Actually, "Ich bin ein 'Joe the Plumber'" translates to "I'm a plumber of Joe."
I guess that really should be "Ich bin Joe der Klempner," but you get the idea.
Howard Kurtz writes:
The Ad:
(BARACK OBAMA): I think when you spread the wealth around it's good for everybody.
(1st WOMAN): I'm Joe the plumber.
(2nd WOMAN): I'm Joe the plumber.
(3rd WOMAN): I'm Joe the plumber.
(NARRATOR): Spread the wealth?
(1st MAN): I'm supposed to work harder...
(2nd MAN): Just to pay more taxes.
(3rd MAN): Obama wants my sweat to pay for his trillion dollars in new spending?
(4th WOMAN): I'm Joe the plumber.
(NARRATOR): Barack Obama. Higher Taxes. More Spending. Not Ready.
Analysis: This John McCain ad is based on a faulty premise.
The "ordinary" folks who say in succession that they are like Joe Wurzelbacher, the Ohio plumber constantly invoked by the Republican nominee, are meant to convey that they, too, are working-class Americans. But if they are anywhere near the income status of Joe the plumber, they would receive a tax cut under Barack Obama's plan -- not, as the commercial suggests, a tax hike.
Obama would raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year, which is why the ad carefully skirts any mention of income. Wurzelbacher, who makes roughly $40,000 a year, has acknowledged that his taxes would be cut by the Obama proposal. His complaint to the Democratic nominee during a campaign stop about having to pay higher taxes was based on the hope that one day he would buy a business and earn more than six times his current pay.
The "spread the wealth" remark, captured on videotape as the senator from Illinois talked to Wurzelbacher, is fair game for political attack. The unidentified people who complain that Obama would take more of their income to pay for government spending undoubtedly reflect a widespread resentment among taxpayers. But redistributing wealth -- that is, taking a bigger slice from the affluent than from those in lower brackets -- has long been a feature of the progressive income tax. The Obama campaign disputes the trillion-dollar figure and says the candidate has made clear how he will pay for new spending -- in part through the higher levy on upper-income taxpayers.
Joe the plumber has become a potent symbol for the McCain campaign, but as this ad demonstrates, his circumstances don't fit the charge that Obama would raise taxes on plumbers, and others, in his financial situation.
First, is there a pie shortage in this country? Obama keeps talking about pieces of the pie as if there's a finite amount of pie. There isn't. We make more pie. It's the American way.
Kurtz argues, "But redistributing wealth -- that is, taking a bigger slice from the affluent than from those in lower brackets -- has long been a feature of the progressive income tax."
So what?
The progressive income tax is key to "spreading the wealth around." That's a fact. No kidding. Just because there is a progressive income tax, that doesn't make it fair or smart.
Second, something that continues to be so conveniently ignored when it's claimed that Obama's tax hikes will not touch ordinary folks is the impact that higher taxes will have on them, even if they aren't in the bracket that Obama plans to hit with higher taxes.
Whether it's a small business owner or some rich guy being taxed, when they have less money to spend and less money to invest, it will be felt by ordinary folks.
When a business has tax increases, that expense will eventually be passed on to the consumer.
When the rich guy has less to spend and buys less, that impacts the ordinary folks working as employees in restaurants and in shops and in factories.
So are you Joe the Plumber?
Yes. If you're a consumer, and you are, you are Joe the Plumber. If you're a worker, you are are Joe the Plumber.
McCain-Palin 2008 asks: Are you "Joe the Plumber?"
Who is Joe the Plumber?
His name is Joe Wurzelbacher and he is a plumber from Ohio. Last week in the Presidential Debate, Joe the Plumber became a symbol of the economic troubles crippling the United States. Joe encountered Senator Obama while he was campaigning in Toledo, Ohio last week. Joe wants to buy the company he works for, but purchasing it would make him a target of the Democrat's plan to tax the "wealthy." Joe told Senator Obama about his frustrations with Obama's plans to raise taxes on the "wealthy" and the Illinois senator replied that it was important to "spread the wealth around."
Spread the Wealth?
Yes, Senator Barack Obama said he wants to "spread the wealth around." That means that he wants to take Joe's, and countless other small business owners', hard earned money. Senator Obama wants to raise their taxes so he can pay for his government mandated healthcare system and other big government programs. He wants to punish small business owners who are successful and about to climb the next step on the economic ladder by spreading their "wealth."
It's No Surprise that Obama Wants to "Spread the Wealth Around"
It's no surprise that Senator Obama wants to spread Joe the Plumbers "wealth." He voted for higher taxes 94 times in four years in the United States Senate. And, he requested nearly $1 billion dollars of your money for wasteful pork barrel spending. Imagine what he will do as the most powerful man in the United States. Obama's rhetoric sounds nice now, but it will feel like a painful sucker punch if he is elected and his plans to raise taxes are implemented.
Senator McCain will Fight for Every Joe the Plumber
John McCain consistently voted against tax increases and never once took a wasteful pork barrel project. As a result he was given an "A" rating by the National Taxpayers Union and has received awards from the Citizens Against Government Waste for being a good steward of taxpayer money. John McCain wants to lower your taxes and reduce government spending and has the record to back up his rhetoric.
You ARE Joe the Plumber.
2 comments:
The funny thing is that everyone making less than $112,000 (including Joe the plumber) will receive a bigger tax break under Obama's plan than under McCain's. Under Obama's plan, people making between $250,000 and $600,000 will pay roughly $10.00 per month more in taxes. That is hardly anything to write home about.
But what about the 0.1% of people in the U.S. who make more than $2.9 Million? Yes, they will see their taxes go up significantly. It is lovely that all the republicans (95% of whom probably make less than $600,000) are so very concerned that those very few people pulling in $250,000 per MONTH shouldn't have to pay more taxes. They are so concerned in fact, that they are apparently willing to subsidize McCain's tax cuts for the extremely wealty, because under McCain's plan, the bottom 20% of earners will see a meager 0.6% increase in after tax income (a whopping $120 if you make $20,000)!
Another very telling way of looking at the candidates' tax policies is to consider how it will affect them personally. Obama will pay more taxes under his own plan. Interestingly, McCain and his wife will save somewhere in the region of $290,000 per year in taxes under his plan. Who has whose interests at heart? Seems to me that Obama is looking out for the majority of Americans, while McCain is looking out for himself.
Well said "August 26". Those are the simple facts. And I like the way you pointed out that under his plan, Obama will pay more taxes whereas McCain will pay much less under his own plan.
Mary, I'm NOT Joe the plumber. Our family makes more money than Joe does for starters. But you know what? We're happy paying a bit more under Obama's plan. And we are happy that the vast majority of taxpayers will pay less. We like the idea of spreading the wealth a bit. That's what a good society does. It has just been reported that the US ranks in the top 3 nations with the highest disparity between rich and poor. We have people like the McCains and we have people who can't afford to get essential medical care. Lots of them. It's an embarrassment.
And I'm alos not a plumber. Oh wait.... it turns out Joe isn't actually one either. Oh snap!
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