Michael Gerson conducts a must-read interview with Charlie Cook. In addition to predictions of a massive GOP wave, there is this discussion about Obama and the Democratic agenda:
Question: What lessons should Obama’s aides take away from these likely political reverses?
“It was the political aides,” counters Cook, “who lost the arguments. Rahm [Emanuel] knew they should cut a deal on health care, get to the economy.” But Obama held a different view of himself and his presidency. “He had already been first at everything. He wanted to be something other than the first — to be historical, game-changing, to have grand influence like FDR or LBJ. But he missed out on the day job,” which was jobs and economic growth.
Some, Cook says, “are told all their lives that they are the most brilliant people on the planet. They don’t get less bright, but hubris kicks in. [Obama] just assumed that he was going to be a success, as he had always been in life.”
According to Cook, this reflects a lack of experience. “Experience is not an end, it is a means to an end: judgment.” Cook said that a few years in the Senate “don’t give an understanding of institutions and their dynamics. If [Obama] had been in the Senate six or eight years, he might have accumulated the wisdom to match the intelligence.”
That’s about as devastating a critique as you are going to get from a neutral observer. Obama’s arrogance got the better of him; he knew better than everyone and will now pay the price.
But there was more going on than simply picking the wrong agenda items or refusing to temper his own ego. Obama’s ideological rigidity and policy preferences ran headlong into Americans’ skepticism about big government and their sense of moral outrage. The Tea Party is a movement grounded in the belief in limited government. But it was also born out of a sense that we have lost track of fundamental values — thrift, discipline, and humility, for starters — and as a result are seeing irresponsible spending, massive debt, and liberal statism.
Obama did not listen to the health-care town-hall attendees or to the voters of New Jersey, Virginia, or Massachusetts. Why should he? He didn’t pay attention to more sober-minded aides, polls, or his own nervous congressional allies. His absolute certainty in his own vision combined with his lack of understanding of the American polity and substantive policy (from economics to the Middle East). As his poll ratings and party’s electoral prospects continue to dive, he reacts with annoyance at the rubes in America who fail to appreciate his brilliance. Will such a president actually reverse course after an election? I have my doubts.
“McCain couldn’t be that lucky, could he?”
The politically correct John McCain has been his own worse enemy. And yet, I still think the odds slightly favor him. The MSP (main street propagandists) should have left Joe the Plumber alone.
John McCain should also consider asking that the election be postponed due to the fraudulent voter registrations.
If the media think it is alright to go after Joe the Plumber because he had the gall to ask Obama a question then I think it is perfectly fair to go after the media.
The MSM must feel really bad they have not done due diligence on either BO or the other Joe. So in order to make up, the feel they must dig up dirt on Joe the Plumber. That about says it all!
Joe was everything McCain needed. And he’s so effective that the “obamabots” think he was planted by Karl Rove (the man who haunts democrat’s dreams….).
“They don’t, at bottom, respect non-elites from middle America or listen to their concerns.
They treat them as cartoon characters or as frauds sent to foil their own quest for power.”
Why the “them” for the ill-treated non-elites from middle America; shouldn’t it be “us”? Are you ashamed to be counted among the “them” or something? Not snobbism, I hope.
“The only question remaining: will they keep it up? McCain couldn’t be that lucky, could he?”
He can be that lucky, but like the Palestinians, to paraphrase Golda Meir, he never misses an oppurtunity to miss an oppurtunity.
In those days, when He said, “Woman, who has condemned thee”, even the press retreated from the vicinity. Nowadays their laptops bulge with stones.
Pursuant to my last post, and out of a respectful curiosty, perhaps you could inform “us” whether your reference to “them” indictes that you perhaps consider yourself an elite from middle America or, alternatively, a non-elite from upper-echelon America.
Joe the Plumber is out of business and unemployed:
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/10/16/good-news-toledo-moves-to-shut-down-joe-the-plumber/
Alan Weick,
I believe that quote was from Abba Eban
Jonas Menchik,
I stand corrected. But, I do believe she told Anwar Sadat when he came to Israel “What took you so long?”
