# Joe the Plumber Jumps Shark **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 16, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271 "2008-10-16T21:18:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/21 "2008-10-16T22:50:55Z")
[QUOTE=Euphonious Polemic] In other words… [/QUOTE] Um…sure. You really got me there. (I know…it’s cool. I think everyone realizes you were too stupid to actually read the article. No worries man…your secret is safe here on the SDMB) > [@](#): > > In conclusion, bite my goat. Why would I do that? The goat is probably quite a bit more intelligent than you are. Maybe you could get it to read the article for you. I hear Bush likes goats in any case…why don’t you see if he is in a biting mood? -XT ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/22 "2008-10-16T22:55:58Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > 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. I’m not so convinced of the Keating connection yet. Maybe my cite-fu is weak, but the best I’ve been able to find says that [Joe is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher, Keating’s son-in-law](http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/2008/10/15/joe-the-plumber-wurzelbacher-related-to-charles-keating-oops/). But “close relative” is undefined and the claim is unsubstantiated. Would love to have my ignorance fought if possible. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/23 "2008-10-16T22:59:45Z")
From the CNN page: > [@](#): > > In his exchange with Obama, Wurzelbacher asked if the presidential candidate believed in the American Dream Is this the new “why do you hate America?” question for the Real Americans™? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/24 "2008-10-16T23:04:13Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > 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. That’s the impression that the Republican reaction to Obama’s tax plan is giving: Taxes will go up for people making over $250,000, and _also_ small businesses. Joe apparently got this impression. > [@xtisme](#): > > 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. But his taxes probably _won’t_ go up, and that’s the important point that’s getting overlooked. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/25 "2008-10-16T23:10:42Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Is this the new “why do you hate America?” question for the Real Americans™? Yes, but everyone seems to have forgotten what the American dream _is_. Snorting cocaine off a hooker’s ass while you negotiate your book deal, of course. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/26 "2008-10-16T23:12:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yes, but everyone seems to have forgotten what the American dream _is_. > > Snorting cocaine off a hooker’s ass while you negotiate your book deal, of course. You know, if I ever achieve that dream I doubt I’ll worry too much about my taxes going up. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/27 "2008-10-16T23:13:21Z")
> [@Lord\_Ashtar](#): > > Oh. Well then, fuck him. One last time: fucking is GOOD. If you dislike the fellow, wish something bad on him, like liver-eating vultures. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/28 "2008-10-16T23:14:06Z")
> [@E.Thorp](#): > > You know, if I ever achieve that dream I doubt I’ll worry too much about my taxes going up. And that’s why Larry Flynt is a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/29 "2008-10-16T23:16:44Z")
In todays speech, McCain opened with Joe the Plumber. I sense a short career coming for the plumber. Wonder if he can sing and dance. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/30 "2008-10-16T23:16:54Z")
There’s a joke in [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLywD77KBT0)\* somewhere, but I’m too Robitussin-addled to suss it out. A little help here? \*Link goes directly to video with sound. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/31 "2008-10-16T23:18:43Z")
I thought that the American Dream was owning your own home, not owning your own business. They just keep moving the goalposts, I guess. Net thing I know, they’ll tell me that the Great American Novel needs to be a boxed trilogy… ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/32 "2008-10-16T23:18:45Z")
> [@E.Thorp](#): > > I’m not so convinced of the Keating connection yet. Maybe my cite-fu is weak, but the best I’ve been able to find says that [Joe is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher, Keating’s son-in-law](http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/2008/10/15/joe-the-plumber-wurzelbacher-related-to-charles-keating-oops/). But “close relative” is undefined and the claim is unsubstantiated. Would love to have my ignorance fought if possible. The only cite I can find is [This blog](http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/2008/10/15/joe-the-plumber-wurzelbacher-related-to-charles-keating-oops/) I’m providing the link because you asked so nicely. No goat for you. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/33 "2008-10-16T23:28:11Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The only cite I can find is [This blog](http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/2008/10/15/joe-the-plumber-wurzelbacher-related-to-charles-keating-oops/) > > I’m providing the link because you asked so nicely. No goat for you. Hmmmm same cite as yours. Goat for me. