About that Joe the Plumber Guy and the Real Tax Increase Planned for All of Us

We know the Republican party will stop at nothing to use psychological warfare in pushing voters to work against their best interests. This man Joe Wurzelbacher was used as a prop by John McCain during last night's debate. I thought Obama was caught of guard for a moment in fact, though he was able to recover. Debating is not one of his strengths though he has improved vastly over the past six months. Sparring and (stumbling at times) through his debates against Hillary Clinton did help him step up his game. 

I don't believe in coincidences. The Republican party has been on the offensive and have been engaging in highly offensive behavior. McCain dismissed any calls of admonishment for those that have shouted for bringing harm to Obama or have engaged in racially charged actions. So he is giving his approval of such tactics. Yet he wants Obama to throw John Lewis under the bus for calling him out on it. Lewis was claimed as a hero by McCain in an earlier debate now he wants his head on a platter? As I stated before McCain has sunk so low he has to reach up for the gutter.

There is this meme being presented whereby Middle class values are equated with white people who live in smaller towns. They are imbued with a distinctive moral fiber and are being elevated as the only 'true Americans'. Populations to the far East or West are 'liberals' and everyone else is completely discounted, particularly people of color. This is where Joe Six Pack and Joe the Plumber come into play.

As it turns out this man is an employee of a small business and is nowhere near in a position to buy the business. He doesn't have a license. He owes the state of OH $1200 in back taxes. He doesn't earn $250K. I find it curiously convenient that this man approached Obama to plant seeds of discourse over his tax plan that would in fact reduce taxes for 95% of the country. 

That big bad scary tax increase turns out to be not so much in fact. It would increase from its current 36% to 39% for those earning more than $250K. I don't consider a 3% tax increase an exorbitant amount, particularly when other plans are in place to reduce other costs of living across the board. Like with health insurance. It's still better than the across the board tax increase McCain is proposing under the guise of a tax credit for health insurance. That tax rate increase for all wage-earners is anywhere from 1-10%. It is a scam and a sham and I really hope people read between the lines, do real number crunching and figure out it's the typical Republican politricks at work again. 

McCain claims the average cost of health insurance is $5800 per person. In what state is he referring to and with what insurer? Magicland?! So going back to his plan of a $2500 for single, $5000 tax credit for families let's do the math. Not that a family has been specifically defined but let's assume it's the 2 parents and 2 kid scenario. That's a total $23, 200 for the four but McCain's credit is $5000. Your family's taxable amount has now increased by $18, 200. This policy is penny wise but pound foolish and sets a bad precedent for how strapped we'd end up. Meanwhile the multi-national corporations get an increase in their windfall profits at our expense. 

McCain also alluded to those with top-tier insurance policies are not part of the equation, but tried to misconstrue it as those with coverage for plastic coverage surgery or other 'unnecessary' coverage. Well I'm not aware of insurers covering plastic surgery unless it's reconstructive in nature from an accident. Plastic surgery is typically classified as elective (meaning not covered).  So much for choice! He has also failed to mention he currently has top-tier insurance at a heavily subsidized rate through our tax dollars. 

I went to the Obama Tax Cut website to punch in my numbers to determine what my tax reduction would be and to compare the difference under the McCain plan. I'd save several hundred dollars under the Obama plan and less than $100 under the McCain plan, but like I stated above if I add in the cost of the health insurance as taxable income goes up by about $8000 (and counting). That puts me in a higher tax bracket and my taxes would go up 3-5% regardless. So McCain's plan, like McCain's choice in a running mate is a Trojan horse and a set up to cause more harm than good. 

Meanwhile the Republicans are lying about ACORN while trying to purge legally registered voters from rolls in all the battleground states, esp. Ohio, Florida and Colorado. There are 19 days left. Even if you have reservations about this so-called utopia of hope floating in the horizon I urge everyone to get out and take action toward something positive. Phone bank, knock on doors, sign a few petitions and donate. Be engaged politically. It's our country and we should not forget that. 

Update 140pm:  See I hadn't read any blogs before I wrote this post. I just glanced through the Yahoo article I linked to when I was checking my messages. Apparently all heck has broken loose over Joe the Plumber. He was definitely a plant and is in fact a relative of Charles Keating, white collar banking thief and friend of McCain. You can't make this shizz up!!