Posted on 10/20/2008 10:22:42 AM PDT by .cnI redruM
A lot of people got really angry with a character named Joe the Plumber in recent days. He not only had the unmitigated gall to ask Barack Obama a question; he asked him a hard and rather loaded one. And that, according to the Martha Stewart Set, is not a good thing.
So this low-brow, Chris Daughtry-looking plumber asks Barack Obama whether he wanted to raise his taxes or not. Silly Hillbilly engaging in serious political debate is for the cool people. Presumably, arrogant, self-selecting, elitist creeps that the Joe The Plumbers-in-Training of the world badly want to stuff in the High School Cafeteria garbage bin during their formative years.
The media, both MSM and blog-driven, gave Joe the Roto-Rooting of his life. The local authorities in Toledo, Ohio want to make sure the man cant earn a living in the city where he currently lives. The internet commode known as the Daily Kos overflowed, and spewed Joes home address and phone number to the world. Diane Sawyer wants to know what Joes beef is.
Well, I just want to ask you now about the issue that was raised, because its been a little confusing to me as I try to sort it out here. To get straight here, youre not taking home $250,000 now, am I right?
No. No. Not even close, confessed Joe.
And that should close the case right then and there. Some sweaty, cretinous Moorlock in fly-over land doesnt understand that Barack Obama will give 95% of all Americans a tax break. Providing they sit on their butts, and agree to do absolutely nothing.
Well, thats what Joe understands and Diane Sawyer doesnt get, will never get, and even with a gun to her head; wouldnt want to ever get. What Joe the Plumber was asking Barack Obama was whether hard work was commendable, or a form of misdemeanor. That is the question that legislatures here and throughout the world answer when they design a system of taxation.
Barack Obama tells Joe the Plumber that he wants to spread the wealth. This is supposed to be morally commendable? Umm, its not even close.
Lets say Machine Gun Tommy mugs Joe the Plumber in an alley, steals his wallet and goes to see which ladies will spread for the bread at Pokar de Azez strip club. We should all owe Tommy a debt of gratitude. Hes spreading Joes wealth in a fashion quite similar to how Americas system of progressive taxation and earmarked appropriations works.
Senator Barack Obamas tax plan will supercharge that amoral process the way The Cream and The Clear helped Barry Bonds go yard. Senator Obama is not being generous, or even decent, unless that wealth hes out there spreading was originally his own.
Part of why Baracks Doberman-Pincher Media sacked Joe the Plumber in voracious fashion, was because Joe stopped talking about the present economy and asked Barack Obama a hard question - about what it all will be like in the future. Hes deciding whether Barack Obamas America is a place in which he should bother.
In some peoples minds I went left on the Right Wing blogs by arguing that we had a patriotic duty to not go John Galt. This Joe the Plumber thing, and the reaction he triggered from the Left, has me challenging my own precepts. Its gotten beyond tax policy and expanded further, into the realm of philosophy.
When Joe asks if you can still get ahead in America without being handicapped for it and penalized, he may just really be asking if America is still going to be good. Well still be great; nobody wants a piece of our navy and the world buys dollars more, since AIG cratered. But, I return to Plumber Joes implicit question: Does Barack Obamas America intend to be good?
That makes those of us who still think good has relevance outside the realm of opinion start arguing over what good is. While thats one step up from arguing over what is is, it still can be a dirty epistemological job. This involves ethics, and there arent a whole lot of people left in Washington, DC who understand that concept.
It also involves our future. This isnt a popular topic for someone heavily invested in running against the present. Thus, Joe the Plumber gets the punishment meted out to all smart people who dont know better than to ask inconvenient questions.
Joes hang-up seems to be that regardless of who wins this tawdry goat-fornication of an election; hed like to remain an American in the traditional sense. Can he still do that without a license from the City of Toledo?
I’m assuming now that Obama is a front man for the remaining members of the radical left.
It is because Diane wants those making less than $250K a year to think they are safe and never aspire to make over that amount. Those are the people who get hurt - not the ultra rich like Diane - she can make off shore investments and have save havens for her money - she won’t pay more - it is those of us unfortunately to fall between $250K and about $1.250 million who will bear the brunt.......of course I actually think it will be more like those making $75K up - because Obama will not be able to make the numbers work and will be “forced” to lower that amount to include the idiots who believed him and voted with their hand out for their freebie...
Yes, that is the crucial question, “who is the puppet master?”
We have to give ohbama credit, he answered an honest question, truthfully.
It wasn’t Joe that turned this around, it was the ignorant, inexperienced ‘messiah’ himself. Fool that he is.