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/34 "2008-10-16T23:36:51Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > 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!” Why not? I can easily imagine how someone would say, “Well, when you factor in the additional taxeds, my effective pay increase won’t be all that high. It just wouldn’t be worth the headaches.” Besides, that’s not the only issue at hand. The other issue is whether this additional tax burden would ultimately help or hurt the economy. Conservatives argue that these additional taxes would reduce the ability of companies to hire additional employees, and would therefore be detrimental to the nation. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/35 "2008-10-16T23:40:54Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > BTW, here is the link to the [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/16/joe.plumber/index.html) 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 That paraphrasing isn’t very accurate. I’ve seen the video like a bazillion times and “Joe the plumber” (who it turns out is named Sam and is not a licensed plumber) basically says he’s going to buy the company he works for, that he thinks his revenues would be $250-280K a year, and says, “I would pay more taxes under your plan, wouldn’t I?” The answer is no, he would not. The Bush tax cuts would be repealed on companies making more than $250K a year in NET profit, not gross. Not-Joe the not-plumber would also get a variety of tax _incentives_ under Obama if he hires employees. Having said that, Sam the not-plumber doesn’t actually have any ability to buy his company in the first place. He was full of shit when he said he was going to do that. He is not on the verge of bursting into the relevant tax bracket. He is definitely going to be better off under Obama’s tax plan. The press has also exposed him as a hardcore, registered Republican dittohead, who says any kind of graduakted tax system is “Socialism” (which would make Ronald Reagan and both Bushes Socialists) and who also made a racist comparison of Barack Obama to Sammy Davis Jr. Why McCain is fixated is this dumbass, I have no idea. I can’t even figure out what he THINKS his point is. I guess it’s just because Obama used the phrase, “share the wealth,” but that is a.) a sentiment that McCain agrees with if he thinks there should be any income taxes at all, b.) would BENEFIT this bald headed clown whether he realizes it or not, and c.) has no resonance at all from a dude who just voted to give a trillion clams of middle class money to Wall Street scumbags. I would also point out that John McCain, a very rich man, has never had any problem taking from the middle class to pay for his own health care, but becomes apoplpctic at the idea that he chip in an extra 5 or 6 bucks a year to give health care to desitute children. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/36 "2008-10-16T23:54:19Z")
I would like for Obama to lift that last sentence. I myself shut down when anyone refers to taxes as “punishment.” ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/37 "2008-10-16T23:55:29Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > Why not? I can easily imagine how someone would say, “Well, when you factor in the additional taxeds, my effective pay increase won’t be all that high. It just wouldn’t be worth the headaches.” > > Besides, that’s not the only issue at hand. The other issue is whether this additional tax burden would ultimately help or hurt the economy. Conservatives argue that these additional taxes would reduce the ability of companies to hire additional employees, and would therefore be detrimental to the nation. Tell you what. Let’s try it their way for eight years and see what happens. Actually, the eight years are up. How’s the economy doing? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/38 "2008-10-17T00:16:58Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > In todays speech, McCain opened with Joe the Plumber. I sense a short career coming for the plumber. Wonder if he can sing and dance. He doesn’t have a chance in Hell. Palin ate all his power-up mushrooms. > [@Morgenstern](#): > > Actually, I think his name is Sam. He spoke of Jesus today on CNN too. Q: Does Jesus use Copper or Galvanized Steel…? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/39 "2008-10-17T00:17:09Z")
McCain and his campaign are a bunch of lying sleazebags, as has been shown over and over again. I’ll make a wager right now that it will turn out that “Joe the plumber” is a shill for the McCain campaign and that this entire bit of theater was set up by them. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/40 "2008-10-17T00:22:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yes, but everyone seems to have forgotten what the American dream _is_. > > Snorting cocaine off a hooker’s ass while you negotiate your book deal, of course. THAT’S the American Dream these days? It’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. The hooker’s ass, that is. The blow and the book deal are still pretty awesome, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271.md?page=3)