Oops, Joe the Plumber has some Issues

Noticed this comment to an article about poor Joe the Plumber over at OpEd News this morning:

The crap is about to hit the fan…

from a post:

“John McCain did great tonight in the debate. But every time John mentioned “Joe the Plumber,” some of us in the campaign banged our heads against the wall. If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John’s debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). “You idiots – he’s related to Charles Keating… of the Keating Five scandal!” They thought they had a real live Joe Six-Pack who’s spurned Barack Obama’s tax plan. But what they forgot to do was check on Joe Wurzelbacher’s background.
Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who’s Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating’s son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.
Does any of this make Joe the Plumber a bad guy? Of course not. In fact, after that ill-fated night at the Watergate, he may finally be giving plumbers a good name. But at a debate where John goes full bore on Obama for guilt-by-association with William Ayers (and dodges a bullet by Obama not mentioning Keating Five), the press is going to bring it back front and center by midday tomorrow once they delve deeper into the most popular plumber in America.“
And then there are some other questions.
Is Joe the Plumber’s real name Joseph Wurzelbacher or Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher?
According to some sources, including the Politicoblog, which claim to have already checked voting records, Joe the Plumber is NOT registered to vote in Ohio.
Joe the Plumber appears to have multiple addresses, including the one at which he gave the media a short interview this morning.  He is not registered to vote from that particular address.  It is not clear if he is the owner of that address (curious given his claim to an income of over $250,000).  Of the other given addresses for Joe the Plumber, his parents are registered to vote on one, but none are listed for him.  Which means he is either more than just an undecided voter.  Or less, since non-registration means he’s not eligible to vote!
He has an open unpaid income tax tax lien case against him in Lucas County, Ohio.
Twice married, with the public records of those cases available at:
http://apps.co.lucas.oh.us/onlinedockets/Default.aspx
Just type his name into the search box to bring up both divorce cases.
There are some suggestions that he does not own his own business but may be related to another Joseph Wurzelbacher who does run a septic tank company.  Ironic that Joe the Plumber may be full of “crap”, eh?
Considering Joe the Plumber’s sudden rise to fame and notoriety, I am sure more will come out about the real man behind the face.  Given McCain’s tactics, it would not at all surprise me if this character has a real shady history – one which includes more than being related to the central player in the Lincoln Savings and Loan debacle from 20 years ago.  Might be this is something out of the playbook of G. Gordon Liddy, an ex-con with whom McCain is known to “pall around with”!!  Would also not surprise me if Joe the Plumber is not registered to vote due to an Ohio state law which prohibits those convicted of felonies from participating at the ballot box.

by Steph Fauxco (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 28 comments) on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:26:07 AM

So Joe may not be just your average, $250,000 a year potential plumbing business owner after all.

The article, Joe the Plumber — the Parisitic Leech by Rob Kall, that the above is a comment on, is also a great read.  Here are a few highlights:

Joe wants to have it easier than his father did–to pay less of the freight than his dad. Joe’s father lived during the time when Franklin Roosevelt’s taxes were in place, the same taxes that Dwight Eisenhower felt were appropriate. Back then, if a rich person earned more than a certain amount, he or she paid taxes of 90% on the amount above the limit. Now, that number might be $10 or $10 million dollars a year. So, if you earned $20 million, you’d pay the maximum now, about 35%, on the first ten million, then, on the amount over $10 million, you’d pay 90%. Poor Joe, paying all that tax on that fat paycheck. It’s what the wealthy of your father’s generation and grandfather’s generation did– you know, when the middle class was treated decently.

And this:

If Joe takes a salary out of the business of more than $250,000, then he’ll pay more. Of course, if Joe’s small business does pay him that much, he’ll be in the upper two percent of small businesses. Now, let’s say there is a higher tax and it makes Joe reconsider crossing that $250,000 threshold. What else can Joe do with the money? Invest in the business in new services? Expand marketing? Hire more employees? The other side of the decision helps the economy. Oooh, that sound so un-American, so socialist, as Joe accused.

Sorry Joe. You want to talk about socialism, point the finger at Henry Paulson’s bailout and investment at gift rates to bankers. Paulson gave them such a good deal that the Banks that cut deals with Gordon Brown and are now complaining and talking about rebelling.

Let’s get real folks or should I say “my friends”.  John McCain’s pleadings for Joe Wurzelbacher was a bunch of hooey.  If he can make more than $250,000 owning a plumbing business and a 10% income tax increase on his earnings over $250,000 stops him from owning the business or hiring more people, surely there are plenty of others who will jump at the opportunity.

What is quite evident when examining McCain’s tax and other proposals and comparing them to Obama is that McCain wants to continue the “trickle down” policies of the past that have been shown to only benefit the very wealthy.  Obama’s policies are clearly focused on helping the middle class.   McCain is trying to repeat the words “increase taxes” and “Obama” enough times in the same sentence while leaving out “only on the very rich” so that people will vote for him.  Haven’t we had enough of this Rovian bull hockey?  Oh and anyone notice McCain’s insane comment, Obama’s plan is “class warfare…spread the wealth around”.  Isn’t spreading the wealth around what you SAY you want to do for Joe the Plumber, John?  Yea, right.