> The liberal media throng and Democratic elites never learn the right lesson.
> It’s been only a month since they vilified Sarah Palin,
> leading to a gigantic backlash and the largest surge in John McCain’s
> standing in the polls yet. But they didn’t learn.
Heh, what a ridiculous claim even by Commentary standards:-)
Pray, tell, where is the “McCain surge” today?
And Sarah Palin has shot herself in the foot sufficiently often for even committed conservatives to question the wisdom of having her on the ticket. Right wing partisans
on the fringe may like her but independents and moderates are now less likely to support McCain than before the conventions. She is one non-trivial reason for that.
—
The problem with “Joe the Plumber” is that as usual, the McCain campaign did not check the facts very carefully. Strictly speaking, he is not even a plumber (no license). And he is currently qualified for a tax cut anyway if Obama had his way so it’s ridiculous of him to whine about hypothetically having to pay additional taxes. Anyway, being a law abiding citizen he should first pay the taxes that he (according to Politico.com) still owes Uncle Sam.
MARCU$
It’s called whack a mole on Obama critics by the press.
Marcu$ really doesn’t get it. No one gives a hoot about a plumber or electrician or any particular individual or tradesman from Ohio. The point is Joe exposed Obama as a socialist-minded liberal who just wants to take money from productive citizens and give it away to less productive citizens (or non-citizens, I would guess). So there is no point to pointing out whether this particular individual will get a tax cut, has a license, drinks beer or beats his wife. All that is irrelevant to the salient point; i.e., Obama is nothing more than a left-wing liberal who knows better how to spend your hard-earned money than you do.
Joe the Plumber is out of business and unemployed
This is what Obama brings for everyone, except himself.
Marcus is just regurgitating the liberal’s talking points this morning. I received at least 3 emails with the same claims…
It’s truly amazing how touchy the liberal establishment gets when The One is confronted on a legitimate issue. Last time I checked this was a free country. Nowadays, if you going to ask a question that might embarrass a powerful man, you better make sure you have a clean past (even if the past of the powerful man is not necessarily so… Read More). Otherwise, they’re going to make an example out of you. Zeitgeist….
Politicians like to talk about faceless voters like “the mother in Winsconsin who can’t afford healthcare” or “the father of 4 in Ohio who sits at the kitchen table wondering how to make ends meet”. All beautiful lines. But the problem is when a voter actually replies….
About the talking points:
About your specific points:
1) His name is not “Joe”
Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher – I guess you can call him Joe, right?
2) You don’t need a license to do residential work…. so this is irrelevant.
3) He said he was planning to buy his firm. He didn’t say he owned already. It’s called a hypothetical question. And exercise of thought. Can’t a presidential candidate handle that?
4) He’s a republican. So what? Isn’t any citizen entitled to ask a question to a person running for the highest office?
But more to the point: will any private citizen be subjected to having his private and professional life exposed if he dares to ask a question that might embarrass a politician? (and remember, the “embarrassing” and revealing aspect of the dialogue was in the answer, not the question).
MARCU$, the problem, for Obama, related to “Joe the Plumber” is not “Joe the Plumber”. It is Obama’s desire to “spread the wealth” that was revealed through his conversation with “Joe the Plumber”. Obama’s plan to do this exists whether or not any particular individual benefits under the plan.
It is not ridiculous to complain about hypothetically paying higher taxes under an Obama administration if you are ambititious, or have a desire or expect to improve your financial standing in the near term.
I think the key takeaway isn’t even on the economic/tax issues so much as the free speech issue. The lesson being taught about how Obama’s thugs will rule us:
Obey your betters, or be destroyed.
That is the beauty of the question. And Joe doesn’t sound like a shrinking violet. I know Marcus has probably almost no independent thought capability but McCain has been pretty much recognized as having been ahead prior to the financial crisis hitting, which as we all know, hurts the party with the president, even if he had tried to prevent it and the other party stonewalled him.
