I've seen on TV Joe The Plumber claiming he does 250 000 dollars per year...

Isn't it enormous for a plumber ?? I'm happy for him if it's true but I seriously doubt it...

Or maybe It was a translation mistake (I live in europe) And He's doing $ 25 000 a year wich seems more realistic to me ...

Crisis apart, I'm not sure all wall street traders do 250 000 per year.

Any thoughts ??

Not unusual at all if he owns his own plumbing biz...

OK but if I remember correctly He was saying to BO that he wanted to buy his company... So he wasn't the owner ...

DCMETRO22Z wrote

I've seen on TV Joe The Plumber claiming he does 250 000 dollars per year...

Isn't it enormous for a plumber ?? I'm happy for him if it's true but I seriously doubt it...

Or maybe It was a translation mistake (I live in europe) And He's doing $ 25 000 a year wich seems more realistic to me ...

Crisis apart, I'm not sure all wall street traders do 250 000 per year.

Any thoughts ??

He's definitively talking about the business income - not his own salary. But I do agree it's high.

Maybe he was confused and was talking about the business revenue? If revenue is $250K, then his net income after paying employees, insurance, utilities and other expenses, has to be around $100K or so.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081016/ap_on_el_pr/joe_the_plumber

HOLLAND, Ohio - Joe the Plumber said Thursday he doesn't have a license and doesn't need one. Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, the nickname Republican John McCain bestowed on him during Wednesday's presidential debate, said he works for a small plumbing company that does residential work. Because he works for someone else, he doesn't need a license, he said.

In Toledo on Sunday, Wurzelbacher told Obama that he was preparing to buy the plumbing company, which earns more than $250,000 a year, and said: "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?"

Obama said that under his proposal taxes on any revenue from $250,000 on down would stay the same, but that amounts above that level would be subject to a 39 percent tax, instead of the current 36 percent rate.

Wurzelbacher said Obama's tax plan wouldn't affect him right now, because he doesn't make $250,000. "But I hope someday I'll make that," he said.

"If you believed (Obama), I'd be receiving his tax cuts," Wurzelbacher said. "But I don't look at it that way. He'd still be hurting others."

my dads cuzin use to be a plumber...made a shit load back in days until he actually opened his own company and now hes a hardcore multi millionaire.

OK. I move to USA tomorrow. Here you work all your life and everything you get is the right to pay more taxes...

Ya Know you have to be rich to own a 335I here... If you can afford a 320d you're already very lucky.

DCMETRO22Z wrote

OK. I move to USA tomorrow. Here you work all your life and everything you get is the right to pay more taxes...
Ya Know you have to be rich to own a 335I here... If you can afford a 320d you're already very lucky.

Hang on...It may be the same here.

I guess you can say that my grandfather is Joe Plummer. He ran a very sucessful plumming business for well over 30+years... I got to say, he has been enjoying his retirement for a while now...

He is a BS artist. Apparently it was found out by the media he owes $1,200 in back taxes!

I think its funny that they came out and start blasting him for not being licensed. I'd be willing to be he's better than a lot of licensed plumbers.

Supposedly he owes a $1000 in back taxes or something.

The guy asked an honest question and (unfortunately, I guess) got an honest answer stating in so many words that if he wants to be upwardly mobile and make something more of himself (ie, the American dream) that he will be penalized for doing so. He never stated that he makes $250K, though that is more likely as the owner of a plumbing company to which he aspires and which was the reason for his question. What the status of his licensure and any tax liens have to do with that or how either of those items makes his question and the answer he got any less valid is beyond me. I find the subsequent engaging in character assassination in lieu of actual discourse on the topic reprehensible.

Icedog_16 wrote

The guy asked an honest question and (unfortunately, I guess) got an honest answer stating in so many words that if he wants to be upwardly mobile and make something more of himself (ie, the American dream) that he will be penalized for doing so. He never stated that he makes $250K, though that is more likely as the owner of a plumbing company to which he aspires and which was the reason for his question. What the status of his licensure and any tax liens have to do with that or how either of those items makes his question and the answer he got any less valid is beyond me. I find the subsequent engaging in character assassination in lieu of actual discourse on the topic reprehensible.

It doesn't preclude him from having an opinion but he has lost his credibility like all other politicians.

DCMETRO22Z wrote

OK. I move to USA tomorrow. Here you work all your life and everything you get is the right to pay more taxes...

Ya Know you have to be rich to own a 335I here... If you can afford a 320d you're already very lucky.

Are you good at plumbing? Because that's pretty much all the job openings we have right now

$250K a year is only about three blocked toilets a day. With all the shit that's been said in this election year I imagine business is booming.

ede92 wrote

It doesn't preclude him from having an opinion but he has lost his credibility like all other politicians.

I thought he was a plumber, not a politician. In what way has he lost his credibility? He wants to buy out his employer's business when his employer retires. It was a legitimate question. That he is not licensed, whether intentionally or by omission, does not mean that the question has any less merit.

That he has a tax lien is immaterial to the question or the answer. FWIW, one of my best friends who is a doctor nearly had a tax lien filed on him recently when his billing girl quit and dumped three months' worth of unfiled claims on his doorstep. That basically meant that he had at least three months where he got paid next to nothing, but the IRS made damn sure that he was going to pay the withholding tax for his office regardless. Had he had a lien slapped on him, that wouldn't have made him any less credible as a doctor.

Icedog_16 wrote

I thought he was a plumber, not a politician. In what way has he lost his credibility? He wants to buy out his employer's business when his employer retires. It was a legitimate question. That he is not licensed, whether intentionally or by omission, does not mean that the question has any less merit.

