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Joe the Plumber case still dripping -- Half-dozen agencies access records of Ohio man
Ohio.com ^ | 11-14-08 | By Dennis J. Willard - Akron Beacon Journal Staff Writer

Posted on 11/15/2008 6:02:03 AM PST by GOP_Lady

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 of Joe the Plumber.

Wurzelbacher became an instant celebrity after he asked Barack Obama a series of questions in his Toledo driveway about the Democrat's tax policies.

In the third debate between Obama and Republican John McCain on Oct. 15, the candidates referred to Joe the Plumber more than 20 times.

The next day, the taxation department conducted two separate searches of a database of liens for unpaid taxes that were certified to the Ohio Attorney General's Office for collection.

John Kohlstrand, a taxation department spokesman, said he is prohibited from talking about individual taxpayers, but he confirmed that the databases were checked.

The searches were done to determine whether a lien placed against the individual was appropriate and whether it remained unpaid or not, Kohlstrand said.

The department's first search of the day was unsuccessful because of incorrect information about the individual, Kohlstrand said. Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers' office then contacted taxation because it was having difficulty accessing the database, Kohlstrand said. After the two agencies talked, taxation completed a successful search.

Kohlstrand said that the AG's office wanted access to the records so they could turn over to the national media lien information that was a public record in Lucas County. He said the national media did not have reporters in Toledo, so the attorney general's office was helping them out with public records.

On the day following the two searches, the taxation department conducted a search of another in-house database that tracks cases and correspondence between taxpayers and the department before the liens being certified and turned over to the attorney general for collection.

Rick Anthony, deputy tax commissioner, said there are times when a payment can be in the pipeline so a lien appears unpaid when in fact the taxpayer or business has repaid the state.

Anthony said the database searches on both days were conducted to ensure that the information in Lucas County was being properly reported by the media.

''Wouldn't that have been a disaster if the lien had been paid,'' Kohlstrand said. ''The responsible thing for us to do would be to take prompt steps to make it right.''

''We are not aware of any inappropriate browsing of information by anyone in our department pertaining to Mr. Wurzelbacher,'' Kohlstrand said.

Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for Attorney General Rogers, said he could not comment on individual records because of privacy issues. He said he would not confirm or deny that the AG's office went to taxation or whether his office had been queried by the inspector general.

The day after the debate, media outlets began reporting that Joe the Plumber's real name was Samuel, he was not a licensed plumber and he owed close to $1,200 in back taxes and additional money to a hospital.

His home was besieged by media outlets, including television crews that camped on his lawn.

Wurzelbacher had questioned Obama's plan to raise taxes for anyone with an income exceeding $250,000 because he planned to purchase his own plumbing business.

His current income made him eligible for a tax break under Obama's plan.

Wurzelbacher later endorsed McCain at a campaign stop in Ohio and hired the Pathfinder Management group in Nashville to manage his career.

Kohlstrand would not comment on an investigation by the inspector general, but Charles confirmed Thursday that he is looking into the taxation department to determine whether their searches were appropriate.

Charles said he does not know at this point if anyone in any of the agencies did anything wrong.

The inspector general began investigating after news reports surfaced that Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, ordered her agency to conduct background checks on Joe the Plumber.

Jones-Kelley maintains that her agency routinely checks on people who are thrust into the spotlight to determine whether they have unpaid child support bills, are receiving public support from her department or owe unemployment taxes.

After the election, Gov. Ted Strickland placed Jones-Kelley on paid leave. The governor said the suspension was for a matter unrelated to the background checks on Joe the Plumber.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: brownshirtleft; brownshirts; joetheplumber; joneskelley; ohio; waronjoe; wurzelbacher
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To: GOP_Lady

The media told me more about Joe the Plumber’s past in 24 hours than they told me about Senator Obama’s past in 21 months.


21 posted on 11/15/2008 6:42:44 AM PST by library user
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To: HoosierHawk

This applies only if one wins the lottery, commits a crime, etc., etc.


22 posted on 11/15/2008 6:44:26 AM PST by GOP_Lady
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

This is the essence of the problem. thank you for pointing it out. I read about it in my poli sci books 30 years ago and it’s only gotten more dire. It’s nice that we can elect people every odd year but the fact is they only go as far as the permanently placed bureaucrats allow them. Reagan preached this because he knew it stopped him from doing the real work that needed to be done, the dismantling of about 3 cabinet level departments. Bureaucrats are the real power.


23 posted on 11/15/2008 6:44:47 AM PST by kinghorse (Spread manure for 4 years? Why not. The stench will keep me from noticing things that stink.)
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To: library user

LOL. You’ve got that right.


24 posted on 11/15/2008 6:46:27 AM PST by GOP_Lady
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To: HoosierHawk

Who’d thought? Big Brother turned out to be Big Sister. This whole episode is disgraceful and if the voters of Ohio have any sense at all, they will remove every person whose dirty fingers touched this matter from office and demand the firing of those who don’t hold an elected office. Remember Ohio citizens this could well be you should you be so unfortunate as to be “trust into the spotlight”. And by the way someone should demand the governments peons cite the law that gives them the right to determine what constitutes “thrust into the spotlight” and the right to take search actions based on such a determination.


