Free Republic

Joe the Plumber is hitting the streets to speak at tea parties and help citizens take America back this Independence Day weekend. He told WND his suspicions about the next president came true, but Obama isn't the only person he blames. "I don't go around talking about President Obama too often because it tends to draw a line for people. I blame Congress ultimately for everything that is going badly," he said. "Obama just got in there. But that being said, I don't care for how he is conducting our foreign affairs. It worries me. He's also pushing a lot...

Things are not going as planned for the Obama administration. The millions of new jobs President Obama guaranteed have not materialized. Furthermore, the gazillion dollars of "stimulus money" Congress gave the President as a gift to spend however his fancy leads him somehow isn't actually finding its way into the economy. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says the problem is we aren't spending ever more money that we don't have. Obviously we need more money. But where are we going to get it? I think I know. Forbes just published its list of the 100 "most powerful" (not necessarily...

Joe Wurzelbacher probably didn’t intend to draw the wrath of the elite when he gave an interview to Christianity Today. But the fiery thunderbolts hurled from our cultural Olympus are crashing all around Joe the Plumber now. “I've had some friends that are actually homosexual,” Wurzelbacher said. “And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn’t have them anywhere near my children.” In a free country, we are told, everybody has a right to their own opinion. Wurzelbacher is quickly learning that, according to the American elite, what you actually have a right to is...

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — better known as Joe the Plumber — headlined a raucous rally against pro-union legislation Monday night where critics and supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act jeered one another. Two Green Tree police officers broke up several arguments to prevent fights in the midst of a crowd of about 150 packed inside a Radisson ballroom. The crowd was divided

Spoke this morning with Joan Fabiano and the Tea Party team and there is big news re: the April 15th shindig. Specifically, they've landed a big "get." Americans for Prosperity-Michigan and team just announced that Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, "Joe the Plumber," will speak at the Michigan Taxpayer Tea Party on the steps of the State Capitol in Lansing on April 15th.

Washington Post staff writer Paul Farhi penned a nasty little critique of Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher in Thursday's paper, deriding the conservative critic of Barack Obama as "a leftover artifact from a forgotten time." Grouping Wurzelbacher in with other "campaign distractions," Farhi panned, "He's Clara Peller, Willie Horton or Gennifer Flowers -- names that are the questions in a 'Jeopardy!' category called 'Presidential Campaign Distractions.'" (Of course, Wurzelbacher's "distraction" was to challenge the economic policy of Obama.)

On Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin: Absolutely incredible woman. Actually really wants to serve America. Do I think she should give ‘em another chance? I dunno. I mean, America tore her up. The media in general. But of any of the politicians I’ve actually met she seems the most sincere. She actually wants to do what’s right for America. She didn’t have that gleam in her eye of power an money, she had that ‘I want to serve’ look. That’s the kind of character and leadership we need. When you go into politics you want to help your fellow man, not...

In town to promote his new book, "Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream", Samuel J. Wurzelbacher — aka "Joe the Plumber" — stopped by Americans for Tax Reform Wednesday to review President Barack Obama's Tuesday address before Congress and offer his own thoughts on American politics and current events. Perhaps not surprisingly, Wurzelbacher, who campaigned alongside Sen. John McCain during the 2008 campaign, did not have many nice things to say about Obama's speech and stimulus proposal. "I believe he's taking America down the wrong path," Wurzelbacher told POLITICO. "So far every step he's taken I pretty much...

e've seen the mainstream media afflicted with Palin Derangement Syndrome. We've experienced the media in the throes of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Over at CNN, which modestly styles itself as the most trusted name in news, there's now an outbreak of Joe the Plumber Derangement Syndrome. Last week CNN Newsroom anchor Kyra Phillips went after Joe. Today, it was CNN Newsroom anchor Rick Sanchez's turn at bat. Mustering as much blow-dried earnestness as possible, he relieved himself of an editorial on what's nominally a news program: Meanwhile, something else to take note of today. I want to share with you the...

Samuel Wurzelbacher, also known as 'Joe the Plumber,' is in Israel working as a rookie war correspondent, where he said Sunday that he believes journalists should be abolished from reporting from w...

