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Joe the Plumber: Obama Tax Plan 'Infuriates Me'
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ShareOctober 16, 2008 2:46 AM
ABC News' Teddy Davis and Hope Ditto report:
John McCain may have found a blue-collar face to help him argue that no American -- not even the richest 5 percent -- should pay higher taxes.
Joe the Plumber has weighed in on Wednesday's presidential debate and says that Barack Obama's tax plan "infuriates me."
"To be honest with you, that infuriates me," plumber Joe Wurzelbacher told "Nightline's" Terry Moran. "It's not right for someone to decide you made too much -- that you've done too good and now we're going to take some of it back."
"That's just completely wrong," he added.
Wurzelbacher told "Nightline" he heard some "scuttlebutt" that he might be raised at Wednesday's debate. He added, however, that he was not formally told by the McCain campaign of the senator's plans.
The plumber's brush with fame began on Sunday when he confronted Barack Obama outside of Toledo, Ohio. Wurzelbacher challenged the Democratic candidate on his plan to raise taxes on the top 5 percent of earners -- a policy which would, by the Obama campaign's own estimation, mean higher taxes for 184,000 small businesses.
"I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year," Wurzelbacher told Obama. "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?"
Under Obama's plan, individuals making more than $200,000 per year, or couples making more than $250,000 per year, would pay higher taxes on income, capital gains, and dividends. Starting ten years from now, Obama supports an additional 2-4 percent tax on individual income above $250,000 per year to help shore up the Social Security system.
To evaluate how Wurzelbacher and his wife would fare under Obama, one would need to know his wife's income (if any) plus what the plumber meant when he told Obama that the company he is getting ready to buy "makes" $250,000 - $280,000 per year.
Was Wurzelbacher referring to gross revenue or net profits?
Obama's higher taxes on small businesses would be leveled against those whose net profits exceed $250,000 per year, according to Obama's campaign.
While at least 184,000 small businesses would face higher taxes under Obama, the Illinois Democrat is also proposing a series of tax credits that could aid small businesses.
Obama has proposed a $3,000 tax credit for every new job that companies create in the United States over the next two years, a small business health tax credit on up to 50 percent of employee premiums paid by employers, and elimination of capital gains taxes on investments in small and start-up businesses.
Regardless of how Wurzelbacher would personally fare under the candidates' plans, he suggested to ABC News' Nightline that he is against all forms of progressive taxation.
During his telephone interview with ABC News, the Ohio plumber argued that the government should not tax some Americans at a higher percentage than others and argued that this principle should extend not only to taxpayers at his income-level but also to the world's richest man.
"I don't like it," said Wurzelbacher. "You know, me or -- you know, Bill Gates, I don't care who you are. If you worked for it, if it was your idea, and you implemented it, it's not right for someone to decide you made too much."
October 16, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (2234)
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I see the liberals have resorted to bringing up the Bush Boogy-Man to prove their right.
Posted by: Uncle Moe | Oct 16, 2008 3:48:53 AM
Just following the Republican playbook of blaming everything on Clinton
Posted by: Chris | Oct 16, 2008 3:49:44 AM
Pelosi, Reid, and the Democratic Party think that if Barack Obama is elected POTUS, he's gonna be their puppet. Wrong! Barack Obama has his own agenda with all his America hating associations (including his wife) to overthrow the U.S.A. or worse! God help us.
Posted by: Diana in California | Oct 16, 2008 3:51:07 AM
Hey Davis,
how many Obama supporters voted hundreds of times to make that score?
Posted by: Obama for Latrine Cleaner '08 | Oct 16, 2008 3:52:26 AM
-- Wrong! Barack Obama has his own agenda with all his America hating associations (including his wife) to overthrow the U.S.A. or worse! --
You could have a good career writing science fiction books! The paranoia runs rampant in you for sure.. perfect for those 'alien' invasion plots.
Posted by: Concerned American | Oct 16, 2008 3:52:42 AM
it makes me laugh really, who would you rather tax... the poor? they have no money ha. when watching the debates mccain is like every other us president hes like a robot reading off everything he says, like his response to being like goerge bush he was waiting to say it to obama, which was infact first suggested by sarah palin. honestly sometimes i do wonder if americans have brains,
Posted by: Ben | Oct 16, 2008 3:52:54 AM
Then there is the $250 claw hammer and the $60 machine screw and a long list of items that goes into the billions of dollars.
Then there are people in empty offices with not even a filing cabinet and being paid $62,000 per annum for doing nothing. The list is long and painful. You have no idea of the government waste that will be created by Barack Hussein Obama‘s expansion of government.
Keep out of my pocket!
