I recently had a disagreement with a friend of mine. Sadly that disagreement was over "Joe" the "Plumber."
In response to this post on his blog, I had quite a lot to say, and felt that it merited an entire post in itself:
Obama did not go knocking on the guy's door. Samuel (his real name), went looking for Obama. You can do the research yourself. The media was originally mistaken on that front. Samuel even admitted in a later interview that he went looking for Obama, to have a specific confrontation. It wasn't a coincidence. It wasn't a random chance meeting. And given the overzealous exploitation of the man by McCain in the debate that followed, I wouldn't be surprised if he was a plant.
The issue I have with the man, I have outlined in my blog already. But what it boils down to is that the man is essentially really selfish, and somewhat misguided. If you really listened to one of his interviews all he talks about is ME ME ME.
What if I buy this business? What if I make more than $250K? Why should I pay more, even though I can afford to?
Because someone has to.
George Bush has taken all the money and given it to the rich. He has charged his war and mismanagement of the economy on the American credit card. Someone has to pay for it. If we continue down the path that George Bush has started, we will bankrupt our nation and everyone will suffer.
We've been giving tax cuts to the super rich elite now for the past eight years. Money to rich CEOs and corporations that don't need it.
Obama is merely suggesting that the poor and middle class could use a break. The average family could probably do better if they were not taxed as much.
He is suggesting that people who make over $250K a year could afford to pay a tiny bit more in taxes, so that relief could be given to working families.
Even though this would benefit people like Samuel, there are those who would vote against their own self interests, on the pipe dream that one day they will be making $250K a year, and they'd like to hoard a few extra dollars rather than pay it in tax.
There's nothing wrong with the dream of being rich (although spiritually, that could be a different ball game). But the Ebenezer Scrooge concept of hoarding money away and demanding that the government tax the poor instead, is simply unfair.
Under Bush the rich poor divide has grown considerably. If 95% of America is to have a better quality of life, then the top 5% need to pay a little more. And the beauty of that philosophy is that if you are super rich and you have to pay an extra $10,000 a year in taxes, it doesn't matter. Super rich people will not have to shop at WalMart because of it. They will still be just fine.
As for Samuel. If he voted for Obama, maybe his taxes would go down. Maybe he could pay off his back taxes, and get the lien off his home. Maybe Obama would allow him to afford health care again so he could pay off that hospital bill. Perhaps even with more money in his pocket, he could afford to obtain that plumbers license so he didn't have to work illegally, and could one day have a shot at that dream of owning the business.
Let's face facts here. Samuel is basically supporting the trickle down economics of the past eight years, and the very similar plans of McCain to continue with the same. But these philosophies haven't really worked out all that well for Samuel so far have they? Still can't afford to get his license after ten years. Still no closer to buying the business and realizing his dream. Struggling to make ends meet, and falling further and further behind with his bills.
Samuel needs help NOW. In fact he's been needing help for the past eight years. Yet no one was willing to give him that helping hand. He keeps slogging away, year in year out, hoping for the chance at his dream. But despite his hard work, he is no closer to achieving that now, than he was when Bush came to office.
Unless people like him, making a middle class income get some help, they will NEVER have that shot at the big time. However, if Samuel does well thanks to Obama, gets licensed, buys the business, and starts to make over $250K a year. Perhaps then he should be less selfish and willingly pay the few hundred dollars in extra tax, so that the next generation of Joe the Plumbers can have a shot at the chance that he had.
Samuel has lived through the past decade of doing that job without a license. He has nothing really to show for his effort. An income so low he can't afford his tax. Medical bills so high he can't afford to pay them. Credit crisis so bad he can't borrow the money to buy the business. Working from week to week without the time or money to obtain his license, meaning that his career growth is stunted.
Perhaps it is time to change. Perhaps it is time to accept that trickle down economics don't work. Perhaps it is time to accept that society needs to help Samuel and others like him realize their dreams.
But Samuel will never move forward while we keep taking his money and giving it to the richest people in our society. These elite rich people can afford to give back, and it's time they did.
4 comments:
This whole tax thing is smoke and mirrors. I fall squarely into the group of working middle class that Obama says he wants to do something for. Because of the exemption for children that was upped by Bush, I have personally have had no income tax liability for for years now. For Obama to give me a "break" he has to take someone elses money and give it to me in the form of a refund. And he will have to do this for upwards of 40 Million people. I don't agree with that. I don't want or need the charity. Heck, if I am honest, I guess I am already getting a good bit of it. But I am not going to let this buy my vote.
I will be glad to talk with you offline about how much I make and what my taxes look like. So you can understand better.
FYI, Barney Frank and others in congress want to reduce those exemption (upped by the evil one) and lower them by half. That is not technically a tax hike, but I've done the math. If they do this, and Obama cuts me that $1000 check, I will, for the first time since 2003 HAVE an income tax liability. With my income and a family of 6, that would hurt us, bigtime. Explain that one away. Maybe it's because your family situation is different than mine that you can't see my point?
I appreciate your personal story, but the issue was really about Joe The Plumber.
You may happen to have hit a sweet spot with your taxes, which is great for you. But that doesn't mean that the current system is right. Let's face it, the economy isn't doing all that good is it?
And when we talk about tax, we need to be careful that we look at the big picture. It isn't just about what you give to or receive from the IRS, it includes other things too.
Health care is a big stealth tax in this country. High premiums, high deductibles, policies that don't pay out properly, unreasonable exclusions, pre-existing condition bans, co-pays, prescription drug costs, the push towards generic that is often not as good.
You asked me to explain away how you think Obama's tax plans will hurt your family. There's no way I could know that without knowing everything about your family budget, which is none of my business.
In the absence of that information, I only have your word for it that your current financial and tax predicament is perfect.
Even if it were, you can't deny that for tens of millions of Americans, things aren't so rosy.
You addressed more than Joe. You got into Bush, Obama and policy. That's what affects me. Not Joe and his back taxes.
So, let's assume I am telling you the truth about my taxes, you lead me to believe you don't want to take my word. Phrases like "even if it were" tip me off. Address my concern that the great tax cutting Obama, Pelosi, Frank, et al may cause mine (and many many others) to go up by lowering the amount of exemptions.
Don't talk about these millions of people you don't know. I am one of them Chris. I'm a real live person and not a statistic. Address ME, your friend. Drop the politics and tell me what you think about the possibility that this tax cutting business is a ruse, and mine could actually go up. They are politicians after all.
Something is giving me the feeling you think I am too much like Samuel, thus I am a moron...
First off, we have to drop the paranoia here. You've made several references to me likening you to Samuel, and that simply isn't fair. I've never made any such statement or implication Rich.
You want me to reassure you that Obama will wave a magic wand and ensure that your family taxes will never rise; I cannot. Nor should I even try.
The fact you seem to be glossing over here is that at some point every single American is going to have to step up to clean up the mess left by Bush.
You talk about how your income tax situation has been great (and I do not question that you think it is, although for a middle income family of six I find it almost inconceivable that it could not improve). But what Bush has done to the country, would be like me living off my credit cards for a year. Paying one with another, spending more and more each month without the income to pay them down.
Even if you've had the most comfortable free ride imaginable for the past 8 years, and the Bush years have been bliss and financial security for you and your family, the sad reality is, it is now time to pay the piper.
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home
Check out the war debt clock. It amounts to about $4,681 per household.
How are you going to pay that Rich? Cash or check?
I don't have that kind of money to hand over to the government right now. I'm a small business owner myself, just like Samuel, only I took the trouble to get a license and work legally.
Some very tough choices lie ahead for this country. We cannot bury our head in the sand and hope that everything will be alright.
Unless we radically change course, and seriously enact some big changes in the way America is run, we are saving up monumental problems for (y)our children.
Despite all the discussion I simply cannot see what it is you think McCain brings to the table. An old man who once fought tax cuts for the rich, now demanding them. A man with so many houses and cars he can't keep track of them, sneering at the thought that maybe the average man in the street needs more of a break than rich millionaires like him.
An old man who has appointed a bimbo to replace him in the event of his death.
Like you said Rich, they are all politicians at the end of the day. And I, perhaps like you, have quite an inherent dislike for politicians on the whole.
But when I look at what these two men have to offer, there is simply no contest. It would be like a choice between cake or death (Eddie Izzard Reference).
Ultimately you have basically told me that your family has done pretty well under Bush, therefore you like what McCain brings to the table. If that is true, how can you argue that McCain isn't really just another four more years of Bush policies?
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