Joe the plumber
Joe the Plumber (in Austria Joe the plumber , English Joe the Plumber , real name Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher , * 3. December 1973 in Holland , Ohio ) is an American conservative political activist and commentator.
He became famous for the third televised duel between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama on October 15, 2008 in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election in the United States . It was in this context that the nickname was also used for the first time. Both McCain and Obama used "Joe the Plumber" as an example to demonstrate the effects of tax policy on the middle class . After the television duel, he was featured in many US and foreign media outlets.
Conversation with Obama
On October 11, 2008, Obama met residents in Wurzelbacher's neighborhood, including Joe Wurzelbacher himself, who had played football with his son in the front yard that day . Wurzelbacher's conversation with Obama about his tax plans was recorded by the American television station ABC . Founding Obama's tax plans inconsistent with the American Dream, Wurzelbacher said he wanted to start a new business that would make about $ 250,000 to $ 280,000 a year in profits, to which he added the question, "Your new tax plan will tax me more, or? "(orig .:" Your new tax plan's going to tax me more, isn't it? ").
Obama replied that Wurzelbacher would initially receive a tax credit of 50 percent and thus receive a tax break for his health care. With an operating income of less than 250,000 taxes would remain the same, but with over 250,000 taxes would actually rise, namely from 36 to 39 percent, as it was under Bill Clinton .
In addition, Wurzelbacher asked whether Obama would support a plan to introduce a flat tax, whereupon he replied that he was generally open to such plans, but that it would then have to correspond to a sales tax of 40 percent. He later also said that he did not want to harm Wurzelbacher's success, but that he wanted to make sure that others also have a chance of success. Obama said "And I believe that it is good for everyone if we distribute the wealth." (Orig .: "And I think that when we spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.") This is exactly what McCain's campaign quoted and compared Obama's policies to socialism .
The television duel and reactions
During the televised duel between the two presidential candidates on October 15, 2008, Wurzelbacher was referred to repeatedly as "Joe the Plumber". McCain brought Wurzelbacher into conversation again and again, whereupon both candidates addressed their statements directly to Wurzelbacher. This made the media aware of Wurzelbacher. After the debate, Wurzelbacher did not take the side of a candidate directly, although he expressed concern that Obama's tax plans would be “one step closer to socialism” (orig.: “One step closer to socialism”). On the day of the TV duel, he appeared on the television station CBS . He said that although he is not currently planning a company with an operating income of $ 250,000, so he has no current problem with Obama's tax rate, he feared that the limit would be lowered slightly and that he would not find wealth with 250,000 or even 100,000 Dollar start.
Joe Biden , Obama's candidate for the office of vice president , said that almost all smaller companies are smaller than the one mentioned by Wurzelbacher.
On October 18, McCain stated that he had called Wurzelbacher the day before. He described Wurzelbacher as a "great guy" who is proud of his grandfather, who served in the Marine Corps . McCain also said he would fight for him to save the 16 million US jobs that Obama's plans would destroy rather than create new ones as McCain's own plans would provide.
Wurzelbacher was also used in a television commercial for McCain's campaign where various people said, "I'm Joe the Plumber" ("I'm Joe the Plumber").
Activity for the Tea Party movement
In 2010 he became a speaker for the Republican Party's tea party movement .
Relation of Wurzelbacher's question to reality
Wurzelbacher is one of two employees in an installation company, but it is by no means making $ 250,000 in profit. The after-tax income would even be less than $ 100,000. In addition, Wurzelbacher has not completed training as a plumber and therefore does not have a license to open his own company. He has not paid his property taxes, which is why an attachment against him is possible; on the other hand, it is likely that he was unaware of this lien in relation to himself.
Wurzelbacher was initially a registered Republican, but later resigned from the party. In March 2012 he was then nominated by the Republicans as a candidate for the 2012 congressional election in the ninth constituency of Ohio. In the democratic district, however, he was considered a clear outsider to incumbent Marcy Kaptur . Wurzelbacher received 26.37% of the vote, Kaptur 70.89%.
Commentary on the Holocaust
In June 2012, Wurzelbacher's election campaign team published a video in which he made a connection between the right to own weapons and the Holocaust . In 1939, the German Reich had restricted the right to own weapons, which meant that six million Jews and seven million other people were unable to defend themselves against persecution by the Nazis.
The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) and Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern criticized the video sharply.
Commentary on the right to own guns
In connection with a protest letter from a father whose son had been shot in the killing spree in 2014 (so-called Isla Vista killings ), Wurzelbacher replied that his shot son did not affect his right to gun ownership ( Your Dead Kids Don't Trump My Constitutional Rights' To Have Guns ). With this he again underlined his position on gun ownership.
Comment on Donald Trump
During the 2016 presidential primaries, he voted for Republican candidate Donald Trump because of his beautiful women.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Report on Obama's meeting with Joe the Plumber on abc.com ( October 16, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive ) October 11, 2008
- ↑ Report from welt.de on Obama's conversation with Wurzelbacher and the television debate between Obama and McCain
- ^ Report on McCain's phone call with Wurzelbacher ( memento from October 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Election icon "Joe the Plumber": Return of the Wrong Plumber , Spiegel Online , February 21, 2010
- ↑ Michael Hörz: US election campaign - The Wurzelbacher Conspiracy Der Tagesspiegel , October 16, 2008
- ↑ 'Joe the Plumber' says he has no plumbing license. Associated Press , October 16, 2008
- ↑ Article from Time magazine with a mention of Wurzelbacher's resignation from the party.
- ↑ ABC News: Ohio's 'Joe the Plumber' Gets GOP Nod for Congress (March 7, 2012)
- ↑ Wurzelbacher election results ( Memento from June 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Jewish Dems slam candidate 'Joe the Plumber' for Holocaust remarks ( Memento of June 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), June 19, 2012.
- ↑ Joe the Plumber, "links gun control to Holocaust by Brian Montopoli, CBS News, June 19, 2012.
- ^ Luke Johnson: 'Joe The Plumber' Claims Gun Control Caused The Holocaust . In: Huffington Post . June 19, 2012. Accessed September 23, 2013. (Eng.)
- ^ 'Joe the Plumber' campaign video blames Holocaust on gun control by Cameron Joseph, The Hill , June 19, 2012.
- ↑ a b 'Joe The Plumber' Links Holocaust With Gun Control ( Memento of the original from March 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , CBS Cleveland, June 20, 2012.
- ↑ Wurzelbacher video blames Holocaust on gun control by Ignazio Messina, Toledo Blade (Toledoblade.com), June 19, 2012 (Engl.)
- ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/27/joe-the-plumber-guns_n_5397981.html
- ↑ 'Joe the Plumber' praises Trump, cites his 'beautiful women' , reuters.com , March 4, 2016
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Joe the plumber |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Joe the Plumber; Wurzelbacher, Samuel Joseph (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American craftsman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 3rd December 1973 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Holland , Ohio |