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PTBC J-Log

A conservative OPINION blog --with bite. OPINION by Joel Johannesen.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Debate:  “Joe the plumber” is Joe America; Barack Obama is Barack Some Other Country

Written by Joel Johannesen on Thursday October 16 2008 at 05:20 AM


image  “Joe the Plumber” was mentioned a lot in last night’s final presidential debate—some news folks counted 21 times.  Mostly by John McCain, who found in “Joe” a guy who actually represents America.  And so McCain seemed to find—in that otherwise innocuous but now famous exchange between his rival and Joe, to prove that he knows what America is about.  Main Street America saw that too, last night, vividly—even if the big-city liberal media elites in Washington and New York and Atlanta (and Toronto), who sneer at it today in all kinds of snooty articles, didn’t. 

In contrast —and this was especially evident on some of those split-screen shots of the two candidates—Barack Obama could be seen arrogantly laughing or at least broadly smiling dismissively—off-puttingly to me—at McCain’s repeated references to Joe.  That repeated reference, which spoke to idea that McCain actually “gets” America, and Obama’s obviously dismissive attitude about those references, was what for me formed the very referential core of the debate —and in fact maybe even the whole Presidential campaign. 

I liked this tidbit from an article in the New York Post yesterday which reviewed the spontaneous exchange between the now famous “Joe the plumber” (who asked a simple question) and Barack Obama (who gave an excruciatingly long—but oops, very revealing—answer) during an Ohio campaign event. 

WASHINGTON - You won’t find it in his campaign ads, but Barack Obama let slip his plans to become a modern-day Robin Hood in the White House, confiscating money from the rich to give to the poor.

[...]

Then, Obama explained his trickle-up theory of economics.

“My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Critics said Obama let the cat out of the bag.

“It’s clear that his main goal is redistribution of wealth, not growth,” said Andy Roth with the anti-tax group Club for Growth. “He’s perfectly happy to destroy wealth as long as he can redistribute it.”

Obama has been meticulous, Roth said, to conceal the “socialistic” nature of his tax plans. “But every once in a while, he lets it slip,” he said.

Republican candidate John McCain yesterday charged that Obama’s comment was telling.

“This explains how Senator Obama can promise an income-tax cut for millions who aren’t even paying income taxes right now,” he said in Pennsylvania.


After the exchange,

Joe made additional comments in this excellent interview with Family Security Matters correspondent Pam Meister (this is just a part of it—read the whole thing—it’s good):

JOE WURZELBACHER: Initially, I started off asking him if he believed in the American Dream and he said yes, he does – and then I proceeded to ask him then why he’s penalizing me for trying to fulfill it. He asked, “what do you mean,” and I explained to him that I’m planning on purchasing this company – it’s not something I’m gonna purchase outright, it’s something I’m going to have to make payments on for years – but essentially I’m going to buy this company, and the profits generated by that could possibly put me in that tax bracket he’s talking about and that bothers me. It’s not like I would be rich; I would still just be a working plumber. I work hard for my money, and the fact that he thinks I make a little too much that he just wants to redistribute it to other people. Some of them might need it, but at the same time, it’s not their discretion to do it – it’s mine.

[...]

JW: As soon as he said it, he contradicted himself. He doesn’t want to “punish” me, but – when you use the word “but,” you pretty much negate everything you just said prior to that. So he does want to punish me, he does want to punish me for working harder to – you know, my big thing is the American Dream. I work hard. You know, I was poor; my mom raised me and my brother by herself for a very long time until my dad came along. So I know what it’s like to suffer. It’s not like I was born with a silver spoon. Usually it was a wooden spoon and it was on my butt. It was just a contradiction of terms, what he said: he doesn’t want to punish me but he wants to redistribute my wealth. And what I mean when I say my wealth, I mean the collective. Eventually – I mean, just to sound a little silly here, but you need rich people. I mean, who are you going to work for? 

PAM MEISTER [Family Security Matters]: Do you fear this is the possibility of America turning more down the socialist road if Obama does become elected and if he is able to implement these policies?

JW: Very much so. You start giving people stuff, and then they start expecting it – and that scares me. A lot of people expect it now. They get upset when their check’s late, they get upset when they don’t get as many benefits as they used to, or when different government agencies are cut or spending is cut here and there for whatever reason – people get upset at that. And that’s because they’re used to getting it and they want more. I mean, everyone’s always gonna want more. People work the system left and right to get more out of welfare, to get more out of state assistance, federal assistance. And if government’s there for them, they’re gonna keep on trying to manipulate it to get more out of it. You got people that come along and say, “Hey, I wanna help you people,” I mean, they’re all ears! They’re like, “Hey, you can help me more, I don’t have to work as hard, I don’t have to do as much, and you’re gonna give me this? Man, that’s great, you’re a good guy.”

