Posted on 10/16/2008 5:47:29 AM PDT by Tolik
The title of this piece — “His invisible friend Joe the Plumber” — comes from a line with which MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann started his late-night post-debate broadcast on Wednesday night.
The problem with the host’s description is that Joe the Plumber is anything but invisible. To the taxman. Now, to the candidates. I don’t know if Joe the Plumber will win the election for John McCain. But he should.
Because in the end this election is all about freedom. And Senator Government is not.
Joe the Plumber, as everyone by the end of this weekend is liable to know, is one Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio plumber who wants to buy a business but knows it’s going to hurt him, tax-wise, if Barack Obama becomes president.
To his concerns, Obama told Joe: “It’s not that I want to punish your success, I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance at success, too. I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.”
What does that sound like to you. Could it be . . . Marx? Could it be . . . socialism?
In an Internet interview this week, after his now-infamous run-in with Barack Obama, Plumber Joe worried about just that: “You start giving people stuff, and then they start expecting it — and that scares me. A lot of people expect it now. They get upset when their check’s late, they get upset when they don’t get as many benefits as they used to, or when different government agencies are cut or spending is cut here and there for whatever reason — people get upset at that. And that’s because they’re used to getting it and they want more. I mean, everyone’s always gonna want more. People work the system left and right to get more out of welfare, to get more out of state assistance, federal assistance. And if government’s there for them, they’re gonna keep on trying to manipulate it to get more out of it. You got people that come along and say, “Hey, I wanna help you people,” I mean, they’re all ears! They’re like, ‘Hey, you can help me more, I don’t have to work as hard, I don’t have to do as much, and you’re gonna give me this? Man, that’s great, you’re a good guy.’”
He continued, “So yeah, it goes down the socialist — His health-care plan scares me. You know, I don’t like people going without health care, but it’s not my job to pay for everyone else’s health care. It’s hard enough paying for my own. I like the idea of deregulation as far as — nationally, you know, you only get insurance companies that can work in this state — if you deregulate that then you have more people competing and then the prices would go lower. It seems pretty simple to me. It probably isn’t that simple — but you flood the market with more products, usually they go down cheaper.”
Whereas John McCain talked Wednesday night about things like choice — and not the murdering type Obama did — Barack Obama rightly worries Americans like Plumber Joe.
In this election, the burdens of our taxpayers have been an afterthought in the face of an unprecedented government takeover of the mortgage industry. But excessive government comes at an excessive cost — not just in economic theory, but to very real people. (That’s “real” in the sense of “non-imaginary,” Keith.) I don’t know how the Joe the Plumber strategy polls, but, for the sake of all the Joes out there, let’s listen to the Plumber’s concerns about what a President Obama would mean to all of our pocketbooks.
— Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of National Review Online.
I started a very small business 47 years ago and grew it and for the last 15 years my son and daughter have turned it into a thriving enterprise with as many as 16 additional employees.
No one ever talks about the additional “Tax” costs to small business in the form of accountants to reduce the burden of the socialists picking our pockets. The reason there are not more entrepreneurs reporting taxable incomes above $250,000 is the practice of tax reduction via several legal “loop holes” to minimize those year end taxes. ...
Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher lives in Ohio, a contested state.
Why hasn’t he been invited out for lunch with either McCain or - better yet - with Sarah and Todd Palin?
Gee, maybe they could ask him to do a campaign appearance or two with them....
- John
I don’t recall hearing very many elected Republicans beside Reagan calling socialism what it is. When people hear ‘socialist income redistribution’, their eyes don’t glaze over. Their eyes open.
Exactly!
My ex boss is an atheist, and a liberal on social issues, but she is a small business owner and always votes Republican.
Well, it should be anyway.
I wish, last night when they were talking about abortion and Obama start talking about a right to privacy being in the Consitution and including it with the the supposed right to freedom of speech, that McCain would have asked whether we also had a right to the fruits of our labor.
ML/NJ
mark
Darn straight! Nailed it!
“You start giving people stuff, and then they start expecting it — and that scares me. A lot of people expect it now.”
Plain, hard truth like a nail in wood.
Exactly. I predicted this two days ago if he became an issue.
And last night’s debate guarantees it.
Already Politico is reporting Joe’s an “unregistered.”
Next will be his taxes, his business dealings, criminal background check, etc.
Hey Bambi!!! Gimme YOUR money!!!
"It's good for everybody"!!!!
Thank you for your input.
Joe for President. We need more people like this guy running for President. I’m sick of the “choices” we’ve had over the past 15 years.
Just sent this to Rush, thought I’d share it here too:
Rush,
Just had to share. While watching the debate last night on Fox, I became excited when Senator McCain brought up Joe the plumber’s exchange with Sen. Obama from the other day. My 14 year old daughter asked me what it was all about. After explaining what the deal was, here was the analogy she came up with. ‘That would be like if I studied really hard for an exam for 5 weeks and the person next to me copied off of me and the teacher said because she couldn’t tell who copied, I would get a lower grade!!!’ I told her that although she had the general idea, it was even worse. A proper analogy would be that she worked her tail off studying for said exam for 5 weeks, but because the person next to her didn’t, the teacher was taking her 100% grade and knocking off 25% and giving it to the slacker who’s original 50% grade wasn’t “fair” and now you both get 75%. Needless to say, she was speechless!
“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” I Corinthians 1:26-29
I saw Cavuto’s interview with Joe, who is very articulate and media savvy. Obama’s really stepped in it. And if the media goes in trying to portray him as a hayseed, they’re going to get their butts kicked.
“McCain is a big boy and he needs to step up to the plate.
Let Joe take care of his family”.
...does “Country First” ring a bell? If requested, he should go. It’s possible he wouldn’t have a business or family to take care of if “the one” wins.
I loved the way Joe’s facial expression never changed and his body language was never receptive. Barack knew he wasn’t getting through and so kept on talking and talking. Joe was NOT IMPRESSED, and I think that’s a powerful, non-verbal element to this video.
I loved the way Joe’s facial expression never changed and his body language was never receptive. Barack knew he wasn’t getting through and so kept on talking and talking. Joe was NOT IMPRESSED, and I think that’s a powerful, non-verbal element to this video.
Bump
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