“Socialism is the doctrine that man has no
right to exist for his own sake,
that his life and his work do not belong to him,
but belong to society,
that the only justification of his 

existence is his service to society,
and that society may dispose of him
in any way it pleases
for the sake of whatever it deems to be its
own tribal, collective good.”
– Ayn Rand

For all of you back from a two  week stint on the ISS or just returning from duty aboard the Maine, Joe the Plumber is  Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man looking to buy a plumbing business.

During a campaign stop in Holland, Ohio, Joe the Plumber asked Sen. Obama what I thought was a rhetorical question; the gist of which was  I  want to buy the business that I’ve worked at 10, 12 hours a day for years. But I looked at your tax plan and I see I’m going to pay much higher taxes. What’s up with that? Really..why bother if all you’re gonna do is pocket my profits?

To which Sen. Obama (now famously) replied “It’s not that I want to punish your success, I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success, too.  My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”  (Creeping Messiah-Complex Alert: I want to punish … I want to make …My attitude is…I think)

Interesting, “trickle-up economics”. About as effective as pushing on a rope.  Obama’s theory assumes all the folks at the bottom (who make so little money that they don’t pay taxes) will somehow become engines of economic activity when they get a good sized chunk of Joe’s profits.   Paging Adam Smith…..

But it was the phrase “when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody” that ignited the firestorm. 

The 24hr news cycle sucked that phrase in and spat it out as “income redistribution” and “socialism”. Income redistribution is one of those smarmy phrases used to hide the ugly truth someone is about to be screwed.  Socialism carries with it all the baggage of the failed Soviet / Marxist /Communist economic systems which were relegated to the dust bin of history in the closing decade of the 20th century. 

So who got burned? The guy who proposed to “spread the wealth around”?  Not a chance. Messiahs don’t get questioned.

It was Joe the Plumber.  The mainstream media launched an investigation which quickly discovered:

• Joe doesn’t have a plumber’s license (he works under another plumber’s license)
• probably can’t afford to buy the business
• which wouldn’t make enough to hit the current $250,000 threshold
• owes back taxes
• questions the legality of a progressive tax system
• wonders how low the $250,000 limit will move as the economy sours

According to the talking heads, those issues were sufficient to invalidate Joe’s question.  After all, just who does this guy think he is?    A taxpayer?    A Voter?     A citizen?

ABC, CBS, NPR — Not so fast.

The fact remains, even in a purely hypothetical context, that small businesses grossing more than $250,000 (or some yet-to-be-decided lower figure) will see increased taxes as a result of Sen. Obama’s tax plans because ”when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody”.

Everybody?  Yes, except for the folks who earned it.

Joe the Plumber had the nerve to point out that this ”spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody” is also known as socialism.  With the economy heading into a downturn, the depth of which is yet to be seen, the idea of increasing taxes is absurd.  

But giving away the fruits of Joe’s (or anyone’s) labor; sows the seeds of rebellion.

Keep raising taxes and pushing the common folk and one day you get:

Boston Tea Party II – The Sequel