commentary

Joe the Plumber got it wrong. Obamas plan specifically excludes small businesses. If he PERSONALLY makes m,ore than 250k his taxes will go up a little. Joe Lunchbucket is the guy earning 38k a year and raising a family on that gross sum. Its hard to empathize with a guy who ONLY clears 75k a year, barely SCRAPING BY. Thats TWICE what Joe Lunchbucket grosses. Is anybody claiming that 250k is NOT well-to-do? One percent of that net 75k is $750. Would that $750 put him in financial hardship? food stamps? It would mean a great deal to Joe Lunchbucket and his family. He is ready, willing, and able to work and has some marketable skills. He isnt a welfare cheat, drug addict, or a lazy bum, just an average worker. He just needs a little help right now, like a LOT of people. Thru no fault of his own, there is no work available. The greedy Wall Street crooks and thieves have run our financial syatem in the ground, and gotten wealthy as they did it. They should go to jail. Period. Do NOT pass go. Deregulation did NOT work, and that much is obvious. lack of oversight was an open invitation to steal, and they did. Now Joe Lunchbucket is being asked to bail their sorry butts out. Are they asking any more from business in this mess? No, its just Joe Lunchbucket and his taxes. Who can afford it less?

Joe is lazy?

I agree that people should work for their money. Do something. Anything. Does the rich include Joe Lunchbucket in as one of those lazy do-nothings? He lost his house maybe, and his job due to the greed and corruption on Wall Street and Every Street- he is ready, willing, and able to work but there is no work available, due to no fault of his own. The deregulators allowed Wall Street and the banking industry to run wild without any oversight or responsibility until they ran it into the ground. Now they want Joe and his fellow taxpayers to bail their sorry butts out ! Hypocrites who want NO government interference UNTIL they have robbed and plundered everything they can, getting wealthy in the process, with NO concern for the possible effects on anybody else. THEN they want us to bail them out. Those crooks and greedy SOBs need jail time, at least.

rich dont see Joe

McCain says he isnt worried about what some old guy did forty years ago- why wont his people let it go? the rich are concerned about niceties- a new boat or car, a new pool or addition to their house. Joe Lunchbucket is worried about the NECESSITIES of life- food on the table, having a job, keeping the lights on, avoiding foreclosure on his house, etc. The rich dont seem to see the difference. One example of this might be the new gym- a nicety but certainly NOT a necessity, and an unnecessary additional economic burden on Joe in these times of economic hardship. The rich just dont seem to GET IT- they have theirs and can afford the niceties, why cant the middle-class guy do the same? Joe is too concerned about providing food on the table and the other necessities of life to worry about the niceties.

nightmares of the rich

The average worker in the USA makes 38k a year. On that he too has to make car and mortgage payments, fill his car with gas and pay to keep his kids in school and gas in the tank. Are you seriously saying that those making 250k and up NEED that money to survive? Okay, so maybe they dont get a new Jaguar every year like they are used to. How does that compare with Joe Lunchbucket who is struggling to survive- feed and clothe his family, pay his mortgage and avoid foreclosure, keep the lights on, and have enough gas to get to work ? I know, I know-I got MINE, screw you Joe. The average CEO in America makes in ONE DAY what it takes the average worker to earn in one YEAR. Something is wrong there. No new Jaguar this year? HORRORS.