So yeah, it goes down the socialist – His healthcare plan scares me. You know, I don’t like people going without healthcare, but it’s not my job to pay for everyone else’s healthcare. It’s hard enough paying for my own. I like the idea of deregulation as far as – nationally, you know, you only get insurance companies that can work in this state – if you deregulate that then you have more people competing and then the prices would go lower. It seems pretty simple to me. It probably isn’t that simple – but you flood the market with more products, usually they go down cheaper.

[...]



Obama was Mr. Smooth and Relaxed last night.  McCain came off last night like a bit of a nervous old scatterbrain, and didn’t actually land the punches he should have.  But McCain at least proved he gets it.  Obama proved he’s an excellent snake-oil salesman. 


UPDATE:

FoxNews.com fronts their page this morning with photo and caption echoing my sentiments exactly. 
image



Also see:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/joe-the-plumber.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081016/ap_on_el_pr/joe_the_plumber


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Posted by Joel Johannesen on   Thu, October 16, 2008 at 5:20:16 AM • If you think PTBC has no value, then don't pay anything for it. It will fade into the sunset. That's the free market at work.
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  1. T. R. Potter says:

    Joe the Plumber’s after debate interview video:

    http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/joe-plumber-weighs-in-on-debate-obamas.html

    Sounds like he is leaning McCain to me.

    Also, no matter who won the debate, McCain won the Independents:

    Perhaps the best news for McCain is the rating he received from independent voters. Among respondents not identified with either major political party, McCain was judged tonight’s winner, 51-42 percent.

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14618.html

    Posted by T. R. Potter  from  USA  on  Thu, October 16, 2008 at 7:51:26 AM
  1. Terry Haryett says:

    I saw that kinda sneer/smile too Joel.

    off-puttingly to me

    Me too.
    You know, for a guy who is supposed to be real smart, Obama is really quite stupid.
    I am convinced, from things he, and members of his staff have said,Barry Obama and friends believe wealth is a finite resource.
    If the “rich” have too much, there is not enough left for the poor. They cannot see the concept of creating brand new wealth just by working for it. Remarkably simple really.

    Posted by Terry Haryett  from  Keene Ont.  on  Thu, October 16, 2008 at 8:03:26 AM
  1. Trooper's avatar Trooper says:

    Joel:
    Your reference to a “snake-oil salesman” is dead on. Every time the “Big-O” slides onto the screen that is the first thought that goes through my mind. This piece of work is foisting onto all Americans a sales pitch that is unrivalled. I hope the citizens wake up and realize they are being sold a bill of goods that will turn into a socialist, big government,money grab. His little rhetorical slip-ups, such as: “I will look at…” and “I will review…” reveal his true mindset. He doesn’t intend to do anything that he speaks of.
    Yup.!! a real throwback to the 19th century snake-oil salesman sucking in all the rubes.

    Posted by Trooper  from   on  Thu, October 16, 2008 at 1:52:33 PM
    — Trooper's   custom signature:

    If you can read this—thank a teacher! Since it is in english—thank a soldier!!

  1. Dacre says:

    The Obama camp and MSM are in full destroy Joe the plumber mode. The average American will no doubt hate him before next week. Canadians of course never liked him in the first place. Afterall the guy has aspirations of owning the company. In Canada that makes you a sell out.

    Posted by Dacre  from   on  Thu, October 16, 2008 at 4:05:52 PM
  1. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) says:

    Of course he sneers, in Obama’s dream world people don’t work for rich people they all work for the government and make the same wage and are coddled but have no freedom. Of course his elite ass will be on a boat eating caviar while you’re griding iron to ship to China because it’s FINALLY cheaper to make stuff in American.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  from   on  Thu, October 16, 2008 at 5:19:52 PM
  1. Dacre says:

    I understand the left wing blogs have Joe as a plant and Keating family tie in. I’m not sure if any of this has been verified but for the left and their media that verification and accuracy part of the news is apparently over rated and unnecessary.

    Posted by Dacre  from   on  Thu, October 16, 2008 at 7:22:55 PM
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