Before the McCain campaign and the clueless media begin to spin Joe the Plumber as some sort of American everyman, let's pause.....
Joe the Plumber is not Joe Sixpack, Joe Blow, or your Average Joe. The question put to Obama was essentially: If Joe the Plumber buys the business he now works for and that results in him netting $250,000 income, are his taxes going to go up? The answer is yes.
But let's put this in perspective.
First, Joe's got enough money saved up to buy a business that nets the owner $250,000. Right there he is in a wealth position far better than the 95% of Americans Obama is trying to help.
Second, an owner's net income of $250,000 is a lot of money. The fact that Joe would have to work hard for it is immaterial. I work hard too, but I don't net that kind of money.
So let's put that into perspective.
My wife and I earn together about $170,000 gross. We have employer co-paid health, dental and vision. We live in an upscale neighborhood in Los Angeles, one of the most expensive cities in the world, especially for housing. We commute long distances and pay a lot for fuel. We've put one child through college with another now enrolled. We've got three cars. We eat out a lot. We buy a lot of clothes. We take vacations, albeit non-luxury ones. We're doing great, though we don't save much each month. I'm tickled that we're going to get a tax break, because I consider myself a rich man.
But if you told me that my taxes would go up if I made $80,000 more, you know what I'd say? It's a deal.
Joe The Plumber has nothing to complain about, especially if he's going to be making $250,000 in Ohio. He's going to be a very rich man. A very very rich man.
This is how out of touch McCain and the entire Republican Party is. It is the quintessential irony of the Reagan revolution--they've used smoke and mirrors to convince the little guy that the Republican Party works for the little guy. Joe The Plumber is not the little guy. He's going to be the rich owner of a plumbing company and that's the Republican mantra, more money for the rich.
I'm reminded of a cartoon in the New Yorker in the 1970's when the Windfall Profit Tax was being levied against the oil companies. Two fat-cat businessmen are puffing on big stogies and sitting in their leather club chairs, and one says to the other, "I say, give me a windfall, and I'll pay the tax."
So quit your bitching and complaining, Joe The Plumber. Buy the business and pay the damn tax so that others behind you might have the chance to be in your shoes someday.