Thursday, October 16, 2008
Obama's Amazing Trickle Up Theory
"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just 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."
I find this very odd. Obama is on record as blaming the current economic meltdown on the "trickle down economics" of the Bush administration.
Trickle-down economics, as you probably know, is the idea that if the government allows the relatively wealthy to keep what they earn, this will result in job-creation and thus will benefit the relatively poor.
Here Obama puts forth the theory that if the government takes money from the rich and gives it to the poor, it will benefit the rich.
I guess there would be some sort of gonzo multiplier effect, which would not occur if Joe the Plumber spent his own earnings himself. Why don't we just take all of Joe's earnings from him, so he'll become stinking rich?
BTW, I love Joe's conduct throughout this discussion. Though courteous and unassuming, he is not at all cowed by the Great Man's presence. More important, he firmly insists that his question be answered. This is America at its best, an America that may soon come to an end.
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9 comments:
If I were running the McCain campaign, I would just take this video, and air it as a commericial in every battleground state. He might actually have a chance to win if he did.
I see they have indeed done that. I also notice that the Slime Machine has gone to work on Joe Wurzelbacher (I believe is his name). Some sample comments at the Huffington Post site (imagine what these people will be like when their idol is President!):
Joe the Plumber is the typical selfish American voter who only cares about his own personal situation and not the big picture. […] Guys like these disgust me.
[M]aybe Joe [the] Plumber and Joe Sixpack can meet up in Northwestern, New Hampshire with the Mooselady and talk about faucets!
I bet JOE PLUMBCRA^K has a criminal background. […] How was it that McCainRat knew what JOEA^ssCra^k said to Obama, if he was none other than a PLANT?
So the white guy is the only measure of this economy? I'm so sick of everyone else's welfare being measured against the white guy.
Maybe inhaling poo fumes all day has him under the delusion he makes $250K/yr.
You know what, screw Joe the plumber and Joe the electrician.[…] They all wanted to drive BMW's and buy homes that were bigger and more expensive at 25 than their parent's homes that they bought at 50.
Well, I hope Joe the Plumber enjoys having to pay tax on his health insurance. Dumba$$.
Just vote for the old white guy, Joe. And stick to plumbing. You don't want to start taxing the old grey matter too much.
What does Joe do after work? I think I see a 6 pack out there.
You don't need a business Joe. Keep plumbin' those pipes.
Joe six pack, joe the plumber...joe buck...joe mama?
Not ANOTHER Joe...please, say it ain't so! I bet he likes beer, too.
Even the voters are misrepresenting themselves.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/joe-isnt-a-licensed-plumber--and-thats-not-his-name-964542.html
I understand he's looking for a bank loan. Any takers?
Pappy,
This I think is just another of the attempts to character-assassinate Joe. The argument is that Joe doesn't have an Ohio license to practice plumbing, therefore he is not a plumber, therefore he is a liar -- even though he does practice plumbing! The assumption is that only people who are called plumbers by the state are plumbers. I bet you know what I think of this assumption.
Interestingly, Joe is another one of those people who inspire visceral hatred in liberals. Why I don't know. He certainly seems likable to me.
Joe/Sam is OK. No one would suggest he should be killed or anything. His hypothetical argument isn't far-fetched at all. He's really not so much a liar as a wanker. If I ever bore him any bad feelings, it's because I thought he made more money than me. I'd even consider arguments that Ohio had no right to put a lien on his house for a lousy $1800.
I guess my point is: just what the hell difference will it make to him who wins these cola wars? And why should anyone care if he likes Coke or Pepsi? Why should anyone get upset over whether we get a big-government party that believes in taxation or one that believes in deficit spending?
He certainly is a plumber & so is his boss (who's also unlicenced). Thanks to the artificial housing boom, they probably had their best year yet in 2007. (These are the guys to hire if you want to flip a house.)
For all anyone knows he was just sucking up to his boss & he plans to vote for Obama since both plumbers have every (moral) right to expect a tax cut if he's elected.
Thanks for your indulgence. This bad political theater's almost over now.
I'm not going to vote for either one of them, for exactly the reason you give so eloquently. I think if Americans were more willing to vote for third parties we would have a more disciplined and less toxic government.
What we have is a two-party duopoly that has been raging out of control and has, as has now become horribly obvious, poisoned the economic system. It is now about to become much bigger and, if the tone of this campaign is any clue, much nastier.
"Civilization, in fact, grows more and more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary."
--H.L. Mencken
Will,
That is my favorite political quote in the world! I quoted it here almost exactly a year ago.
Ha! I hadn't seen that, but I just knew you'd like it. :)
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