So That's Why Joe the Plumber Wants a Tax Break

121. And by the way, The One's name isn't Barack H. Obama. It's Barry Soetoro, according to legal records in Indonesia.

Posted at 11:46AM on Oct 18th 2008 by idaho potato

122. "Joe" was dubbed that name in the debate he never said his name was "Joe".

All the man did was ask an important question and now he's being investigated by the Obama "supporters". The man was talking about a profit of $250,000.00 or more for a COMPANY which is easily made when you charge 1,000.00 for a simple water heater!! Plumbing companies make a lot of money in case you haven't called a plumber recently....

Spread the wealth Obama, more welfare.

Posted at 12:24PM on Oct 18th 2008 by Mike the plumber

123. 116. Someone pass me the Duct Tape, my heads gonna explode. To all you Obama supporters, You're missing the point. It's not the messenger, its the message. I've seen many comments here about Joe/Sam being a McCain plant. Did you even read the story. Joe/Sam didn't GO TO an Obama rally, Obama CAME TO Joe's neighborhood, walked up to HIM and shook HIS hand. What is so freakin' difficult to understand about that chain of events? Did the McCain campaign have a crystal ball to predict where and when Obama was going to stop??? If they did I'd like to think they'd use it to be MUCH further ahead in the polls. As for the whole point of this rant, I don't give a damn who asks the question, as long as it's asked. You're just pissed that a plumber got the Messiah to admit something the media helped him keep secret.

Posted at 9:34AM on Oct 18th 2008 by Snocrash

The voice of reason in an unreasonable world [of liberals] - THANKS!

Posted at 12:32PM on Oct 18th 2008 by Obama is a Fraud

124. Liberals are hateful. They tear down working people to try and look better. OOOHHH his first name isn't Joe, no it's his middle name. At least he uses his. He doesn't have a license, HE DOESN'T NEED ONE IF HE IS NOT THE CONTRACTOR. His boss has one. He owes $1,400 in taxes from last year. How much does Democrate Charles Rangle owe from not paying on rental property he "forgot " he owned. It's in the thousands. Don't hear much about that do you. Democrates only know how to tear down to take away from their real problem. Obama's answer. Take from hard working people.

Posted at 12:47PM on Oct 18th 2008 by wakeup

125. Hey, idiots at TMZ: Why don't you tell the whole story? His middle name IS Joe, that's the name he goes by. My younger sis goes by her middle name, no big deal. BTW, did you know that Barack Hussein Obama's treasurer has a tax lien on him by the state of CA??

Posted at 3:22PM on Oct 18th 2008 by CeeDee

126. Liz -

I BELIEVE YOU MISSED THE POINT I'M TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO YOU OR ANYONE THAT MIGHT...AND I SAY MIGHT...HAVE AN... "OPEN MIND" !.....BUT IF YOUR'S IS..."CLOSED"...THEN...DIS-REGARD THIS:

IT'S NOT ABOUT THIS GUY "JOE", "SAM", "WURZTH-WHATEVER".....IT'S ABOUT THE "HARD-WORKING" AMERICAN CITIZEN !!!

I KNOW A WOMAN WHO OWNS A... "SMALL BUSINESS", BUT VERY NICE, FURNITURE/DECORATING STORE.....SHE EMPLOYES...8 OTHER WOMEN AND 2 GUYS (WHO MOVE FURNITURE/MAKE DELIVERIES)

NOW SHE (MY FRIEND)...MAKES...(AFTER - PAYING HER 10 EMPLOYEES)....BEFORE TAXES...APPROXIMATELY $300,000. - 350,000. A YEAR....TAKE INTO ACCOUNT NOW HER BUSINESS IS ..DOWN - 25%-30%...RIGHT NOW !

