http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/798Joe the Plumber’s faulty logic is that he likes to imagine himself making $250,000 when he buys his plumbing company. He puts on confident and gruff airs like he’s Dick Cheney. He probably likens himself to Dick Cheney. He certainly likes to fantasize about being in the same tax-bracket at Dick Cheney. Be proud Joe. You are no Dick Cheney.
Conservatives like to talk about a level playing field with no referees, where the strong and the shrewd succeed. Yet today, it is only the conniving and manipulative who have a shot at wealth. The American Dream, that Joe the Plumber pines for, of working hard and making a fortune, is under the boot of corporations. In today’s world, Joe has about as much chance of becoming a wealthy plumber as his son does of playing in the NFL. Not saying, it can’t happen; just saying it is not very likely.
So, he pledges his allegiance to the conservative candidate, because he thinks by not paying taxes he will somehow start hob-knobbing with Bush, Cheney, and Limbaugh – all such self-made men. Meanwhile, he is shooting himself in the steel-toed boot because the Obama tax plan directly affects him where he really is, not where he imagines himself to be. If he really wants to pay less tax, he should embrace Obama, not reluctantly shake his hand, and then defend McCain and his fellow Republicans.
I found this interesting because I know so many people who are just like this from not just middle class but just plain poor wanting more tax cuts for the wealthy when the only way they will *ever* benefit from tax cuts for the wealthy is if they win the lottery. I *CAN'T* understand this and pointing out they will never reach that tax bracket, never be in a position to use a capital gains tax, and certainly their estate of small house, second-third-forth hand car won't get hit with the inheritance tax. There is rarely sympathy for their own kind - working people who have trouble to make ends meet. They resent people on welfare even when their own kids or themselves end up on it for months or even years. :WTF: