Is "Joe the Plumber" a Plant?

[Michael Tee]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/15/233339/43/380/583396

<<Well, I wanted to see if Joe had made any major campaign contributions, so I searched Newsmeat or a Wurzelbacher in Ohio.

<<No Joe, but there is a Robert, a big Republican donor.

<<I looked him up, who is he?

<<Charles Keating's son-in-law, found guilty in the same scandal.

<<Are they related? So far, I can't find a real connection. But they are both Wurzelbachers from Ohio.>>

by BlueGA on Wed Oct 15, 2008 at 10:46:07 PM CDT

[Xavier_Onassis]

Let me get this straight. We have a plumber who has striven all his life to buy his own business, but now he is going to be making over $250,000 or more and he just can't manage to swing it without a tax break.

How hard is it to get into the plumbing business? What do you need? A van, some tools, and assistant, and craigslist. Do good work at a fair price and you can get on Angie's list. Get your wife or daughter to answer the phone.


This whole tale does not ring true at all.

[Amianthus]

How hard is it to get into the plumbing business? What do you need? A van, some tools, and assistant, and craigslist. Do good work at a fair price and you can get on Angie's list. Get your wife or daughter to answer the phone.

A contractor's license, bonding, state tax forms filed, etc...

It's a bit more than you claim...

[Plane]

What does an employee or an apprentice with full kit cost?

[Xavier_Onassis]

I would imagine that you could get a plumbing business started with under $20K.

[Amianthus]

I would imagine that you could get a plumbing business started with under $20K.

Is that figure after the required education?

[Xavier_Onassis]

Is that figure after the required education?


What required education might that be? A community college course in building codes?

You don't need an education to use a wrench or a roto rooter. Please. I have done plumbing. It's not hard at all, except the part where you have to twist pipes in a crawl space under a house.

In any case, to be a plumber does not require anyone to save every dime and to work twelve hours a day until they are "Joe the Plumbers" age. And it is a rare plumbing business indeed that would give the owner an income of $250,000 a year.

If Joe is a major plumbing contractor, he pays himself less, the company provides him a car and he reinvests in his business. Joe the Plumber needs to consult with his cousin, Morrie the Accountant.

[Michael Tee]

XO is correct.  I've never met a plumber who reports personal income of anywhere near $250K.  Especially with gas prices being what they are now.  Even at $75 an hour, he'd have to put in 3,333.33 hours a year or 9.13 hours per day, every day of the year with not even a single day off, just to gross that sum.  And then there would be his overhead to consider.

Even if it's a business, with a good accountant, as XO says, he'll probably never hit the magic 250K if he doesn't want to, and if he DOES go bigger, he can well afford any extra taxation that Obama has in mind for him.  How much does the greedy swine really need anyway?  And why should HE be fed the extra swill when there are millions of American families in dire need of housing, education and medical care?

[Xavier_Onassis]

And why should HE be fed the extra swill when there are millions of American families in dire need of housing, education and medical care?

I think the McCainacs would tell you that Joe is going to hire many people to work for him. Of course, job creation would mean he would have to pay other people. McCain was even talking about how Joe was going to pay for health insurance for his multitudinous wrenchmen assistants.

sirs and UP will tell you that Joe has earned his money and should get to keep nearly all of it, because its his and it belongs to him. I doubt they'd want Joe to pay for the healthcare of his assistants, because that is THEIR responsibility. And they should not join a union to make Joe pay them enough to afford health care because unions are BAD.

[Amianthus]

What required education might that be? A community college course in building codes?

From the State of Florida requirements to TAKE THE TEST for the contractor's license required to be a plumber:

To qualify for the examination you must be at least 18 years old. You must also meet one of the following requirements:

• Four year construction-related degree from an accredited college (equivalent to three years experience) and one year proven related experience
• One year of experience as a foreman and not less than three years of credits for any accredited college-level courses
• One year experience as a workman, one year proven experience as a foreman, and two years of credits for any accredited college level courses
• Two years experience as a workman, one year experience as a foreman, and one year of credits for any accredited college level courses
• Four years experience as a workman or foreman of which at least one year must have been as a foreman

You can't just walk in and take the test. You must also supply them with a credit report and proof of insurance (which runs about $8,000).

[Michael Tee]

Bottom line is nobody is FORCING Joe to make over 250K in personal income.  If he hates paying the extra tax, he can just take some more time off to spend with his family and let his personal income fall to $249,999.99, on which he and his family should be able to live very well and even put something aside for a rainy day.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Joe doesn't need to be a contractor to be a plumber. My ex-neighbor, an old Italian guy, had a plumbing business in Chicago and owned several apartment buildings as well. His English was stereotypical movie Italiano and he had trouble reading the newspaper. He made it through the fourth grade in some Sicilian mountain town.  He left something like a million to his heirs. He had good business sense and knew his trade well, which he learned as an apprentice. Hell, he wasn't even officially in the country. He dived off a boat headed for Canada and swam ashore in 1928, and never returned. I doubt he was a contractor, but he was a plumber for many years.

[Amianthus]

Joe doesn't need to be a contractor to be a plumber.

Any plumber that runs a business requires a contractor's license. In most states, they are required to be bonded as well.

[Knutey]

I heard a tale about a Neurosurgeon who wanted to buy a plane so he went to the local airport and talked to the guy that had exactly the kind of plane he wanted. He introduced himself and told the plane's owner what he did and asked how much he had paid for it After the owner told him he said" Jesus , I could never afford that" The owner responded "I am a plumber and I couldnt afford it either when I was a neurosurgeon!"

Porr joe only makes $250K per year which is peanuts for a plmber I guess. You have to make over $5 million for MCCain to think you are not middle class. How out of touch can one be?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP-0pedQeGw[/youtube]

[richpo64]

Notice how the leftist diminish people? Trailer trash ... plumbing is easy...

It's much like how they treat inconvenient women.