That he has a tax lien is immaterial to the question or the answer. FWIW, one of my best friends who is a doctor nearly had a tax lien filed on him recently when his billing girl quit and dumped three months' worth of unfiled claims on his doorstep. That basically meant that he had at least three months where he got paid next to nothing, but the IRS made damn sure that he was going to pay the withholding tax for his office regardless. Had he had a lien slapped on him, that wouldn't have made him any less credible as a doctor.

+1.

It is typical example of someone making a statement and the press screwing it up...

Also, just go to show Joe Plumber had no clue, the business makes that much but he would not, and most likely the guy selling it is pushing up the numbers to sell it for more.

Also what else he has no clue about is if he did own the business and had a good accountant his take home pay would be very low and the business would kick out some sort of dividend to him.

I have friend who owns his business, he makes about $400K a year, however, his pay check is $30k so he only pays Fed, State, Local, SS and Medicare on $30K and pays capital gains on the $370K since the business pays quarterly dividends on any extra money the business earns. So under Obama plan his taxes will not go up.

So the only people who are going to get nailed by his proposal are those with a take home check of $250K in a year. He claims those people are about 5% of the population, however the last time I checked it only about 2% of the population who have income greater then $250K.

Hell, Steve Jobs of Apple computer will not see a tax increase since his pay is $1, He is making all his income off stock grants and if he does it right he only pays capital gains of 20%. However I think Obama plans to raise capital gains taxes again.

Icedog_16 wrote

I thought he was a plumber, not a politician. In what way has he lost his credibility? He wants to buy out his employer's business when his employer retires. It was a legitimate question. That he is not licensed, whether intentionally or by omission, does not mean that the question has any less merit.

That he has a tax lien is immaterial to the question or the answer. FWIW, one of my best friends who is a doctor nearly had a tax lien filed on him recently when his billing girl quit and dumped three months' worth of unfiled claims on his doorstep. That basically meant that he had at least three months where he got paid next to nothing, but the IRS made damn sure that he was going to pay the withholding tax for his office regardless. Had he had a lien slapped on him, that wouldn't have made him any less credible as a doctor.

He thinks he is a politician - you must think you are a lawyer.

Joe the Plumber is the American Dream on crack.

The man makes no where near 250k a year, he "wants" to buy his bosses business, and is worried he will have to pay more taxes.

The Republicans will use this and exploit this because everyone lives the "American Dream" and will use people's greed to get votes, hence Joe the Plumber.

The fact is I think EVERYONE would love to someday buy the business they work for, but it doesn't happen over night.

What the country needs to focus on right now is giving the bottom 95% of the population a break so they can pay mortgages, loans, etc..

Sure, I don't want to pay more taxes if I make $250k a year, but you know what, let me get to that point first before I start questioning it first.

Yet the fat cats, McCain and his 8 houses cant seem to grasp this point.

ede92 wrote

He thinks he is a politician - you must think you are a lawyer.

What position does he think is he running for? He asked a question and the media latched onto him, not the other way around. And had the real politician in the conversation (Obama) answered the question the way he was 'supposed' to as opposed to answering with what he really thinks, this would never have been a story and this guy wouldn't be being subjected such scrutiny and snide remarks about his character. Politicians choose to be in the spotlight; the spotlight chose this guy.

Maestro wrote

It is typical example of someone making a statement and the press screwing it up...

Also, just go to show Joe Plumber had no clue, the business makes that much but he would not, and most likely the guy selling it is pushing up the numbers to sell it for more.

Also what else he has no clue about is if he did own the business and had a good accountant his take home pay would be very low and the business would kick out some sort of dividend to him.

I have friend who owns his business, he makes about $400K a year, however, his pay check is $30k so he only pays Fed, State, Local, SS and Medicare on $30K and pays capital gains on the $370K since the business pays quarterly dividends on any extra money the business earns. So under Obama plan his taxes will not go up.

So the only people who are going to get nailed by his proposal are those with a take home check of $250K in a year. He claims those people are about 5% of the population, however the last time I checked it only about 2% of the population who have income greater then $250K.

Hell, Steve Jobs of Apple computer will not see a tax increase since his pay is $1, He is making all his income off stock grants and if he does it right he only pays capital gains of 20%. However I think Obama plans to raise capital gains taxes again.

A couple of things from Obama's tax plan on his website that may make your buddy and any other business owner think twice:

Barack Obama wrote  

Broaden the corporate tax base and eliminate special preferences: Our tax code is riddled with special interest loopholes that allow some corporations and wealthy individuals to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. As President, Obama would move aggressively to close inefficient loopholes by taking steps that include:

o Reforming international tax loopholes: including reforming deferral to end the incentive for companies to ship jobs overseas and closing the offshore pension loophole;

o Closing domestic tax loopholes: including clarifying the economic substance doctrine and increasing reporting of capital gains to close the tax gap;

o Eliminating special tax breaks for oil and gas companies: including repealing special expensing rules, foreign tax credit benefits, and manufacturing deductions for oil and gas firms; and

o Closing other loopholes: including taxing carried interest as ordinary income, and closing the CEO pay loophole.

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/taxes/Factsheet_Tax_Plan_FINAL.pdf

As such, many small business owners will be affected and, thus, so will their employees. I'd be willing to bet that if your buddy ends up paying, say, $50K more in taxes that salaries are going to go down or stagnate or someone's going to lose their job or something along those lines because he'll be the last one who has to take a pay cut, which is what would happen in effect should that loophole be closed as is proposed.