I’m sure everyone by now has heard about “Joe The Plumber” from Holland, Ohio. And sadly to say, the discussion hasn’t been focused on the point that Joe was trying to make– that the tax policies proposed by presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama will punish those who work long and hard hours for the purpose of improving their family’s position in life.
In the interviews that Joe has assented to since his memorable chat with Sen. Obama, very few actually focused on the question that Joe was asking– why should people who are putting in an extraordinary effort in moving up the economic scale be penalized by having a disproportionate amount of the money they earn being taken from them and provided to people who don’t pay any taxes at all? In other words, Joe was asking if he bought the business he works for (it’s a two man operation), if he filed taxes under his personal income, which most unincorporated small businesses do, would he be taxed more (his gross income would then be greater than $250,000)? Obama unabashedly said yes. A resounding YES. Obama insisted that his administration should be legally permitted to dig into Joe’s bank account (and those like him) and provide his hard earned wealth to those who did not get their hands and clothes dirty from grime and sweat. They should be forced to “spread the wealth” as Obama put it. This money would go to that large percentage of the United States population that actually pay zero taxes, and didn’t contribute to Joe’s success. Joe should subsidize those that have not actually arisen to the challenge– to those that have not tried to ’seize the day’ like Joe is striving to do.
Well, that isn’t an enviable position for any presidential candidate to be in– to take from the pockets of a hardworking plumber, and spread his wealth to those who haven’t earned it in the form of a check which Obama refers to as a “tax cut”. (As an aside, I’m not real sure this can legitimately be considered accurate, since you have to actually pay taxes to be provided a tax cut– buy hey, I didn’t go to Harvard. I guess Harvard lawyers are allowed to equivocate the common sense meanings of words and not be questioned by the news media). Obviously, either Obama wasn’t listening to Joe’s question, or he is deliberately distorting the facts and the question. So what did Senators Obama and Biden do? Did they clarify their tax plan to explain it wouldn’t be penalizing people’s success? No, they couldn’t do that, because it wouldn’t be accurate. What the Democrat presidential ticket did is go on the offensive– not in criticizing the policies of John McCain, but in attacking Joe the Plumber. Joe Everyman. They began questioning as if he was making $250,000 dollars and belittled his hard-working effort by asking “How many plumbers do you know making a quarter million dollars a year?” Ridiculing and dismissing him. Investigating him by saying he’s not a plumber because he doesn’t have a union license. Huh? And then you have the media reporting everything from Joe’s lack of union license, mis-stating his income (deliberately), and reporting he owes back-taxes. What does Joe’s background have to do with his tax plan?
So what do I take away from this interchange? Two things. The first is that dissent is not permitted in the Democrat party. Questioning the policies and discrediting them is not to be tolerated. If you do point out that the king has no clothes, then you’ll be dutifully pummeled by the willing accomplices in the lunatic left (Hi MoveOn.org!) and the uncritical ‘main-stream news media’. Not only pummeled, but investigated, and dinegrated. All your dirty laundry to be aired in a not-so-vieled threat to others that they should not question the rightness of Obama and Co. The second? I’ll be voting for McCain-Palin.
