Joe The I'm Misinformed About Barack Obama's Tax Cuts

Looks like this plumber guy, whatever his faults, has more integrity than John McCain.

As ThinkProgress and many others noted yesterday, the premise of Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher’s complaints about Barack Obama’s tax plan was ill-informed. Contrary to Wurzelbacher’s claims, “neither his personal taxes nor those of the business where he works are likely to rise if Mr. Obama’s tax plan were to go into effect.”

As CBS News reported, even “Joe The Plumber” acknowledges this fact now:

So today, Joe, who said he makes much less than $250,000, reluctantly admitted Obama would lower his taxes.

“I would, if you believe him, I would be receiving his tax cuts,” Wurzelbacher said.

I'm pretty much done with this guy, but with McCain making him into some kind of symbol, it's worth noting that he's more invested in the lies than his subject.

Meanwhile, I too wish that we could fight an election on terrain other than who can promise more people a tax cut. Joe Biden's brief flirtation connecting taxes to patriotism was an exciting dose of sanity, but all too brief. It is true that, because our tax system is so very imbalanced, you can offer a tax cut to the vast majority of Americans while still raising more revenue. But the tax talk really does play on the other team's court, and I wish it were re-framed into "investment in the future" or something similar.