Joe the Plumber on Taxes

America's most famous Voto-Rooter, Ohio plumber Joe Wurzelbacher, was on ABC's "Good Morning, America" today, explaining why hardscrabble rich people should not be taxed. (transcript courtesy of the McCain Press Office):

Diane Sawyer: "Well I just want to ask you now about the issue that was raised because it's been a little confusing to me as I tried to sort it out here. To get straight here, you're not taking home $250,000 now, am I right?"

Joe Wurzelbacher: "No. No. Not even close."

Sawyer: "And you were you asking -- about the prospect, the hope that someday you would make $250,000, and you were saying you didn't want that to be taxed?"

Wurzelbacher: "Well, exactly. Exactly. I mean not that I don't want to be taxed. You have to be taxed. But to -- just because you work a little harder to have a little bit more money taken from you, I mean, that's scary. You know as opposed to other people. I worked hard for it. Why should I be taxed more than other people?"

Sawyer: "Well if people making $250,000 should not be taxed additionally -- by the way, it's 3% from 36% to 39% under Senator Obama's plan. If those people should not be taxed additionally, even though they're in the top 5% of America, what about people who make $1 million? Or $5 million?"

Wurzelbacher: "Well, I mean, quite honestly, why should they be penalized for being successful. I mean, that's what you're telling me. That's what it sounds like you're saying. That's wrong. Because you're successful, you have to pay more than everybody else? We all live in this country. It's a basic right. And Obama wants to take that basic right and penalize me for it, is what it comes down to. That's a very socialist view and it's incredibly wrong. I mean, $250,000 now. What if he decides, well you know $150,000, you're pretty rich too. Let's go ahead and lower it again. You know it's a slippery slope. When's it going to stop?"

I'll tell you why, Joe. Because it's fair. People who make more money benefit disproportionately from the system that our taxes pay for. For example, all of those employees who you'll get to deny health insurance to? When they go to the ER, taxes pay for that.

Furthermore, Joe, your neighbors, who make around $43,000.00 per family, need a much larger percentage of their incomes for things like food and shelter. Oh, and for individual health insurance, if they work for you. At $280,000.00 a year, Joe, you can afford to pay more and still get a six-pack whenever you want to.

The use of Joe the Plumber as a cause celebre shows how out-of-touch John McCain really is. Just because the guy wears a tool belt doesn't mean the rest of the proles will relate to him. Most of us have had a fair bit of our income redistributed to plumbers over the years, so the violins for Joe are falling on a lot of deaf ears. And the idea that most Americans can relate to a guy mulling a million-dollar-plus purchase is classic McCain.

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal" , on BlogTalkRadio Tues & Thur at 9pm, and Wed, Fri, & Sat at 11pm. Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.