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What Did Obama Actually Tell 'Joe the Plumber'?

Posted by Hannah Tennant-Moore

"Joe the Plumber" (AKA Joe Wurzelbacher from Ohio) has been plunged into instant fame by asking Barack Obama a question about his tax policy. Since this interaction became the cornerstone of last night's debate, I thought I'd share a video of the actual interaction Obama had with Wurzelbacher, in which he clearly and concisely explains how his tax policy will affect working Americans.

Photo: BBC


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Posted Oct 16 2008, 03:26 PM
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Comments

 

KFly62 said:

I think Obama just said that the tax increase would only apply to the amount over 250K that you earned.  So if you earned 275K, you'd be paying additional taxes only on the added 25K, and not the entire amount.  

October 17, 2008 9:49 AM
 

Hannah Tennant-Moore said:

Exactly.  And these additional taxes would apply to only 5 percent of small businesses, since the vast majority of small businesses don't make more than 250k a year. Plus, Obama's policy would give Joe's business a tax credit for health care.

October 17, 2008 10:00 AM
 

Mariecel said:

I wonder how Obama can make the details of his plan clearer, but in fewer words? All McCain has to say is "He's raising your taxes" and (it seems to me) most Americans are already up in arms. Why don't most people wait until they know the intimate details of a plan before they shoot it down?

October 17, 2008 12:03 PM
 

Allison said:

Why wouldn't most Americans be up in arms?  You said it yourself, he will raise taxes on small businesses.  What "details" are supposed to make me comfortable with this?  The last thing we need in this economy is to take more money from the small businesses that employ millions of people.  Neither candidate should raise taxes on anyone, or any business; they need to cut spending in our bloated, earmark-chocked government.  It sounds to me like McCain's plan comes closer to this.

October 17, 2008 12:19 PM
 

Hannah Tennant-Moore said:

Allison, Obama's tax plan will lower taxes for 95.5 percent of households with children, 81 percent of all Americans, and 95 percent of small businesses. (Those numbers are according to a nonpartisan tax policy center.) As for the actual numbers, Americans making between $227K-$603k a year would see an average increase of $12 on their tax bill! $12 is practically nothing. The only Americans whose taxes would increase substantially under Obama are those making $2.9 million a year.

McCain's tax policy is a continuation of Bush's tax policy, in which taxes would be lowered for the wealthiest corporations and individuals in America. If you support a tax policy that benefits the wealthiest Americans, that's your right. But let's be honest about the terms.

October 17, 2008 12:59 PM
 

Democrat Struggling with the Math said:

Two things: first, I'm more concerned with the "spread the wealth" comment.  Poor choice of words for a candidate who's only a hairsbreadth away from Socialism as it is.

Secondly, how do you lower taxes on 95% of Americans when roughly 30% don't pay taxes at all? (also according to a nonpartisan tax center)

October 17, 2008 4:01 PM

About Hannah Tennant-Moore

Hannah Tennant-Moore is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Best Buddhist Writing (2008); The Sun; Guantanamo: Inside the Prison, Outside the Law; Tricycle; Turning Wheel (as the winner of the Young Writers Award); and elsewhere.

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