1115.org

Interview with Joe Wurzelbacher – Family Security Matters(10/15/08):

PAM MEISTER: So a potential tax increase – how do you see that affecting your ability to hire more people to work with you at your company?
[...]
JOE WURZELBACHER: Essentially what that would do is, I’d have to see how much money is available after everything else is paid, to see if I can one, afford a new vehicle, two, outfit it, and then three, pay a good salary. And if I’m being taxed too much, one of those three things is going to get shorted. One, I won’t be able to buy as good a good vehicle or I won’t stock it as well, or the guy I hire – if I’m able to hire somebody – is not going to make as much as he should.

First to Dean Baker:

Under Senator Obama’s plan, the tax on income above $250,000 would increase by 3 percentage points from 33 percent to 36 percent. This means that Mr. Wurzelbacher could expect to see his tax bill rise by between $0-$900

So what does Joe the Plumber think he’ll have to cut back on to manage this crushing $900 tax burden? The New York Times reports that the business Wurzelbacher says he is considering buying shows an annual profit of $250,000-$280,000. Even at the top end of that range, he could hire an additional worker, buy an additional vehicle, or a couple of computers and a set of tools and bring his taxable income below the level at which the crippling $900 redistribution of wealth kicks in.

If Wurzelbacher is as bad a plumber as he is a businessman, he’s lucky he hasn’t accidentally drowned himself in a sink. I think it’s pretty telling that this is the guy McCain tried to use to pull himself out of the toilet.

*As an aside, there might be something fishy about Joe the Plumber…