Joe the Plumber may be the first person to jump the shark within 24 hours of anybody knowing who he is, but he’s on the waterskis, Richie and Potsie are looking nervous, and… there he goes! Over the shark! Nice landing. It’s done.
Nice knowing you, Joe.
Who the hell is Joe the Plumber?
Exactly.
Joe isn’t the plumber you’re looking for.
<waves hand>
Everyone go about your business.
A tax-dodging unlicensed plumber who is afraid he’s going to have to dodge slightly higher taxes in the event that he finds himself making about five times what he currently is.
-Joe
Oh. Well then, fuck him.
Didn’t you see the debate? He was mentioned by both candidates. He’s…well, just some guy who is, you know, a plumber. But…we wants to buy the plumbing company.
(I think there was an article on him on CNN’s website earlier, but I’m too lazy to look it up. He basically talked to Obama about Obama’s plans for taxing, and somehow he got traction enough to be mentioned in the debate).
-XT
Seriously. Has anyone, in the history of taxation, ever thought to himself, “Being rich means paying a little bit more in taxes? The hell with that noise, I’m staying in the middle class!”
Actually, I think his name is Sam. He spoke of Jesus today on CNN too.
I didn’t watch much of the debate, so I just want to be clear on the memes here: we’re supposed to worried about this man’s tax bill in case this supposedly everyman plumber ends up making more than $250,000 a year? This is John McCain’s latest Hail Mary pass? “Won’t you shed a tear for people who make a quarter million a year?”
But it’s…complicated.
He hopes to some day use his 50K a year job to buy his boss’s plumbing company (consisting of him and his boss). Somehow, he thinks he’ll be making over $250k a year from this.
The fact that he’s three steps removed from Charles “wanna borrow my jet?” Keating is totally unrelated to any of this.
-Joe
Um…no. What gave you that idea? The point is skepticism that it will ONLY be those making over $250k/year that would have tax increases. Not everyone is drinking that kool-aide and just believes it uncritically. Thus Joe The Plumber ASKED if his taxes would go up…and Obama responded.
Sheesh folks, I can understand if you don’t like the guy, but let’s at least keep this real, ehe?
-XT
Do you have a cite that this was his position? Because I was under the impression that he was asking if his taxes would go up, and Obama responded that they wouldn’t. I’m unsure where this other stuff is coming from…though perhaps I didn’t see that part of the conversation. I only skimmed the CNN article this morning as it seemed amusing.
-XT
Probably not, although last year we were within $10 of being eligible for state provided medical insurance, so we’re keeping a close eye on the paystubs so as not to go over the maximum. Feels ridiculous, but if we make $10 *less *this year, we can save over $5500.00 in premiums, not to mention the $2500 deductible and 20% copays after that. Yep, we’re budgeting to be poor.
Of course, if we get a good job offer which includes insurance, that plan will change.
My co-worker today mentioned that Joe the Plumber has already done more interviews and press conferences since the debate last night than Sarah Palin has since she was announced as the VP nominee. (Sorry, no cite, I didn’t get one from him.)
There’s also the fact that he’s not able to vote (didn’t register in time) and is related to McCain’s good buddy Charles Keating.
Yeah, I’d say he jumped.
Well, xtisme, we ARE trying to keep it real, by actually READING the articles posted, not skimming them, and using the actual words spoken by “Joe”.
From that lefty-communist Fox news:
So no, xtisme, the point is NOT “skepticism that it will ONLY be those making over $250k/year that would have tax increases.”
It has nothing whatsover to do with skepticism about when tax increases will kick in. It would seem to be more to do with the fact that “Joe” and/or Fox news is so stupid, they think federal taxes are based on a companies revenue, rather than the profit.
Do you get it now? Try researching what is going on in the future before you jump in with stupid comments, mkay?
I must have missed the link…looks…oh, no, I guess I didn’t. Since no one linked to it. Perhaps before being such an asshole next time you could simply point link to the relevant parts that I fucked up on and fight my ignornace.
Or, well, you could just continue to be an asshole I guess. Thanks for playing though.
-XT
There is not enough time in the known universe to fight your ignornace (sic). I rather expect that people will actually, you know, educate themselves on the facts before chiming into a discussion with:
But if you enjoy reveling in your ignorance, don’t let me discourage you.
BTW, here is the link to the CNN article I read this morning…this is what the non-Fox article had to say:
See? A link…AND a quote. AND…I don’t see where it says anything about if he’ll be taxed more if he makes $250k/year. What he SEEMS to be asking is if his taxes will go up because he’ll own a small business…nothing about the other.
So, you know, fuck you and all that…oh, and stick the research thing firmly up your ass. This being the Pit and all I feel compelled to put in this last bit…it’s strictly pro-forma…
-XT
In other words…
“Wahhhhh, fight my ignorance for me with tidy little quotes and links. It’s all your fault that I’m ignorant!”
We seem to be hearing a lot of that lately. Apparently it’s Obama’s fault that McCain went negative too.
In conclusion, bite my goat.