Whenever Obama talks without being scripted he reverts to what he is – a communist, not a socialist. A communist/fascist. It is what he was brought up in and is what his wife believes and is what his closest associates believe. The next thing that needs to be torn down is this 95% are getting a tax cut baloney. That is impossible. Time to peel away the opnion. The campaign has no answer to the questions that are only now being asked quietly. His tax cut doesn’t exist. The only question is how far down the line does the tax increase go, and if you do work for a small business, or any business, how many employees who think they are getting a tax cut are in reality going to get a income cut – to zero.
Joe — love him, hate him (though why anyone would “hate” him, I can’t imagtine), he’s one of those blips on the radar screen that come up every week in an election cycle.
McCain needs more than this, assuming this really is actually helping him slightly at all.
“he only question is how far down the line does the tax increase go, and if you do work for a small business, or any business, how many employees who think they are getting a tax cut are in reality going to get a income cut – to zero.”
good point. Come to think of it, Obama might just have solved the problem of immigration (both legal and illegal). Nobody will want to come to America…
currently qualified for a tax cut anyway
You still believe there will be a tax cut ? .. you fool. You’re either too young or stupid not to remember the Clinton middle income tax cut .. or, should I say, the first big lie of the Clinton Administration.
Please take a look at the stock market .. even the rich aren’t so rich any more. They will be taking losses for years to come, while the IRS will be getting nothing.
Just a few days ago, CNBC stated that $8.2 trillion dollars of market value are gone since the beginning of the year. At the lowest tax rate that translates into at least $1.2 trillion in taxes are gone.
The US, government and people, are deep in debt. There is no money for a tax cut. Even the RINOs won’t buy into spending/tax cuts when the deficits are on this scale.
After Colin Powell endorses Barack on Meet the Press on Sunday, nobody’s gonna be talking about Joe/Sam anymore!
What a bunch of racist homophobes this site attracts. Thank G_d for good executives like Obama.
JEM says,
“Whenever Obama talks without being scripted he reverts to what he is – a communist, not a socialist. A communist/fascist. It is what he was brought up in and is what his wife believes and is what his closest associates believe.”
This is totally mistaken. The far left dislikes/distrusts Obama equally to the far right. In fact, the far left really has no interest in this election believing that McCain/Obama are both owned by/flunkees of/corporate America. When you call Obama a Communist, you get McCain no new votes in addition to being insulting to real communists.
Great post. Except…it ignores reality in both of its key points. (1) Has it struck you that Sarah Palin has ended up being a disaster for McCain’s poll ratings, and that she has a higher disapproval than approval rating? Looks like “ordinary Americans” aren’t much bigger fans of her than the liberal media throng. (2) Outside of the conservative hall of mirrors, “wealth re-distribution” looks like a pretty good idea to ordinary Americans. After all, the elites of Wall Street are, despite their companies’ ups and downs, living large, and ordinary Americans are still struggling to pay for basic household expenses. This isn’t the 1950s or the 1980s anymore. Most Americans feel fine about spreading the wealth, because what they see is that they don’t have the wealth, and they’d like a little more of it.
Wasn’t the subprime mortgage meltdown an attempt to “Spread the wealth?” To get people who couldn’t otherwsie afford homess into them. How’d that turn out?
I completely disagree with the characterization of the effect of the MSM’s attack on Sarah Palin. It didn’t harm the Obama campaign. Rather, it harmed Sarah Palin. She was viciously smeared, and since then, she’s become both reviled and a joke. Sorry to say, because I support her and think she’s pretty terrific.
Maybe the difference in this case is that Joe the Plumber is not running for public office. I hope and pray that Americans will see that the Democrats are seeking to destroy a private citizen (not a candidate for public office) simply because he elicited an unfelicitous answer from Obama.
Meanwhile, I don’t see any reports in the MSM about that unfelicitous answer at all. It’s “down the memory hole.”
Simon, let’s see how “ordinary Americans” feel when “spread the wealth”, Democrat-style, throws them out of work. Do you really think folks were happier during the Depression? The only real way to spread wealth is to enable individuals to create it. But I forget: In the Kingdom of Schadenfreude every man is a triumphant failure.
“Obama is nothing more than a left-wing liberal who knows better how to spend your hard-earned money than you do.”