Like the two men whose campaigns for president he influenced with his unexpected step upon the national political stage, Joe the Plumber has published a book about his life.

As the evidence continued to build against Ohio Bureaucrat Helen Jones-Kelley for doing an illegal search on Joe the Plumber's background, she remained on unpaid "leave" because of a different violation. She used the states e-mail system to campaign for Obama. Today she finally resigned from her position, two of her superiors left their jobs also...........

State official resigns over 'Joe the Plumber' affair Wednesday, December 17, 2008 6:54 PM Updated: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 07:38 PM By Catherine Candisky THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Helen Jones-Kelley, the state official placed on unpaid leave for improperly accessing confidential information from state databases on "Joe the Plumber," has resigned. Two senior managers involved in the incident also are leaving, The Dispatch has learned.. Jones-Kelley was scheduled to return to work as director of the Department of Job and Family Services on Monday following a one-month suspension without pay. Today's action comes just hours after the Senate approved a measure...

Joe Wurzelbacher lashed out at former GOP presidential nominee John McCain Tuesday, the man who made Wurzelbacher famous as “Joe the Plumber.” Wurzelbacher told conservative radio host Glenn Beck that he felt “dirty” after “being on the campaign trail and seeing some of the things that take place.”

A story in the Dispatch this morning that should be read in full (HT Michelle Malkin) about Ms. Niekamp's testimony before the Ohio House's Government and Elections Committee reveals just how imperiled she was. While carrying out a personal order from a superior who was trying to cover his tracks, she was reminded that she was an "unclassified" employee. In plain English, she was threatened with her job if she didn't do what she was told (bolds are mine):

The state worker who unwittingly ran an improper child-support check on the man known as Joe the Plumber told lawmakers yesterday that a deputy director later "dictated" how she was supposed to cover it up. Vanessa Niekamp, an administrator for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' Office of Child Support and a 15-year state employee, said that when Deputy Director Doug Thompson came into her office, "He appeared very upset, his neck was bright red, and he was shaking. He closed my door." Thompson told her she must write an e-mail to the agency's information-security officer, and then...

State worker says she was forced to cover up 'Joe the Plumber' records check Thursday, December 4, 2008 10:24 PM By Catherine Candisky THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The state worker who unwittingly ran an improper child-support check on the man known as Joe the Plumber told lawmakers today that a deputy director later "dictated" how she was supposed to cover it up. Vanessa Niekamp, an administrator for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' Office of Child Support and a 15-year state employee, said that when Deputy Director Doug Thompson came into her office, "He appeared very upset, his neck...

Four senior Ohio Department of Job and Family Services mangers were disciplined this afternoon for their roles in improper computer checks that sought confidential information about "Joe the Plumber." Jan Allen, acting director of the the state agency, announced that deputy child-support director Doug Thompson and assistant agency director Fred Williams would be placed on unpaid leave Monday. Thompson will be suspended for four weeks and Williams for two weeks. Two others, Paul Fraunholtz, deputy director of family stability, and Judi Cicatiello, deputy director of unemployment compensation, received written reprimands for their conduct. Thompson will be suspended for four weeks...

COLUMBUS -- Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Helen Jones-Kelley improperly allowed employees to look at Joe the Plumber's confidential state records with "no legitimate agency function," a state investigation concluded. That's the bottom line from a 48-page report released by Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles today. The report calls Jones-Kelley's authorization "improper" and says that she has committed "a wrongful act" by allowing underlings to search databases for information on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, a Toledo plumber who was thrust into the spotlight of the 2008 presidential election after he asked a tax policy question of Democratic nominee...

Joe the Plumber case still dripping -- Half-dozen agencies access records of Ohio man By Dennis J. Willard, Akron Beacon Journal staff writer Published on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 The election is over, but the Joe the Plumber case is not. Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles said his office is now looking at a half-dozen agencies that accessed state records on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher. The Beacon Journal has learned that, in addition to the Department of Job and Family Services, two other state offices — the Ohio Department of Taxation and Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers — conducted database searches...