25 posted on 11/15/2008 6:50:28 AM PST by pepperdog (The world has gone crazy.)
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To: HoosierHawk

It means that as soon as things settel down they are going to trump up a cgarge or charges on Joe and put his butt in prison.

They are also going after President Bush.

It may be a month. It may be a year.

The charges may be true,but, they probably will be false. This does not matter. Power does as it pleases.


26 posted on 11/15/2008 6:51:49 AM PST by sport
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To: HoosierHawk

“What’s that all about?”

Supposedly, as the story goes, the agency has the right at any time to determine if a citizen is behind in child support or owes the state money. Since it was announced that Joe was a single parent with a son, they did a ‘routine’ check on him.

That is their excuse; we’ll see if it flies.


27 posted on 11/15/2008 6:52:49 AM PST by JavaJumpy
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To: GOP_Lady
Ohio officials are conducting themselves like the Former East German secret police, the Stasi, who keep voluminous records on everyday citizens who they thought might have questionable loyalty to the Communist regime. Welcome to the world of Obamanism
28 posted on 11/15/2008 6:53:05 AM PST by The Great RJ ("Mir we bleiwen wat mir sin" or "We want to remain what we are." ..Luxembourg motto)
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To: GOP_Lady

“Jones-Kelley maintains that her agency routinely checks on people who are thrust into the spotlight to determine whether they have unpaid child support bills, are receiving public support from her department or owe unemployment taxes.”

Another little gem that exposes the arrogance of the fascistii. To think that people like this are given such unaccountable power to ruin families.


29 posted on 11/15/2008 6:57:09 AM PST by Seruzawa
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To: mewzilla

Does Joe have a lawyer? When does the “show-trial” begin?


30 posted on 11/15/2008 6:59:13 AM PST by pointsal
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To: sport

” The charges may be true,but, they probably will be false. “

Given the incredible volume and complexity of laws (Federal, State, County, and Municipal) that we’ve saddled ourselves with (the road to totalitarianism is paved with good intentions), there is virtually no one in this nation who is ‘without sin’....

They can come for any of us, at any time, while piously proclaiming adherence to “Rule of Law”....

Dissent is about to become a dangerous avocation.....


31 posted on 11/15/2008 6:59:58 AM PST by Uncle Ike (Sometimes I sets and thinks, and sometimes I jus' sets.........)
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To: GOP_Lady
The Demercrats are a bunch of crooked scoundrels and they most probably stole this election and are now intimidating people so they can gain full control. I know some think I may be crazy but we had better arm ourselves well because the perverts and the Demercrats are overthrowing our Constitution and going to install their own dictator. I may well be dead and gone and I have seen some Union strong arm tactics but nothing to never compare with what is happening today in America.The Gay & Lesbian group are running all over our people and subverting the will of the people and brow beating them into submission and you do not see any police protection for them. Obama and the Demercrats are stealing the Senate seats in Minnesota and Georgia and you hear nothing about oversight from the goverment. Folks we are doomed unless we take a stand. I saw election fraud up close and in person and even testified and they cover it up. The only way to fight this fire is to set fire to it.
32 posted on 11/15/2008 7:05:07 AM PST by gunnedah
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To: Uncle Ike

Amen to that!

By this time next year, the jeers will be turned to tears on the faces of a lot of the sobs that voted for Obama.


33 posted on 11/15/2008 7:05:20 AM PST by sport
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To: pointsal

The last thing I heard in the new is that Joe does have lawyers and he is deciding on whether to use their services.


34 posted on 11/15/2008 7:05:24 AM PST by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady
WOW amazing what state workers can accomplish.... and nary a state worker dug up and outed Bama’s hidden birth certificate!!!!!
35 posted on 11/15/2008 7:06:35 AM PST by Just mythoughts (Isa.3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.)
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To: Uncle Ike
"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one "makes" them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted -- and you create a nation of law-breakers-and then you cash in on the guilt. That's the system Mr. Reardon. Once you understand it you'll be much easier to deal with." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.

L

36 posted on 11/15/2008 7:15:40 AM PST by Lurker ("America is at that awkward stage. " Claire Wolfe, call your office.)
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To: sport

” the jeers will be turned to tears on the faces of a lot of the sobs that voted for Obama. “

Many, if not most, of the Obama voters in my acqaintance would gladly join in the denouncing of their neighbors to the ‘authorities’, should it become fashionable to do so....


37 posted on 11/15/2008 7:15:57 AM PST by Uncle Ike (Sometimes I sets and thinks, and sometimes I jus' sets.........)
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To: bamahead

Freedom from abuse, PING! :-)


38 posted on 11/15/2008 7:16:07 AM PST by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady
Joe needs to sue baby sue. Surely there is a really good pro-bono lawyer that would like to take this on.

This isn't just about Joe the Plumber. We are all Joe the Plumber....maybe a good defense fund is in order.

39 posted on 11/15/2008 7:16:35 AM PST by BlessingsofLiberty
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To: GOP_Lady; Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; akatel; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; ...
... 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 of Joe the Plumber...



Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
40 posted on 11/15/2008 7:25:47 AM PST by bamahead (Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master. -- Sallust)
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