Posted by: Independent Voters | Oct 16, 2008 3:54:54 AM
I am (Joe the Plumber) type of Guy, I don't care what George Stephanopolus says,
I did the math he(joe) and me do not pay any taxes if do the math correctly and the days when a plunber makes $250,000.00 dollar are fading away we will be lucky if are net this year is $75,000. cash!
Posted by: James | Oct 16, 2008 3:56:13 AM
-- You have no idea of the government waste that will be created by Barack Hussein Obama‘s expansion of government. --
quick, give me next weeks lotto numbers..
Where have we heard this 'he will ruin the economy' stuff before?
Posted by: Concerned American | Oct 16, 2008 3:56:34 AM
James, Obama has put up a 'tax calculator' that you can use to see what differences between each will make.
Posted by: Concerned American | Oct 16, 2008 3:58:53 AM
WHAT A SHOCKER!
In the final debate of October 15, 2008, Barack Hussein Obama talked more like Republicans George Bush and Herbert Hoover. Barack Hussein Obama related to growing the federal government, raising taxes and trade restrictions. Barack Hussein Obama says he is not repeating the last eight years of the Bush administration, but talks like President Bush. If Barack Hussein Obama becomes president, he says he will repeat the acts of Herbert Hoover (raising taxes and trade restrictions) that led America into the Great Depression. This is Barack Hussein Obama’s agenda.
John McCain and Sarah Palin have a much better understanding of how America can survive the financial crisis. John McCain and Sarah Palin do not talk like a George Bush and a Herbert Hoover.
You had better do some real thinking before you pull that lever.
WE HAVE EVERY WORD IN COMPUTER MEMORY!
Posted by: Independent Voters | Oct 16, 2008 4:00:06 AM
Obama should go after the real wealthy- the hedge fund operators, Soros, billionaries etc.
Going after Joe the plumber, carpenter etc and penalising them for working hard is stupid, Obama is clueless.
Posted by: Greg h | Oct 16, 2008 4:00:51 AM
Hey concerned UNamerican,
he is using Class Warfare(a hallmark socialist tactic),trying to strip us of our rights and is going to give us a socialist Healthcare plan.Paid for by running small buisinesses into the ground.Don't sound paraniod to me.And Ben,kindly keep your stupida-- anti american remarks inside that thing you call a brain.My family has fought to give you the right to speak your mind.Don't use it to insult our great Republic.
Posted by: Obama for Latrine Cleaner '08 | Oct 16, 2008 4:02:04 AM
-- You had better do some real thinking before you pull that lever. --
How many times you going to continue cut-n-pasting that? Just like McCain lies, repeating them over and over again doesn't make them any less true.
Posted by: Concerned American | Oct 16, 2008 4:02:45 AM
Concerned American:
'tax calculator' is before the election. As Barack Hussein Obama is like a blowing wind, there is no telling what the NEW 'tax calculator' will be after the election.
Posted by: Independent Voters | Oct 16, 2008 4:03:49 AM
And spewing hate doesn't make you anymore right.
Posted by: Obama for Latrine Cleaner '08 | Oct 16, 2008 4:04:45 AM
-- going to give us a socialist Healthcare plan.Paid for by running small buisinesses into the ground --
Glad you brought that up, it's one of my favorite issues.. Obamas plan is simply brilliant.. create an insurance company that can pool policies in order to negotiate lower prices.. make it available to all Americans that want to join, make it affordable, and portable from job to job. In addition, for companies who are currently paying for health coverage for their employees, it will result in an estimated $140 billion in annual savings, directly stimulating the economy and creating jobs. The increase in insured patients (47% of currently uninsured as compared to 7% under McCains plan) will add additional revenue to the health care industry, further stimulating the economy.
Both McCains and Obamas plan would cost the same, but Obamas is more efficient and would cover more americans. McCain would actually cause more americans to lose insurance, and like his tax plan, favors the wealthy.
Better for the economy, better for Americans.
Posted by: Concerned American | Oct 16, 2008 4:07:15 AM
-- 'tax calculator' is before the election. --
Well, it shows McCains 'blowing in the wind' tax figures as well, just incase you were interested :)
May Allah be with you!
Posted by: Concerned American | Oct 16, 2008 4:08:46 AM
He would also Fine employers who can't afford this coverage,would raise taxes to fund it and despite what he says he will raise taxes on the american people to heights Bill could only dream of.Oh and you forgot to mention it would also make medicaly assisted suicide cheaper than life saving drugs.
Posted by: Obama for Latrine Cleaner '08 | Oct 16, 2008 4:12:14 AM
Why is everyone so worried about the economy when 4,000 babies are exterminated daily at our modern day death camps called abortion centers?
Posted by: Elizabeth | Oct 16, 2008 4:16:38 AM
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