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.
So much for all the Dem crocodile-tears about Privacy rights....
There are some like your Dad and unfortunately they are the exception rather than the rule. I retired from the Fed and experienced the effect the flotsam has on the operation of our government.
Within the V.A. system the rule was “F-— up and move up”. I saw it far too frequently. Someone who desperately needed to be fired got transferred, sometimes with a promotion, to another facility. Shootings, rape, employees having sex in closets, nursing home staff charging patients for sexual favors; man, you only have to name it.
I’m glad your Dad is hanging in there to pass on his knowledge. A friend at Redstone said the Fed is on the verge of losing a massive amount of brain power through looming retirements.
...we can always hope that it's a 'rust-belt' thang!
And liberals are afraid of the Patriot Act, because they're afraid of their own. Most understand that Protection Rackets, Mafia, et al are their Dem friends during the daylight hours.
FrogDad is my hubby of 47+ years.
I, too, have seen the promote-them-to-get-them-the-hell-out-of-here mentality.
I also believe it’s true that 20% of the people do 80% of the work in government agencies.
Let’s give credit to the 20%. Not ALL civil servants are leeches.
You mean she's done things WORSE than spying on a fellow citizen???
Wait till Ubama takes office. You ain't seen nuthin' yet.
bttt
Imagine if Janet Reno had his address.... Snipers would be in font of his house..... “to protect his children”.
Imagine if Wesley Clark was still in charge...the tanks modified to inject CS gas into Joe’s house would already be rolling.
Just My guess... The Gov found she has been spying on every republican in the state, and Joe is the tip of the iceberg.
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Oops, sorry about that FrogMom!
And, you better believe those 20% deserve all the support and gratitude we can give them. I’ve seen the in action and they carry the load. Without them absolutely nothing would ever get accomplished.
Incredible what public officials will do ,, under the guise of ‘it’s part of my job’ to snoop and check out someone who gets caught in up a media blitz thru no fault of their own, save having opened their mouth and exercised a God-given right to make some noise now and then..
hmmmm.. Yup, Incredible.
Here’s to Joe the Everyman in the 112th Congre$$ !!
I was so glad to hear that the ACLU finally stepped up to back Joe and investigate this sobering Political retribution done by the Democrats....
” In America, they came first for those that spoke out against Obama, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a vocal critic; And then they came for the Conservatives that spoke out against Obama’s radical policies, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Conservative.
And then they came for the Republicans that tried to stop foolish legislation authored by Obama, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Republican;
And then they came for the Gun owners, calling them bitter clingers, And I didn’t speak up because I didn’t own a gun; and then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”
Wide spread Democrat party corruption and abuse of power...no surprises here.
Not a bad idea.
Looking at that picture once again, I laugh as I try to envision Obama’s bony metrosexual fingers and hands tighten around a wrench to try to loosen or tighten anything. Except the noose around our necks, I mean.
Please try to follow up on that CIA radio ad: it doesn’t quite make sense that the President Elect and his bunch could or would actually advertise publicly for something so nakedly BigBrother-ish.....even before they’ve taken office. I believe the CIA was advertising for this kind of thing in the wake of 9-11, but not much was made of it because it was clear what it was targeted at then: NOW, it could be re-targeted at the same thing, or, hate to say, expand its orbit a bit to include infidel ideologues (decidedly NON-Islamic) who disagree with the Messiah in the White House.
"...and leak the information to the press, if the citizen is a Republican or if he has confronted a Democrat with the truth."
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