Joe the Plumber - Has now Interviewed more than Sarah Palin

The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry isn't happy with McCain's use of "Joe the Plumber" as a campaign mascot.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/deadlineusa/2008/oct/16/uselections2008-johnmccain

The Assistant General President of THE PLUMBING AND PIPE FITTING INDUSTRY - Steve Kelly, said in a statement:
During the last Presidential debate, John McCain made Joe the Plumber a household name. His manufactured outrage on behalf of Joe would be a lot more believable if his economic plan had anything to do with helping working people deal with the economic crisis. Instead, it washes the middle class down the drain. McCain's plan gives massive tax giveaways to CEOs and mega-corporations while leaving working families out in the cold. At a time when our economy is bleeding jobs, McCain also opposes investment in infrastructure spending, which would create good jobs and help put our economy back on solid footing.

As the first union to endorse Barack Obama for the presidency, the UA looked long and hard at which candidates would put the needs of all the Joes in America first. Barack Obama has a plan to cut taxes for working people while investing in good jobs and lifting wages. Unlike McCain's, Obama's outrage for the middle class is real. He will turn us in a new direction, not keep us on the same, tired old path of the Bush years.

Well, here is a bit more about "Joe the Plumber":
Call him Samuel the unlicensed plumber, and yes, a tax cheat.
His first name isn't really Joe. It's Samuel.
He's not really a plumber - at least, not a licensed one.
He's concerned about increased taxes - but hasn't paid his own income taxes.
And, he's not exactly just a guy from Ohio.
He's lived in Arizona ... and Alaska.

And as for that "unscripted" moment that ended up on Fox News, the one at a rally where he questioned Sen. Barack Obama about the American Dream - and whether he'd have to pay higher taxes under Obama's plan?

Seems Joe told the conservative Web site familysecuritymatters.org that catching the Democratic presidential candidate off guard "was actually my intent."

"Looks like there's a crack in Joe the Plumber's story," cracked Bob Mulholland, the Democratic party activist and adviser, after some of the details of the life of 34-year-old Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe the Plumber, emerged today.

In an election that has starred all sorts of celebrities - remember Paris Hilton? Britney Spears? - Wurzelbacher got his 15 minutes of fame after being referenced 26 times during Wednesday's presidential debate, 21 times by Sen. John McCain.

Today, McCain even happily declared "Joe the Plumber" to be "the winner" of the debate. Not so fast.

"Joe the Plumber's story sprang a few leaks Thursday," crowed an Associated Press story.

That's after the AP, bloggers, investigators and librarians - and The Chronicle - turned up court documents and birth records.

For one, Joe's expressed concern about paying more taxes looked a bit tarnished with the revelation that he owes Ohio about $1,200 in personal income taxes that he hasn't paid, according to the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas records. (And there's a 2007 civil filing shows a record for a $1,200 owed to a creditor, St. Charles Mercy Hospital.)

So Joe has an active lien on his property filed in January 2007, records from the Ohio Department of Taxation show.

The Toledo Blade, examining Lucas County Building Inspection records, reported that his employer, the A.W. Newell Corp., "does maintain a state plumbing license, and one with the City of Toledo, but would not be allowed to work in Lucas County outside of Toledo without a county license."

"Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under Al Newell's license, but according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work," the newspaper said. "He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio - which means he's not a plumber."

What else did Americans learn about average Joe this week?

Among the factoids gleaned from state and county records:

-- He is registered as a Republican, and voted in the state's GOP primary in March, county elections records show. But he was previously registered, dating back to 2007 in the Natural Law Party.

-- He has lived in McCain's home state - in both Mesa and Tucson, Ariz.

-- He lived in Sarah Palin's home state - in North Pole, Alaska, from September 1992 to July 1993.

And the comic Bill Maher pointed out, in his 15 minutes of fame, Joe the Plumber has already done more interviews than Palin.


McCain sparred late on Wednesday in Hempstead, New York, in a debate that was dominated by the economy and introduced a new character to the US political stage.

Joe Wurzelbacher - dubbed "Joe the Plumber" by McCain - who met Obama at a recent rally, was mentioned 23 times in the debate.

McCain first mentioned Wurzelbacher, saying the plumber had concluded he would be worse off with Obama as president, even after meeting the senator.

He then campaigned THURSDAY in Pennsylvania on Wurzelbacher high on his agenda.

"You know, Joe the plumber said 'Look, I've been working all my life - 10, 12 hours a day [and] I want to buy the business that I'm in but you're going to raise my taxes.'"

Obama mentioned "Joe the plumber" as well, asking supporters in New Hampshire: "How many plumbers [do] you know making a quarter [of a] million dollars a year?"

"If you make less than a quarter million dollars a year, which includes 98 per cent of small business owners, you won't see your taxes increase one single dime," he declared.

FUN FACT: The Plumbers Union was one of the first endorsements Obama received.