Political Plumbing

So I watched the debate last night and had this thought: Somewhere in Ohio a poor plumber is about to be descended upon by a media circus. Perhaps they already got to him, but I'm trying to avoid any more political news this morning.

I probably should have written "poor plumber" in quotes, because as far as I could make out, Joe the Plumber is not poor. John McCain tried to use him as a poster child for Obama's tax policies, but as far as I could make out from the debate last night, Joe's family is not about to go hungry.

It's always difficult to read between the lines in these kinds of debates, but it appeared to me that McCain was knocking Obama because Joe the Plumber would have to pay more in taxes if the latter gets elected. Obama has made it abundantly clear in his three debates that the only people who are in danger of increased taxes under his plan are people who make more than $250,000 a year. So, reading between the lines, I assumed that Joe makes more than that. I think they even hinted that Joe owns his own business. McCain even alluded to this when he mocked Obama's plan with a statement like, "Sorry, Joe, you make too much money."

Is McCain really trying to garner pity from blue-collar Americans by using what is essentially a businessman who makes a quarter million dollars a year out to be a poor victim of Obama's tax policy? Nice touch that the guy's a plumber, setting up the image that he's just a working class Joe. Never mind that he's in the top 5% income bracket.

You know what I say to that? (If all of my assumptions above are correct.) Fuck Joe the Plumber. Why the hell are we arguing about his economic welfare when 1/3 of America's children don't have adequate health insurance? When the gap between the rich and the poor in the U.S. has grown steadily over the past 30 years? Let's have Joe pay his dues to the country that has given him so much economic prosperity.

Unless I'm wrong about his economic status. In which case I go on record as saying, "Oops, sorry, my bad."