SHE IS SINGLE (DIVORCED - WITH 2 KIDS)....AND LIVES IN A HOME - WORTH APPROX. $ 400,000.....NICE HOUSE - YOU SAY !....YES, BUT THE TOWN SHE LIVES IN IS JUST OUT-SIDE OF THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO -- AVERAGE HOME PRICE OF $700,000............IF SHE PAYS -- UNDER THE OBAMA -- "TAX PLAN"......39% - FEDERAL...9.6% - STATE OF CALIFORNIA....LOCAL PROPERTY TAX -- 1.5%....AND ANY AND ALL OTHER TAXES -- LIKE SALES TAX, LIC.TAX - FOR HER CAR, ETC., ETC...... SO LETS SAY IN TOTAL SHE PAYS APPROX. 53% OF ALL OF HER INCOME TO A GOVERNMENT AGENCY.....SHE ACTUALLY PAYS MORE EACH MONTH IN TAXES THAN SHE TAKES HOME IN SALARY....FOLLOW ME HERE.....HER TAXES WOULD BE $11,483.33 EACH MONTH.....HER TAKE HOME IS $10,183.33...AND HER HOUSE PAYMENT IS $8,850.50...WITH NOT A BAD LOAN OF 5.9%....THAT LEAVES A GRAND TOTAL OF $1332.83...."NOT VERY BAD, YOU SAY !!!....BETTER THAN MOST !!!...I AGREE -- EXCEPT...THAT LEAVES HER AND HER FAMILY...$1,332.83 A MONTH TO -- FEED,...CLOTHE,...SAVE FOR COLLEGE FOR THE TWO KIDS SHE HAS, ETC.

LOOK - YOU MAY THINK SHE IS RICH !....ANYONE WOULD RATHER BE RICH THAN POOR !!!....THIS WOMAN WORKS 8 TO 10 HOURS A DAY !!!.....AND SHE TAKES CARE OF HER 2 CHILDREN....AND SHE EMPLOYES 10 OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR FAMILIES AND HOMES !!!

THIS IS A TYPICAL AMERICAN STORY !!!...AND THIS ONE IS REAL !!!

DO YOU SEE ???.....UNDER - OBAMAS' TAX PLAN THIS WOMAN AND HER KIDS....AND THE 10 OTHER FAMILIES AND THEIR KIDS.....NOT ONLY PAY MORE !!!......BUT !.....MIGHT NOT EVEN BE ABLE TO PAY AT ALL, IF OBAMAS' PLAN GOES IN TO EFFECT !!!.....IS THIS THE PART OF THE AMERICAN DREAM YOU MIGHT NOT BE CONSIDERING ???...OBAMA, SURLY ISN'T !!!

LIZ - HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE JUST LIKE THIS WOMAN ???....I'LL BE WILLING TO BET...THERE ARE MILLIONS !!!

BTW - SHE IS A DEMOCRAT WHO HAPPENS TO BE VOTING FOR.....YOU GUESS IT !!!....McCAIN.

Posted at 4:51PM on Oct 18th 2008 by AL GOREs VAGINA

127. LEAVE THE GUY ALONE WE AMERICANS ARE HURTING JOSEPH IS HIS MIDDLE NAME ALLOT PEOPLE GO BY THEIR MIDDLE NAME OWEING BACK TAXES DOESNT MEAN YOUR BAD IT MEANS THE SYSTEM IS JACKED UP IVE OWED BEFORE OF COURSE I PAID IT OFF AND HE WORKS UNDER A COMPANY THAT IS LICENSED HE IS NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE A LICENSE FAR LEFT NUT JOBS ARE A FRIGGIN JOKE THIS DEMOCRAT IS VOTING MCCAIN HE IS THE MOST QULIFIED FOR THE JOB BO COULDNT HANDLE JOE THE PLUMBER AND THAT BACKFIRED ON HIM SO WILL THE BILL AYERS ISSUE

Posted at 1:32AM on Oct 19th 2008 by christ

128. So much for free speech. Back off, TMZ, we still have the right to ask questions in this country. At least for now.

Posted at 5:37PM on Oct 19th 2008 by McCain-Palin '08

129. Did anyone pay attention to the fact that Obama said we should spread people's wealth around? Please, wake up America, before it's too late.

Posted at 4:13AM on Oct 23rd 2008 by Keep America Free

130. If you lie they will believe. Joe,Sam,plumber,not.Tax evader. How can he get a loan if he owes taxes? What a looser! McSame just keeps digging deeper and deeper. What an old fool! It's time for a change, change we need.

