"I'm Joe the Plumber" (RL)

[thistlechaser]

Help me out here. Does McCain think we're all stupid? Or that we don't follow the news at all? We've just started getting these "I'm Joe the Plumber" commercials running in this area:

Woman, man, teen, old person all repeat things like: "I'm Joe the Plumber, and I work hard for my money. Obama wants to make us pay over a trillion dollars in new taxes? I'm Joe the Plumber, and that's not right!"

Dudes, Joe the Plumber was a lie. He doesn't even have a plumbing license. Why in the world are they still using that at all? I'd have thought that they'd be embarrassed by the fact that everything they claimed about the guy was wrong and would hope that America forgot about it, not keep shoving it back into our faces...

Comments

[webbapettigrew.livejournal.com]

I think "Joe the Plumber" can be a euphamism for anyone wanting to earn a decent living, work hard and earn money they worked for, without having to be taxed on it and their money distributed to people who sat on their asses and did nothing.

I could be wrong, of course. I will say this: If I made tons of cash, I wouldn't mind donating it to worthy causes, but I don't like the idea that I could bust my ass to get a good paycheck, but end up having to "Spread the wealth" if I worked a little too hard. It sort of makes me want to work just enough not to have to "spread" it at all.

I wish there was a decent candidate to vote for this time. In my opinion, neither one is going to help anything.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

Forgive me - Canadian here - but I've seen a lot of people make comments like this about the tax brackets and I'm confused. Here, taxes are done in chunks. You're taxed the lowest amount on something like the first $12,000 of income, then dollars 12,001 to 22,000 get taxed a higher amount, then dollars 22,001 to 44,000 get taxed a higher amount, etc. If I'm on the edge of a tax bracket one year and make an extra $5000 the next year, only that extra $5000 gets taxed higher. If I get an abnormally big pay that reflects the wrong bracket, I get a tax return. Making more money on paper always equals more money in my pocket, but people in the U.S. always seem to talk as if making more money could result in you taking less home.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

Except that taxes have always been higher for people who make more money and lower for people who make less. McCain is not suggesting doing away with taxation altogether, or even implementing a flat tax. He wants to keep the progressive tax model in place, just as Obama does. And Obama is only suggesting raising taxes on earned income over $250,000 per year to pre-Bush/Clinton-era levels, which is something like 3-4% more than earners in those income tax brackets are paying now. How is this spreading the wealth around?

[tharpy.livejournal.com]

In principle the tax system is designed the same way...

Our political parties have moved away from actually doing things, to perfecting the political speak to cause the most fear. Sorry..but "spread the wealth" or "redistribution" is the same thing we've been doing for about 200 years or so.

[tharpy.livejournal.com]

You're just as confused as I... apparently not only did Joe the Plumber not have a license...NEITHER DID HIS BOSS...

That being said... he's endorsed McCain...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-28-election-endorsement_N.htm

I'm a sad panda

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

*looks up the stats* It looks like, for a person making under $170,000 at least (i.e. most of our respective countries), our tax brackets are about the same. Personally, yeah, I'd like to see my taxes put to better use, but I think 15% on the bulk of my income is a fair piece. Mind, I'm at least getting universal health care out of it.

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Its all inflated pre-election talk. The focus on the "spread the wealth around" comment is strictly to put the fear of socialism into people. Neither candidate is actually suggesting socialist policies.

About the progressive taxation though...I have some friends who make significantly above $250,000/yr. Most make this money off investing -- which is taxed at a constant 15% (capital gains). They also give a lot of money away in the form of scholarships and the like. All have said that if they weren't taxed as heavily, they'd be giving more away. "There's only so much money you need to live comfortably and continue making money. Anything above that is superfluous. Hoarding it is immoral. Money should be used, and used to improve the lives of my family first, my friends second, and everyone else third." [friend's father, living on $200k pension a year + at least another $500k/yr in cap gains]. While I struggle along at $36k a year, my friend (father quoted above) at $30k a year, neither of us has received money from him. He figures we're doing fine on our own.