The left has developed a firm and frightening pattern of how it deals with critics of President Barack Obama. Mere hours after Joe the Plumber had the temerity to question candidate Obama’s tax plans, government employee donors to Obama were socuring his public records digging for dirt. The media then followed up with hit pieces on Joe’s tax, professional, marital difficulties. CNBC analyst Rick Santelli has come in for the same treatment after he expressed criticism of President Obama’s mortgage bailout plan. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs attacked Santelli …
It’s hard to pick out the scariest part of the still unfolding story of how unionized state government workers violated Joe the Plumber’s privacy for political ends. The Columbus Dispatch reports today that President-elect Barack Obama supporter, donor, and director of Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services Helen Jones-Kelley “had no legitimate agency function or purpose” for pilfering the files of Joe the Plumber. Last month the Dispatch reported that Jones-Kelley personally requested state employees to search Joe’s files after Joe publically criticized then-candidate Obama. The Inspector General report …
On Sunday, Oct. 12, Joe Wurzelbacher was playing football in his front yard with his son Joey when Barack Obama made an unscheduled stop to ask voters for their support in his neighborhood. Wurzelbacher took the opportunity to be a good citizen, and questioned the candidate about his tax policies. Three nights later during a presidential debate, John McCain echoed Joe’s concern about Obama’s “spread the wealth” comment and mentioned Wurzelbacher (dubbed “Joe the Plumber”) by name. The blow back was swift and furious. MSNBC, Washington Post and New York …
It looks more and more like Joe the Plumber was on to something about taxes, though you wouldn’t know if from most of the polls and media. The Heritage Foundation has the details in our new study: If a President McCain got his way on tax reform, Americans could expect to see jobs, the economy and their own disposable income grow much faster than if a President Obama were to push through his proposals. As this chart shows, the economy would grow by $320 billion more in 10 years under …
Joe the Plumber helped reshape the presidential debate around the issue of taxes. So how do the two candidates’ proposals compare? What plan is better for the economy and job creation? Rea Hederman, senior policy analyst and assistant director of Heritage’s Center for Data Analysis, explains the differences between Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s tax plans. Hederman wrote a detailed analysis of the proposals last week. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZWuT81X93I[/youtube]
Courtesy of William Warren, Americans for Limited Government Americans for Tax Reform has run the numbers for Joe Wurzelbacher. Under the tax plan offered by Barack Obama, the country’s most famous plumber would pay $10,000 more in taxes. Here’s the breakdown: Current Law: Under current law, Joe faces a self-employment tax of $20,768 and an income tax of $49,908 for a total tax liability of $70,676 Obama Tax Hike: Joe’s self-employment tax his risen to $24,488 since he’s paying the full rate after $250,000 of SE tax. His income tax …
During last night’s presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Barack Obama said, “I think tax policy is a major difference between Senator McCain and myself. And we both want to cut taxes, the difference is who we want to cut taxes for.” Obama is half right here. As Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee admitted this summer, Obama and McCain both want to preserve the vast majority of President Bush’s tax cuts. The difference between Obama and McCain on taxes is that where the two do propose minor changes, Obama wants to use …
