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Great ad.  I too am Joe the Plumber.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a recovering mortgage broker.  Once employing 15 people or so, and now on my own in a new industry.  I have seen both sides of Obama’s mythical $200,000 or $250,000 tax line.  Not in take home pay… not even close… but in business income.  And according to smart people at the Wall Street Journal and others, I would have had to pay Obama’s rich tax.  Now, as I start a new business from scratch and reset my career, I guess I would get his hand out.

I DON’T WANT EITHER.

I don’t want welfare or a handout.  I see the burden such programs put on small businesses.  Once we had a few employees, I spent the majority of my time dealing with regulations and licensing and compliance with this bureaucracy or some law.  Even at our most prosperous, I had to juggle our business income to meet payroll and health care, unemployment taxes, matching taxes, and all of the expenses associated with running a small business that employed a few people.

Even if I didn’t understand the burden of jumping through the government hoops to run a business, I would still be opposed to Obama’s socialist welfare scheme.  I was raised to work hard for what you want and need.  There are no barriers that you cannot overcome and no reward you cannot achieve.  Giving people who don’t pay income taxes a handout attempts to void that argument.

Joe the Plumber has not asked for nor does he expect a government handout to reach his dream.  The very idea of the American dream is you can do it with your own sweat and tears.  I too am Joe the Plumber and I stand with him.  We need less government interference or handouts to succeed, not more.

Don’t give me a hand out, just get out of the way.  America will be better off for it.

Joe has a tax lien?  Shocking. There are millions of small businesses, self-employed tradesmen, independent contractors and skilled laborers in this country.  Show me someone trying to achieve the American Dream through their own hard work, and I’ll show you someone likely to have a tax lien.

According to the The E-Myth Revisited most small business people fail twice before succeeding in business.  And many people like Joe have an income that is likely volatile based on the economic activity in their community and demands for their services.  I wouldn’t expect some Harvard educated lawyer whose never made a payroll to understand… but most small business and contractor income is volatile.

I spent years helping people with their mortgages and finances.  Many of them were self-employed, small business owners, tradesmen working for someone else or paid via 1099.  It wasn’t at all uncommon for them to have tax liens, a late payment here or there, or a bankruptcy in the past.  And you know what they all had in common?  They took risks and worked hard for themselves to achieve their idea of the American Dream.  They didn’t apologize for striving for success, even though they knew failure was always a possibility.  They worked hard for their successes, risking a lot to get there.

Funny, people not paying their mortgages are the new heroes in America… but someone who has a tax lien is a villain, destroyed for simply asking a question.

Joe The Plumber has a tax lien.  That makes him real, and goes a long way in pointing out the ridiculous complexity and burden of complying with the current tax code.  Barack Obama’s plan will only make it worse, and more expensive.  Why is it the left chooses to crucify this guy?  Why do they believe his tax lien disqualifies him from having a voice in America?

I find it astounding that within a day or two of becoming a household name, Joe The Plumber has been researched and talked about by the media and the left more than the Democratic nominee has.  We still don’t know much about Obama’s time at Columbia and we are told by the media not to question his ties with unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, American-hating racist pastor Reverend Wright or convicted fellon Tony Rezko… yet its okay to destroy Joe The Plumber simply for asking a question?

Joe isn’t running for President, he just asked a question.

Barack Obama and his campaign showed up in Joe’s neighborhood.  Joe had the audacity to stand patiently in line, hoping to speak with “The One”.  Obama stopped at Joe, Joe asked his question, and Obama gave a socialist answer in response.  It was Obama’s answer that started the firestorm.  So what is the left to do… destroy the questioner.

It is despicable, and it shows you the hatred and contempt the left has for anyone who questions their chosen One.  This thuggish mob mentality of destroying anyone in opposition is frightening.  It’s probably a good thing Joe had a tax lien, otherwise the left would have resorted to calling Joe a racist.

All Joe did was ask a question, Barack Obama answered it.  It was Obama’s answer that caused the problem, because it pointed out who Obama really is.  How dare they destroy Joe because America doesn’t like Barack’s answer.

The message is clear, question Barack Obama at your own peril.  They will demonize you and try to destroy you.  Thanks to these horrible actions by the left and the media, it is quite likely that the next Joe The Plumber will stay home and not risk questioning Barack Obama.  Why would they? The media won’t question Obama about his socialist welfare tax plan, so without people like Joe who will be left?

Poor Joe.  He did his civic duty of being informed and asking questions.  And now the left destroys him.  Joe’s son has been watching all of this and is learning a very valuble but unexpected lesson.  Don’t dare question the left.  Just sit back, fall in line, and do what the Marxist Obama and his Lemmings tell you to do and think how they tell you to think… otherwise you will be destroyed.

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UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has a great piece on this.  And guess what, they already are calling Joe a racist.

UPDATE: There’s another great post about this at Betsy’s Page:

What the left doesn’t understand is that Joe’s personal background doesn’t matter at all. What matters is Obama’s answer. And when asked about how Obama’s tax plan would affect a small businessman earning over $250,000, Obama said that it was time to “spread the wealth around.” And it turns out, as James Pethokoukis points out, that overwhelmingly most Americans aren’t in favor of redistributionist tax policies. But Obama revealed that his instincts are, as he told Charlie Gibson in the Democratic debate, to tax wealth as a matter of “fairness.”

So on the way to the coronation of President Obama, one ordinary guy asked a question that made Obama look bad. And the response by those on the left is that this guy Must Be Destroyed. And both Democratic candidates look for easy jokes about what type of plumber earns $250,000. They are tone deaf to the idea that Joe was asking a question about his dream, a dream that many people share of working hard and building up a small business.

And another “Joe The Plumber” for McCain.

H/T: Instapundit

Another solid ad from the McCain campaign.  Does anyone really think that a massive welfare plan and socialist tax policy will help America?  Joe can’t afford Barack Obama and neither can the rest of America.

After tonight’s debate, we had to offer these two t-shirts to our visitors.  Your choice this November is crystal clear.  You can support the real engine of our economy, the middle class, or you can support big government and redistribution of wealth.

If you support the middle class, American workers and entrepreneurs, get this Elect Joe the Plumber T-Shirt.  Joe understands what so many in Washington don’t, that higher taxes and government spending hurt real Americans.  And Joe did something Conservatives have been trying to do for over a year, point out the socialist policies of Barack Obama.

If you support big taxes, big government and “spreading the wealth around” get this Senator Government t-shirt and support socialism and Barack Obama.  Barack Obama wants to help all of the people “behind” Joe, but he’s policies won’t help for long.  Redistribution of wealth stifles creativity and hard work and rewards mediocrity.  Barack Obama’s tax and spending plans will cripple America and make our current economic troubles permanent.