfit that makes 250k, and has to pay help with that; joe dosent make that much, around 45k per year, and he invested for the last 12 years say 5k per year 12 years with growth 70k and now the fall in the market 45k , can he really buy that company without goverment help and loans.
SPREAD THE WEALTH JOE WITH YOUR GOV BACKED LOW INTREST LOAN. “WANNA PLAY GOTA PAY”
I think Joe the Plumber has just proven Obama’s point. If the middle class continue to get taxed more and the upper class continue to get taxed a small amount more or the same as the middle class, The rich will continue to reap the benefits and the middle class will struggle to stay afloat. $250,000. is not the average income of a small business a year. Now if Joe the Plumber bought Roto Rooter, I could see his company making that amount or more.
- Posted by JamesTwo masters and $77K ? I think that your parents threw their money away on the “History of Rock&Roll” or something like that. Geez, my paperboy does better than that! It just sounds like the typical class envy of someone not willing to get of his dead behind and take responsibility for his life. The same people that Barack is appealing to, and, unfortunately, a growing percentage of Americans.
- Posted by Brian Ruic