"Ohio for Obama/Biden 08"

Posted at 7:31PM on Oct 19th 2008 by DJAM just rocks

131. Joe the plumber has the nerve to say we should not be worried about his tax problem. The guy is UnAmerican. He defrauds the gov't. He is not worthy of a government looking out for him because he does not care about his country. By the way he looks like the typical redneck racist ... you know the kind , the type you see butchering bodies in an onlocation Texas horror flick in the back woods .

Posted at 11:03AM on Oct 20th 2008 by David

132. HAVING A "TAX LEIN" DOES NOT EQUAL FRAUD OR EVASION!!! Unlike Charley Rangel and others of his ilk who somehow "forget" to include taxable income or property and payment for them, even the IRS readilly admits the tax code is now so complex that even tax CPAs make legitimate errors. Know what happens when your accountant does that? YOU HAVE A TAX LEIN that either you can pay in full when the IRS sends you the bill or you cannot. If you cannot you either take out a private loan or make payments to the IRS. YOU CAN STILL QUALIFY FOR LOANS, it's no different than any other debt except bankruptcy will not discharge debt to the US Treasury.

TAX FRAUD/EVASION is when you PURPOSELY and WILLFULLY attempt to hide sources of income or property (See Rangel example above). Then not only does the IRS collect the back taxes but they add penalties, up to including imprisonment (See Wesley Snipes).

When you work for someone else, paying your correct tax is pretty simple. When you are self-employed, not only are your taxes higher but you have to file four times a year or risk penalties for failure to file quarterly. You also have to keep all the records and between that and the filing itself, it's very time-consuming and takes away from time when you coud be actually earning money, unless you can afford to pay someone to do all this for you full-time. $250k is and isn't a lot of money. If that's your salary, it's a lot of money. If that's your GROSS INCOME as a business owner, after you pay your state, local, and federal taxes, payroll salaries and their taxes (Social Security, FICA, etc.), business and medical insurance, licensing fees, costs for stock, transportation, business loans, advertising, utilities, rent, and so forth, your actual salary as a business owner who grossed 250k is significantly less. Many times it's less than what you pay employees, when you are trying to get started. And when the government increases taxes, all your suppliers pass that cost to you and you either pass that cost to your customers (not always possible when you aren't the big guy) or it cuts your profits further. You can only cut costs so much within a company and maintain quality, then you have to either cut benefits for your employees or face laying off some of them.

What the Gimme People never seem to understand is that you can "raise taxes on the wealthy" but they have plenty of tax shelters to avoid those increases. Middle-class small business owners, who employ more people in America than large corporations, don't have access to those shelters. When taxes are lower it spurs investment in businesses ventures that make more money for them and jobs (and income) for other people--that is true regardless of tax bracket. When taxes go up, wealthy people put their money into shelters instead of business, which isn't helpful for either the economy at large or the regular Joe who needs a job. Guess which would be best for our economy right now?

Doesn't anybody remember when the Federal Income Tax was began under FDR it was promised it was only for the Very Rich and would NEVER affect anyone else or exceed 10%? There's a reason the middle class pays more...there's more of us and we don't have the resources to hide our money. You can confiscate every dollar the wealthy have and will never be enough. There simply aren't enough Oprahs.

If you base your vote on what you think any candidate will GIVE you, you deserve the financial drubbing you have coming. Problem is, you'll take me down with you. I'm nowhere close to that 250k but I work darn hard to stay afloat as it is, trying to earn my way there someday.

And speaking of tax records, take a look at how much the Republican presidential candidates gave to charity in 2007 and years past. Now look at the Democrats. Gee, for wanting to "spread the wealth around" and their supposed compassion and concern for the little guy who is struggling, don't you think it's interesting Obama and Biden, both very wealthy men, choose to give exactly ZERO to charity? When they actually practice what they want to do to me, they'll get my vote.

Posted at 1:28PM on Oct 21st 2008 by not had enough to vote Democrat