Nobama’s slogan from the jump should have been:
Freeloaders Unite!!!!
Yes, that is the crucial question, who is the puppet master?”
George Soros, William Ayers, Bernadette Dorn, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Chuckie Schumer, Harry Ried, Pelosi, et al.
They all cheat- they all lie- they all think we are stupid!!!
I don't know, of course, but Ayers has a long history of letting others do his dirty work for him.
Already, members of the Bill Clinton adminstration are coming on board (for example, John Podesta). I assume there's a wide network consisting of liberals, leftists, communists and islamicists waiting in the wings. Our powers of observation and reporting at Free Republic will be exercised to the max.
It's the radical revolutionary left, dressed up in the clothes of Gramsci (incremental change trying to avoid violent reaction).
Of course we know we're not safe. A good example is California, it's run top to bottom by Democrats, Gov Arnie will claim otherwise, but his Tax & Spend ideals betray him. The highest CA state income tax rate starts at only $45,000 a year.
Nobody in the US, much less, in expensive California, feels "rich" at $45,000 but the Democrats in Califonia are going after the "rich" and if you've got a job, you're the "rich" they're going after.
Joe's response was "oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go there, it was just a hypothetical, sorry...". He backed off.
He should have retorted "no, I don't, but I'd like to and I'm trying to get to that point - and it seems like Obama is trying to discourage me. Say, Diane, I'm pretty sure YOU take home more than $250K, what do YOU think about him taking more of your income away from you, income that you chose to NOT give to the government?"
I wonder how those ultra rich, who can hide their income in tax free areas -would feel about voluntarily donating half of their total income to the Hood..... give your money to ACORN so that which is not stolen, can filter down to the needy in America. Come on celebrities and big business Democrats - put your money where your mouth is - Come on Obama - donate half of those proceeds from “your” book to ACORN -
Epiphany:
The reason why the left-right dichotomy generally matches the urban-rural division is that urbanites largely thrive off re-arranging existing goods, while ruralites experience dirt & sweat as the source of all things. (Overstated indeed, but generally true.)
The “spread the wealth around” meme makes perfect sense if you think “wealth” is just tokens which can be redistributed: it’s all there, and capitalism just unfairly complicates the process of everyone getting a fair share. Every square inch is artificial and pre-exists. Hungry? just divvy up the contents of the grocery store, which always has enough. Poor? just move those dollars around without any of that pesky “earning” nonsense. Oh sure, we’ll all need to work, but work is just a matter of taking all this stuff and spreading it around, and maybe just kinda sticking some of it together or splitting it up; there’s enough for everyone if the “haves” would just stop hoarding it. Want dinner? there’s a carrot out there somewhere, just a matter of getting it in your hands.
...vs...
The “capitalism” meme recognizes that something comes from nothing thru great personal effort. This is starkly apparent in the country, where most everything is either nature untouched or one tilling removed. Hungry? tear away the undergrowth and shade-causing trees, turn over the soil, plant a seed, wait for weeks, water & weed often, and know the effort required to bring a single carrot into existence. Poor? do the same for a great many carrots at great personal effort, trading the result for other desired goods, using money to facilitate the exchange. We all need to work because if we don’t, _we_don’t_eat_ - not because some greedy capitalist is keeping carrots from us unless we pay him, but because there _aren’t_any_ carrots unless we labor for them. Want dinner? there are no carrots until someone coaxes nature to create one.
BHO, being a lifetime resident of major urban centers, axiomatically believes all wealth simply exists - and “fairness” dictates simply “spreading the wealth around”, presuming that all things are simply on one shelf or another, there for the taking if only the selfish would get out of the way. He thinks carrots come neatly shrink-wrapped from Whole Foods, not from dirt and sweat.
Your argument would make more sense if there was a clear correlation with work ethic and where you live. Actually, there is- the portion of Obama's supporters who are urban and educated tend to work longer hours and make more money than the portion of McCain's supporters who live in rural areas and have lower educational levels.
My wife and I are the target Obama demographic- two urban lawyers living in DC. Much moreso than people out in the provinces, we are going to get hit by Obama's plan to raise taxes.
Interesting refinements, though incomplete.
An undiscussed issue is correcting for local cost of living. Earning twice as much means little if housing costs 3x. The price of my comfortable 3000 sq ft home with small forest would get me a closet-sized condo in NYC. My previous home at 1/3rd that price was suitable for self-sufficient living; what value independence? what price dependency? There are a lot of cabbies with PhDs.
And as Orwell noted: some ideas are so absurd only an intellectual could believe them.
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