Really?

Funny, but the way things are structured now:

America's wealthiest 1% pay 40% of all income taxes

America's top 50% pay 97% of all income taxes

America's lower 50% pay jus 3% of all income taxes

Golly, sounds like the wealthy pay their fair share to me. And, gee, aren't they the guys who create jobs? Yeah, let's up their taxes some more. That's sure to create jobs.

What is your source for claiming Joe the Plumber is "an apparently wealthy Toledo businessman, Joan?"

You'd have to be paying the kind of taxes the wealthy are forced to pay if you really want to know what getting screwed by the government means.

As for your unimpressive asterisks:

*the wealthiest 1% have 40% of the U.S.'s financial wealth

*America's top 20% have 84% of the financial wealth

*America's lower 80% have just 9% of the financial wealth

So what. America's wealthy have either earned it or inherited it. Either way, no one has the right to take it a way from them and "spread it around." Stalin tried that once. And if I remember correctly, it didn't quite work out.

"If Joe owns (or can buy) a business that can make him $250,000 a year after expenses and employee pay, then, yeah, he's "apparently" wealthy."

Oh, really? Then you've never heard about buying into a business with say $25,000 and leveraging the rest with a small business loan? I saw Joe W. interviewed this morning outside his house in a very middle-class neighborhood. Another reader on this thread says he makes $40,000 a year. Which is why I'd like Joan to tell me her source for claiming that Joe is "an apparently wealthy Toledo businessman." It's a pretty legitimate question, actually.

"If the wealthiest Americans have a significantly higher percentage of income, then it is fair that they pay a higher percentage of taxes."

No it's not.

If it were up to this humble citizen, everyone, regardless of their income level, would pay 10% across the board with no loopholes. THAT would be fair.

Very, very funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goaj5V4tZoc

From Betsey's Page:

How did three weeks before the election did everyone become obsessed with Joe the Plumber? And what does this whole episode reveal about how the left will go after someone who happens to make The One look less than swell?

Remember this guy didn't seek out Barack Obama, Obama was doing a photo op in his neighborhood and Joe came out to ask a question. And now we're at the point where journalists and liberal bloggers are swarming all over this guy's personal background with an avidity that they haven't shown about Barack Obama's record and associates. Does he have a license? Is he registered to vote? Does he have tax liens? Is he related to Charles Keating? Is he a Republican?

They even posted his address on the internet. How low will these guys go to attack anyone who says anything that makes their guy look less than awesome?

What the left doesn't understand is that Joe's personal background doesn't matter at all. What matters is Obama's answer. And when asked about how Obama's tax plan would affect a small businessman earning over $250,000, Obama said that it was time to "spread the wealth around." And it turns out, as James Pethokoukis points out, that overwhelmingly most Americans aren't in favor of redistributionist tax policies. But Obama revealed that his instincts are, as he told Charlie Gibson in the Democratic debate, to tax wealth as a matter of "fairness."

So on the way to the coronation of President Obama, one ordinary guy asked a question that made Obama look bad. And the response by those on the left is that this guy Must Be Destroyed. And both Democratic candidates look for easy jokes about what type of plumber earns $250,000. They are tone deaf to the idea that Joe was asking a question about his dream, a dream that many people share of working hard and building up a small business. Are they trying to demonstrate that they have actually no real care for ordinary people unless those people are falling in line to vote for The One?

"Er, if you introduce yourself at a photo op, or press conference, or town hall meeting, you *are* seeking the speaker out. It's not like Obama called Joe up out of the blue."

Obama was going "door-to-door" through the neighborhood. Joe came out of his house and asked Obama a question.

"Plus, "Joe the Plumber" was making the Right Wing radio talk show circuit *before* meeting Obama."

What's your source for this -- The Daily Kos?

"Interestingly enough, his name is misspelled on the Toledo register of voters, which is why it seemed he was unregistered."

Yes, but that didn't stop the MSM media from falsley reporting that he was unregistered. They were to rabid to get it right. He was also reported not to have a plumber's license, which doesn't matter if you're working for a company that does. And he was also accused of being related to Charles Keating. Another lie.

All the man did was come out of his house and ask a question that made the One look less than swell. Naturally, he must be destroyed.

The Daily Kos also accused him of being related to Robert Wurzelbacher of Keating 5 fame -- as did many blogs. Kos later took the post down, hoping not to embarrass themselves (again). Biden also mocked Joe, saying that plumbers don't make $250K a year! Problem is, Joe never claimed he was making that amount of money. He said he was thinking of buying into a business that might generate 250K a year. He was asking a question about his dream, a dream many people share of working hard and building up a small business.