You’re right there. At first, I was disgruntled that the right wing conservatives under Bush put this country in a hundred gazillion dollars of debt, but on the day they discovered those WMDs in Irak, I remember thinking to myself that it was all worth it. I’d gladly give them more of my hard earned money so, once and for all, they can get those WMDs in Costa Rica and, moreover, pay that country back for 9/11 to boot.
MartyH,
that’s what the lefties don’t get (well, they get it. That’s why they want THEMSELVES to have the wealth and then spread everybody else’s around).
The point is, when you spread the wealth around you create negative incentives in the economy in a way that there won’t be not enough to everybody. Rising unemployment, less investment, less wealth.
One thing people should understand is that the government does NOT create wealth. Ask the politicians where the 700 billion for the bailout will come from? Certainly not from the “productive activities” of the government….
Interestingly, in the 1950s, the top marginal tax rate was 91%. Didn’t stop economic growth, innovation, or entrepreneurship. It’s hard to imagine that a move in the top marginal rate from 36% to 39% will make folks with good ideas (who, yes, create wealth) decide not to start that new business. “Oh, jeez, the government is going to take 3% more of what I make over $250,000? Forget this whole Microsoft thing then, I’ll just go back to school.” The Laffer curve is not reflected in the real world.
Actually, it’s not only the redistribution that is a problem (although, that’s some problem!). It’s also that some people don’t listen. It’s like Thomas Franks “What’s the Matter with Kansas”. It’s classic: Joe the Plumber has concerns, but, his concerns aren’t valid. The concerns of the elite, whatever, are the real concerns. I guess that’s false consciousness stuff, so, it’s related to redistribution? I’ve had people tell me taxes are no big deal, cubicle dwellers and Obama voters, and I have to laugh. They link to NYT articles to debunk the claim, and I’m all, but, some of my family are small business owners. They don’t need NYT articles to tell them what their concerns are, or if taxes are a problem. Sheesh!
Paulo-
You’re right that government does not create wealth per se. Government supplies the conditions for creating wealth, just as a good road creates the conditions to get from one place to another quickly and safely. I’m not anti-government and believe that the government has a role to play to foster wealth creation.
Simon-
The tax rates were higher, but weathly people used tax shelters to escape these rates.A whole lot of wasted time, effort, and energy went into beating the tax man rather than productive uses.
If you were poor or middle class, you were screwed, espeically since your tax rate applied to all of your income. Thus, my brother once got a raise that pushed him into a higher bracket, and his take home pay actually went down.
Inconvenient truths:
Democrats and the media nailed Palin. She is a self-dealing politician, an abuser of power unfit for executive office, and a nitwit. A majority of Americans agree that she is unqualified to be president. She has chased away the Reagan Democrats and the Independents. She also has caused the smartest conservative columnists in the nation to jump ship. Where is this backlash you speak of? It was a transient phenomenon that disappeared the second fair-minded people got to watch her in action and learn of her record.
Joe the Plumber. Is not a licensed plumber. Doesn’t pay his taxes. Would benefit from Obama’s tax plan. Wants to eliminate Social Security. Is a dullard. If you stand in front of cameras, appear on morning talk shows, bask in being a public figure, delight in sharing you opinions with the nation, you will be scrutinized like a public figure. McCain embraced the guy without vetting him.
The major similarity between Palin and Plumber is this: They both represent the recklessness of McCain, his inability to think ahead or be strategic. They show that both the Republican party and conservative movement are out of intellectual arguments and now pander exclusively to the least educated, smallest minded, most easily deluded cohorts of American society.
Thank you, Chuck, for saying what everyone here knows, deep down, to be true. McCain is a disaster as a candidate, and his campaign is a textbook example of mismanagement and disorganization.
Palin is an absolute disaster. I still hear talk that she’s the future of the Republican party, but that’s exactly wrong: she is the Republican party’s recent past and present, distilled and magnified in all its theocratic pettiness and dishonesty. She is a caricature of the right’s worst instincts, and with any luck she will mark the end of this particular line.
