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Reality Check: 'Joe The Plumber' In Final Debate

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Oct 15, 2008 11:23 pm US/Central

Reality Check: 'Joe The Plumber' In Final Debate

  Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama sat down with CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer at Hofstra University in New York in their final debate before the election, and both finally took it to each other.
"Pursuing the same kinds of policies that we pursued over the last eight years in not going to bring down the deficit, and frankly, Senator McCain voted for four out of five times of President Bush's budgets," said Democratic presidential candidate Obama.

 "Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run for years ago. I'm gonna give you a new direction to this economy and this country," said Republican presidential candidate McCain.

 During the debate both candidates continually referred to Joe the Plumber, who could be considered the most famous man in America after Wednesday night's debate.

 They were talking about Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio plumber Obama met this week who's trying to start a company but is worried Obama will raise his taxes. McCain was the first one to bring up Joe the Plumber.

 "He looked at your tax plan and he saw that he was going to pay much higher taxes, you were going to put him in a higher tax bracket," McCain said.

 McCain's version is MISLEADING.

It's true that Joe's taxes could go up under Obama's plan, because it means Joe the Plumber's company is making more than $200,000 a year, or $250,000 as a couple.

 Here's why: some business owners file their business taxes as individuals. Obama cuts taxes for businesses and individuals earning less than that.

 "If you make less than a quarter million dollars a year, then you will not see your income tax go up, your capital gains go up, your pay roll tax -- not one dime, 95 percent of you out there will get a tax cut," Obama said during the debate.

 Well, NOT EXACTLY.

 Obama's tax plan raises taxes on couples making more than $250,000, and individuals earning $200,000 or more.

 It's a tax cut for 95.5 percent of American families with children, but only 81 percent of American households.

 And when Obama said McCain wants to cut taxes for America's wealthiest corporations, he's talking about McCain's plan to cut taxes for all businesses, including rich ones.

 To check the resources for this debate Reality Check click on the links below:
 Political Punch: Joe's Conversation With Obama
Fact Check Wire: Plumber Joe and His Health Care
Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans

 

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