Joe the Plumber, a new spin

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-2008
Joe the Plumber, a new spin
166
Fri, 10-17-2008 - 4:16pm

The appeal of Joe the Plumber is that he puts a face to a tax number. Even if he's really not earning that much or isn't even a plumber. I am married to someone who makes that much and let me try to make the same point from a different perspective.

Go ahead, raise my taxes Obama. You are right, I can afford it. But first I'd like you to meet Mike, Steve and Emily. I don't own a business or anything, but I do spend my money (you know, since I'm one of the have's, that's what we do). Obama wanta to spread my wealth around and here's how it will affect 3 people in the middle and lower income brackets.

Mike - Mike is a music school teacher. He does private lessons on the side to make a little extra, in addition to volunteering in a community band. He loves teaching and playing music. He teaches one of our children and we pay him $100/mo.

Steve - Steve works full time doing private music lessons. He has two kids who he pays child support for and he lives on the edge of poverty. Private lessons is his only source of income. We pay for him to instruct three of our children and me every week. We pay him $364/mo.

Emily - Emily works full time but became a mom at age 18 yo, has no education past high school and lives near the poverty level. She is on her own being recently divorced. She helps us out once or twice a week, earning $120-$160/mo.

I recalculated Obama's tax proposals and realized it will only cost my family $1,350/mo on average. I can cover almost half of that by cutting my budget back, not hiring the babysitter and doing away with private music lessons (they are luxury items anyway).

I'm sure Mike, Steve and Emily will be glad to know that instead of earning money from my family, they will get $500 refundable tax credit next year under Obama's plan. And maybe even if $300 stimulus check like they got from Bush in the past.

Make less and pay less in tax, that's Obama's plan for the middle class.

Pennsylvania Mom http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2007
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 12:47am

Ashley,

I have been arguing this exact same point for a while. You have done so much more eloquently than I ever could. Thanks for picking up the sword. Hopefully your words will break through the hype.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2007
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 1:13am

Jumping in...

Obama doesn't necessarily agree that now is the time for increases. He has actually stated his increases may have to be delayed. Hopefully when he rolls them out, the increases will be smaller. I actually think McCain is doing more overpromising than Obama these past few weeks.

I don't think that much of the criticism I've seen that his plan must have been lousy if he is altering it as a result of this crisis has been fair. McCain is proposing things he vowed he would never do (like bailing out irresponsible lenders), and he is not facing the same level of criticism. That just shows me that more people are paying attention to Obama than McCain.

I posted a link not too long ago to This American Life eps about the subprime mortgage crisis and the subsequential credit default swap collapse. REALLY SCARY STUFF. But it will also help put a lot of the scapegoating and posturing in perspective. Check it out if you can.

I'll say this again (and probably again): politicians pointing fingers and assigning blame is all too little too late. They didn't have courage to stand up when times were good and say "hmmmm...this is unsustainable. What happens if this fails?"

McCain's Fanny and Freddie warning? It came after false earnings reports and fraud were discovered. Obama's call for mortgage protection came after prices stagnated in some areas.

This was so much bigger than Washington. But it does make me question the judgement of those who still retain an almost blind faith in the concept of a "free-market".




Edited 10/18/2008 1:23 am ET by lj_jacieb
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-2008
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 1:13am

If what you say here is true, then why are 40% of the people Obama has targeted for a tax cut already exempt from paying taxes? Why does Obama want to keep the Bush tax cuts in place until the economy recovers if his tax cuts are better and fairer? The one thing about liberals I've come to understand is they've never met a tax they didn't like. Obama's tax plan amounts to a bait and switch scam. And if Obama is a typical liberal, he'll pull a Bill Clinton on the American people, and find a reason to nullify his own tax cut plan, and raise taxes on us all any way.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 7:18am

That's my take on it as well.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 7:28am

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First, Bush 41 and Clinton increased taxes and eventually our budget was balanced, despite a trillion dollar debt under Reagan (and more especially Carter - grrrr).

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2008
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 7:36am

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We can only hope so.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2007
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 8:56am
This has been bugging me since last night... how do you know so much about their income and what credits they do or do not qualify for?
Jess


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-05-2008
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 8:57am
Great post!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-05-2008
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 9:03am

Very true.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2007
Sat, 10-18-2008 - 9:50am

<<A good teacher is worth his or her weight in gold. >>


ITA. I'm a former preschool teacher and it really saddens me when I think of how little early childhood educators are paid. Early childhood is fundamentally the most important part of a child's academic life but those that nurture and educate our young children are paid minimum wage or not much above it. Like I said in a previous post, it just speaks volumes about what

Chrissy
mom to Aidan 8/21/03
Grayson Blaine 12/30/07

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