America needs a smart, serious, and rational conservative movement, and that will only materialize when the current Republican party is razed and rebuilt from scratch.
Interesting how the Obama supporting haters of Sarah Palin and “Joe ” never talk real issues. Their answer to serious questions is “Shut them up!!” The Democrat Party of FDR ,Truman, Henry Jackson has turned Fascist in tone. What a shame.
RayS, if that post was meant to be ironic, I congratulate you.
“The Democrat Party of FDR ,Truman, Henry Jackson has turned Fascist in tone. What a shame.”
Fascist in tone? You mean like the interview Conservative Sean Hannity gave with Conservative anti-Semite Andy Martin on Conservative Fix News that was bitterly criticised by the Conservative blogosphere.
The Obamaites..Same old story.More slurs. Never ARGUE FACTS..
That’s right Ray. I made the whole Hannity story up.
“And he is currently qualified for a tax cut anyway if Obama had his way so it’s ridiculous of him to whine about hypothetically having to pay additional taxes.”
So many partisans are throwing this canard out as if it supposed to make us feel better. So, because I make $35,000 a year and will qualify for Obama’s “tax cut”, I can’t demand that Obama instead just give us a real tax cut and allow me to keep more of my money? This is like Queen Marie-Antoinette telling the peasants, “Let them eat cake.” But what do you expect from technocrats who think they know better than everyone else? However, it is not a winning argument.
So Sam asks Obama a question, McCain uses Sam as a debate prop and then Sam decides he likes the interviews and continues to answer questions. Then we find out that Sam isn’t a plumber, his taxes will not be affected by Obama’s tax plan and that his backstory was a load of Moose poop.
But somehow this is the fault of the Obama campaign and the evil, elite liberal press once again slamming poor old regular schlubs like Sam.
Oh, and why is it a bad thing when Obama proposes “wealth distribution” but when that high-functioning moron we call a president and his minions give billions to their cronies it’s free-market capitalism? Are there are any right-wing pundits left who can bring themselves to tell the truth?
#22 – The stock market may have lost $8.2 trillion in value but that does not translate into $1.2 billion in tax losses. You need to realize the loss to take advantage of it and, besides, the government, in its infinite wisdom, only allows you to deduct $3000 in losses for any year. Of course, it taxes 100% of your gain at 15%. Your point, though, is well taken.
#26 – So, in essence, Obama is just catering to the mob.
Moose – you don’t fully understand. The problem is not that Joe is not the owner of a plumbing business, although he does plumbing work, and if you are worried about the tax lien then I presume you are worried about Obama’s campaign treasurer who has one as well. The problem is twofold. Joe asked a legitimate question, and Obama fell into what he believes – and folks he is a communist – and talked about spreading around the wealth. At that point it doesn’t matter who asked the question, Obama gave a peek into his true belief system, and that isn’t popular, by any poll anywhere. Next, the reaction of the press and the Obama-ites was to go after and destroy the asker of a legitimately phrased question and try to destroy him. This is a not so nice, but unfortunately, commmon occurrance with Obama, which raises many questions about the press, Obama and the potential for a police state. While you lefties worried about Bush the Fascist, you are endorsing someone who is many times worse than Bush could ever hope to be. So, Moose, what this is doing is helping McCain stay alive. It is forcing Obama to once again fail to close the deal, and the polling is coming back close again. That is why it is important – Obama cannot say what he truly is, and it is forcing him to talk about things he would prefer to leave unsaid.
McCain is behind, but everyone of any legitimacy is questioning whether Obama can get the votes on election day. That the MSM is in the tank for Obama is inarguable. Their sole purpose is to supress GOP turnout, nothing more. All you Palin haters need to realize something, she hasn’t hurt McCain at all, in fact she gave him the lead until financial meltdown city. She motivates the base. She asks the questions of Obama that no-one wants to ask and she is bringing out crowds that only Obama could hope for now. That gets volunteers to drive turnout. Politically, she has better sense than anyone else of the four, even Clinton has said that. You can keep saying you hate her and she is terrible, but she isn’t. She is driving GOP turnout and clicking with Hillary dems who want their girl to have a shot in 2012. Analyze it politically and you might see it differently.
