Posted on 10/18/2008 7:07:16 AM PDT by Kaslin
This Election Day could usher in a crushing blow to the American dream.
Within hours of meeting Joe the Plumber, Americans from all over the country flooded my inbox with their stories.
Joe the Plumber, as so many who watched the final presidential debate of the 2008 election know, is Joe Wurzelbacher, from Holland, Ohio, who wants to buy a small business but knows it's going to hurt under an Obama administration's tax plan.
Jarringly, when Joe told Obama of his worry during a campaign stop, the Illinois senator said, "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."
(Yes, it turns out that Samuel Joseph "Joe" Wurzelbacher doesn't have a plumbing license. But Obama didn't know that when he responded. And the presidential candidate's response wasn't geared toward just one working-class guy from Ohio.)
The meeting created an opportunity for John McCain during that last debate, at Hofstra University in New York. By the next day, McCain was declaring Joe the victor. McCain said, during a rally in Downingtown, Penn.: "We had a good debate last night. I thought I did pretty well, but...the real winner last night was Joe the Plumber."
McCain continued, "Small businesses provide 16 million jobs in America, and Americans know that raising taxes on small businesses will kill those jobs at a time when we need to be creating more jobs." He moved to a rousing conclusion that clearly resonated with the crowd: "America didn't become the greatest nation on earth by spreading the wealth; we became the greatest nation by creating new wealth."
Meanwhile, another Joe, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Biden, said on "Today" that, "I don't have any Joe the Plumbers in my neighborhood that make $250,000 a year," referring to Obama's much-vaunted plan to increase taxes only for people making more than that amount. Following in the footsteps of MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, who, the night of the debate, declared that Joe the Plumber is McCain's "invisible friend," Biden implied that the concerned Buckeye water jockey didn't exist. A McCain spokesman shot back: "It is astounding that Joe Biden, the self-adulated 'everyman,' can't believe that an American making less than $250,000 a year might still be opposed to socialism."
The Obama-Biden campaign not only wants to make it harder for the Joes of the nation to be small-business owners, but Barack & Co. want to denigrate them for even aiming in that direction. There's something about that line -- along with that downright Marxist "spread the wealth" talk -- that would, on Election Day, deliver a decisive slap to this country's founding ideals.
Bobbi, wife of "Mark the Trucker," e-mailed me the morning after the debate. Her husband owns a small transportation business that he founded with one truck in 1978. She said that small businesses cannot usually deduct as a business expense money that is taxed as personal income. That puts most small business in a higher tax bracket than the one they would qualify for if only their real earnings were taxed. This higher tax bracket, indicating a wealth that exists on paper alone, has prevented their children from getting financial aid for college.
She continued: "Engines blow up, accidents happen, and the price of replacing an 18-wheel tractor or a specialty trailer is very expensive. My husband is taxed a higher rate on income that is really not income. He puts a large percentage of it back into his business, as I know most entrepreneurs do. We live on a modest percentage of what appears as 'wealth' to Senator Obama."
And the men who work for Mark get that and respect that, she believes. "They see how we live and they respect their boss because he pays a fair wage and does provide health care and contribute to their 401(k)s," she writes.
And so Joe's words spoke to Bobbi. "Joe is like my husband and his employees. They work hard and dream bigger. There are a lot of Joes and Marks out here, and they all don't own businesses yet, but they dream. They know less government is best government. And, Kathryn, they all vote Republican."
Mark, Joe, Bobbi and many McCain supporters look at the Democratic Party's tendency toward class warfare and want to make a flight toward freedom. I don't know if the Joe the Plumbers of America are going to win the election for McCain-Palin, but they have certainly installed the pipes that are bringing a refreshing flow of honest revelation in these last weeks before E-Day.
That’s a key, key point that Bobbi makes.
The "Joe the Plumbers" of this country are vastly out numbered by the entitlement crowd. Joe is supposed to just shut up and keep giving them money.
John McCain explained clearly why he was against the President’s tax cut and it a lot different then the left’s opposition to it
Whatever, I’ve decided today I’m voting for Barr. I know where he stands, and he’s against the real socialism—the nationalization of industry.
Socialism spilled out of the snake-charmer’s mouth........
I’M WITH JOE! This theme needs to go big very fast. I’M WITH JOE!
Freepers need to spread the word in every place there is a MAC or BO raly.
Purchase plungers and make signs in this theme to take to the rallies.
We are all plumbers now that need to unclog the system from impending over-taxation (Socialism) and the legalized ‘theft’ of our hard earned income.
Call to MAC/Palin campaigns and organize people to go with you.
If you are going to bring a plunger, remember that you can’t bring the stick part into a rally. So if you are staying outside a BO rally, that’s fine. If you are headed into the rally, you need to replace the stick with rolled corrogated paper carried separately until you’re in the rally.
This theme needs to be the universal cry against Socialism and carries the implicit message of unclogging the “waste’ from the system.
A dozen guys with plungers just freeped a BO rally in VA!
Support Joe, the first average Joe to stand up to the tyranny of neo-Marxism!
Bonus: We can shout his middle name, “JOE” without the fear of taking a lead pipe to the knees! Try and escape the wrath of the Left if you are bold enough to utter.......barack HUSSEIN obama.
Let me explain it again:
You have THREE dollars and I only have ONE dollar. You should GIVE me one of your dollars, then we will each have TWO dollars and we will be EQUAL like the Constitution says and that will be FAIR.
Yep, Barr stands with that fine pro American group, the
ACLU.
Let me explain it again:
You have THREE dollars and I only have ONE dollar. You should GIVE me one of your dollars, then we will each have TWO dollars and we will be EQUAL like the Constitution says and that will be FAIR.
Libertarians are a little ‘freedom’ crazy (emphasis on crazy) so I am definitely weighing whether it’s more annoying to be on the side of the nativity scene banning, NAMBLA lovers or the nationalizers of corporations. They both stink, they both chip away at our great nation—but I think tossing capitalism is a bigger worry at this point.
Another vote for Obama...
Did no one see Lucy and the football in the Charlie Brown comics? How many times can we be tricked? Any one who believes Obama’s promises, ask yourself, “Where will the money come from?” He will depress job creation and increase jobless levels at the same time equaling less government revenue.
Freezing government expenditures and extending tax cuts is the only sensible solution.
McCain wanted specific matching spending cuts.
the LOL is to indicate the jokey nature of my post :-) LOL!
The last conservative I voted for was Ronald Reagan.
Since then, I have voted for the Republican candidate because they were the “closest” to what I believe.
I would ask you to reconsider your vote.
Because the R’s OR D’s are going to win. It’s a matter of choosing one of them.
And I’m sorry. Whoever you are for, isn’t even in the equation.
They may be on the ballot, but they have lost already.
We are voting for America...not dim or repub right now.
Please rethink. You don’t have to tell anyone. Just remember how important this vote is.
I ask you to reconsider. Your vote counts.
God bless America!!!
McCain/Palin 2008
That is Marxism!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
