Watching last night’s debate, you couldn’t help but hearing Obama and McCain fighting over this ‘Joe the Plumber’ like the last cookie in the cookie jar. I always thought this was just a made up, generic association to the “little guy” but according to an article in the NY Times today he’s real. Meet Joe Wurzelbacher (say THAT five times fast), a “burly, bald man with a goatee” and the most thrown around name in the biggest debate of the presidential race. He also apparently doesn’t take crap from Senator Obama:
At first glance, Joe, you are quite the badass plumber.
However, it turns out my gut instinct was right. He was made up. Yes he’s a real person, but his story is fabricated and he was likely planted at the Obama rally by Team Maverick.
MSNBC just released a report stating that big Joe isn’t all he’s cracked up to be. He doesn’t have any serious aspirations of owning or buying a plumbing business. He works for a plumbing business - illegally. That’s right, he was working as a plumber without a legal license. As for his claims that the Obama tax plan would screw him over since the business makes more than $250,000 - also a lie. The business only makes about $100,000 and good ‘ol Joe was only pulling in $40,000 a year as of 2006. Even if the business was making $280,000, the Obama tax plan would only tax its revenues ABOVE $250,000. Therefore, even if all of this was true, our buddy Joe would only have to pay $900 more in taxes - a sum that would most likely be offset by Obama’s proposed 50% tax credit for healthcare and elimination of the capital gains tax for small business.
Sorry Team Maverick. In the internet age, you can’t lie so easily. You’d know this if you knew how to use email.
October 16th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
You’ve got several parts of your story wrong. He never said that he makes over 250,000 a year. He never said he owns a plumbing business. The confusion was that he wanted to eventually BUY the plumbing business he worked for, and in order to do that would NEED 250,000 dollars and that’s where he would see a portion of that go away due to Barack’s tax plan, thus keeping him from his business. Now, in order for him to buy the business, it’s a given that he’d first also need to be become a licensed plumber.
I’m a big Obama supporter, so I feel it’s in his best interest if you practice what you preached and used email first.
Zac from Toledo
October 17th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Yes, I agree with Zac but I am not an Obama supporter. To me, this us just more “feed”. (The quote below explains)
“Y’all know I was raised on Sesame Street and I love Sesame Street. But, it’s a liberal show. I’m a musician. I’ve played in bands in Hollywood and EVERYONE knows that the entertainment industry and the NEWS industry is dominated by liberals. What I’ve just mentioned constitutes a small part in a goliath sized brainwashing machine… But I escaped the plantation.. You haven’t. They have been farming your votes for decades. You are battle cattle for the democratic party. It keeps their livestock fat with a healthy does of pandering. Here’s some feed for your victim mentality. Here’s some feed to keep your prejudice against the republicans so you’ll vote against them and vote democratic instead. Here’s some feed to stimulate your animosity against the rich, as if a poor person can give you a job.”
October 17th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I think everyone’s missing the point — and misreading the post.
For starters, the post simply states that Joe has no real aspirations to buy the business. I’m guessing MSNBC heard this from Joe himself.
Second, Joe’s statement to Obama was that the business made $250,000-$280,000 a year — not that he would have to borrow that much to buy it. Look it up on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUvwKVvp3-o). But the business doesn’t make that much, not even half.
I think the biggest point is that Obama’s tax plan would not result in higher taxes for this small business owner, if he were in fact a small business owner. In fact, he actually may be taxed less when other proposals are taken into account, such as health care and capital gains tax breaks.
Beyond that is the fact that this man has been working as a plumber without a license. The business owner’s plumbing license does not cover his employees’ work. Each employee performing plumbing work is required to have, at the very least, an apprentice’s license, which “Joe” does not.
Joe may not really be a plant by the McCain campaign, but he’s certainly not an independent voter (take a look at his other views, which he’s happy to offer up to a desperate media), so we have to assume that he went to the rally to try to stir the pot, even if it was just his own idea. This man was never going to vote for Obama in a million years, so we should treat him exactly how he portrays himself — as a walking Republican sound bite.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:56 am
This guy is a fake and I would bet my last dollar that he WAS planted. He is just as fake as the girl with the backwards B on her face that claimed the “Big Black Man” mugged her and carved the B in her face. Just as fake as the “official 911 story”. Just as fake as the Iranian boat story. (remembert “I am comming for you”) I would not be surprised to discover that all these stories were crafted by the same people. They all have a common thread. They are all incredibly stupid.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
From what i’ve read, Joe would not really see a difference no matter who gets elected. Obama has lots of great ideas but falls very short on how he plans to fund it all. He keeps saying he has a strategy for paying for every penny, but I read his entire economic policy and the only ways hes getting money is by taking from the rich and double-screwing oil companies(they get the increased tax & windfall). So you’ll have more money in your pocket but its also going to be coming out equally fast. Obama is good because hes selling his “cure” for the economy and apparently the majority of people are biting…I just hope it works.
With regards to him being planted…seriously? The only reason people listen to this crap is because it beats up on cons, and the media LOVES stuff that beats up on cons.