Obama is deemed less qualified to be president than any presidential nominee since Dukakis. That hasn’t moved. He hasn’t been able to get to 50% on any reputable poll, without a party ID spread of double digits. That ain’t going to happen, folks. The latest polls out there show the race in the 3% range, within the margin of error. In Obama’s defense, some legitimate vote watchers suggest the party ID spread could go to 8%, as opposed to 3 to 4%. If this happens, he is probably safe. But if he can’t get above a 4% ID spread and he is polling no higher than 5% prior to the election, he is in trouble.
The evil Rove has stated quite plainly that Obama cannot seal the deal and has been unable to knock McCain out. Obama’s wife spends $300 on lobster and cavier and champagne, can you say “let them eat cake”, the democratic representative in Florida with the mistress, the 95% getting a tax cut that has no chance of reality, Obama needs the MSM to carry him over. No this is not over. McCain has to watch his negative ad polling, it needs to be just right so as to not lose Independents. A very interesting last few weeks. If it settles down financially, that will help McCain even more. Let’s watch and see.
On what planet is someone who works for a plumbing company, does plumbing, but doesn’t have some ‘we need the fees for our phoney-baloney jobs’ local government license, not a plumber? This is the talking point? And calling Joe Sam is like using Piyush Jindal for Bobby Jindal. Is it some left of center thing to not call people by the names they would like to be called?
I swear, every election gets stupider than the last…..
“Is it some left of center thing to not call people by the names they would like to be called?”
Wouldn’t think so, at least to the point of exclusivity. Otherwse how to explain all those witty Osama appellations? Sam for Joe seems relatively benign in comparison.
“Obama’s wife spends $300 on lobster and cavier and champagne, can you say “let them eat cake”.
I guess not, but you can say he didn’t ditch her for someone richer.
We are ALL Joe the Plumber
re the “ditch her” reference in my last post. I should have mentioned that $300 caviar-eating Michelle was not involved in a life-threatening auto accident, so of course her husband, unlike other husbands in a comparable situation, doesn’t have this as a (right-of-center?) inducement to dump her.
How much crack did you smoke before writing this?
Keep grasping at those straws.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/2924978934_f0ff0c287e_o.
in economics there is a principle known as ‘availability cascading’, which means that things will continue to go right or wrong until an event stops it. in obamas case, he has had the fortune to run against the two worst campaigners known to man, hillary and mccain. this good fortune will end at some point[ his luck will change from good to bad] ., the question is what event will change it? joe the plumber? perfect opportunity i think. however things are cascading downward for mccain, which means he is in a cycle of ‘bad luck’. in other words, mccain may not have sense enough to take advantage of this opportunity. it will be interesting to see whose luck breaks 1st. my luck is cascading downward, as i will have one of these underqualified men as president, and after 8 years of clinton, then 8 years of bush i thought my luck would change!!! this amounts to at least a 20 year cycle of bad luck.
I think “Joe” is a perfect symbol of the reasons that McCain is losing so much traction. Quite like Ms. Palin, McCain allied himself with an unknown, and it has come back to bite him. Despite what hard-core McCain supporters may believe, “Joe the Plumber” is not helping the cause. As more people view the entire video of the interaction between Joe and Barack, those people see a Presidential candidate who takes a serious amount of time to have a discussion with someone who clearly disagrees with him, yet Barack speaks to him with respect and great patience, and outlines quite clearly how Joe may benefit from the proposals he has offered. Barack couldn’t be more specific, which is in direct opposition to Joe’s claim that he ‘tap-danced’ around the issue, tearing apart what may have been left of Joe’s credibility.
The past days have shown that Joe was nothing he purported to be. How anyone could believe this benefits McCain is after McCain made him the centerpiece of the debate. Again, McCain’s downfall will be due to his poorly chosen allies.
LOL. I can’t even form words to reply to this.
The whole episode is strange. Joe the Plumber doesn’t seem to know the difference between revenue and profit, and which of those gets taxed. That’s all that had to be pointed out, and then the libs should have moved on – instead they’re pulling up his income, pointing out he has no license… all sorts of things that just don’t matter.
He was put forward as a blue-collar guy who would have to pay more taxes under Obama. That turned out not to be the case. There’s no need to vilify him, just point out that he’s one of the ones getting a tax cut instead of an increase and move on.
dave, i agree with you. but why couldn’t obama say what you said? in the same amont of words? now, a ‘big deal’ is being made, liberals are all over this guy[ not to his face of course because he looks to me like he could take pretty good care of himself] and mccain is at a loss [after exploiting him at the debate] as to what to do next. in any case my luck continues to cascade downward, as one of these dullards will be president. i may write-in ‘joe the plumber’. by the way, i’m betting that ‘joe’ has enough sense to capitalize on this moment in history. a smart man would invest a few dollars and set ‘joe’ up in business, both would do very well.
This Country does not run for FREE as many try to believe. This Country already shares the wealth and does many things in the community interest. For example, we all pay for the schools, the military, the police the fire departments, the roads, the government. We as a society basically support each other. Does that make us socialists or a Marxist, or a communist. No it makes us dedicated Americans working for a better life. Don’t be fooled, when anyone says that they will not raise your taxes. They fail to mention how to pay for items. It is an easy transition to lower federal income taxes and raise or shift the taxes to the state or local level.
For those who believe in Labels, just remember that Hitler understood the power of the Label. To destroy your enemy, you must first label them. De-humanize them. Call them them a dirty Jew, a filthy savage, a terrorist, a bleeding heart Liberal, a chink (sp), a wetback, a nigger. Even the word Yankee can be used negitively. Just pick one, any one, attach a negative connotation and you have it. Now proceed. They are less than you and you have a right to destroy them.
Anything you can do to distract from the fact that Palin has not given a press conference. Nor will she give another real interview. This should embarrass you. This is slipping away and all you have to talk about is Joe the Plumber and Bill “Annenbergs are Terrorist Funders” Ayers.
The story that should be followed is why John McCain chose Joe “the plumber” to be an example of average people who are concerned about their taxes. It shows once again that Mr. McCain has very bad judgment. He select Sarah Palin, who has turned out to be nothing by a drag on the ticket without spending any time vetting her. There are some Republican women who would have helped the ticket but he chose the stupid choice. There are probably hundreds of thousands of “joe the plumber” type people who are actually licensed plumbers and who actually are small business owners but once again the McCain campaign didn’t do their homework and made another stupid choice. Who with an ounce of intelligence would want someone with such bad judgment as president?
You have to watch this!
Joe the Plumber schooling Obama
Hahaha nice try Jen. You have a ways to go before you are as “smart” as Ann Coulter.
Joe the Plumber is the son of a Charles Keating executive. It’s no coincidence.
to republican voting for obama; another conspiracy eh? i love conspiracies. i heard thst joe was on the grassy knoll the day kennedy was shot in dallas!!!! seriously, if you are going to throw that out there for us to ponder you need to back it up with some proof. where is it?
If you make less than $250,000 under Obama’s plan, you see no tax increase. What is so hard about that for some people to comprehend? If you need someone to further explain it to you, ask Joe the Plumber.
I am an American who values the truth, I disrespect people who LIE. That being said, i find it very sad that Mr McCain put this man in the spotlight without considering what it would do to him. I just want McCain to stop talking about it, it looks foolish.
this just in……….. matin nesbitt, treasurer of the obama campaign, has a tax lien owed to the state of california. for about double the amount that joe the plumber owes to ohio. i bet that gets cleared up by monday, and of course the records will be sealed tighter then john kerry’s less then honorable discharge or obamas college thesis. i said it before, this joe the plumber guy is not to be screwed with liberals, now, what say you?it is a liberal inclination to grab defeat out of the jaws of victory. they can’t help it. they kill mosquitoes with sledge-hammers, then wonder how they lost !!! only a liberal could lose to a republican like mccain after 8 years of bush. my vote is set, i vote for joe the plumber, who of the three[obama,mccain and joe] is by far the most sensible.