Joe the Plumber, aka Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, may be sorry he ever approached Barack Obama during a campaign visit to his Holland, Ohio, neighborhood last week to talk about taxes. But he’s been a dream for campaign comedy. A sample:
“Do you know the saddest part about the Joe the Plumber story? Last month, he was an investment banker.” – Jay Leno
“Joe the plumber has become quite the celebrity. After the debate, he was rushed to Washington to unclog the valve on Dick Cheney.” – David Letterman
“Turns out Joe the Plumber, his name is not Joe and he is not a licensed plumber and he owes back taxes. So it sounds like he has the best plan to reduce taxes – don’t pay them.” – Leno
“Everyone has Joe the Plumber fever. Even the Statue of Liberty was holding a plunger.” – Letterman
“A full 67 percent of Americans say they’ve seen enough and they don’t want any more presidential debates. The other 33 percent are plumbers who want to hear their name on television.” – Conan O’Brien
“Events are moving fast in my campaign, and, yes, it’s true that this morning I’ve dismissed my entire team of senior advisers. All of their positions will now be held by a man named Joe the Plumber.” – John McCain
Politicians’ election-year lip service on health care had better lead to action, and fast. Americans are engaging in a risky kind of self-triage to save money, according to the Washington Post – going without prescription drugs, skipping doctor visits and delaying medical attention. In one recent survey, 25 percent of respondents said they had not gone to a doctor in 2008 because of the cost, up from 18 percent in 2007. Other research finds drug sales newly declining for the first time in a decade. “When the economy is in the situation we have today, people make tough choices,” said Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, in her role as president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. “Things are just not going to get done.” But at what cost to quality and length of life?
Sedgwick County Commission candidate Karl Peterjohn complains about how the county budget has “ballooned by well over 100 percent” since 1992. Yet when The Eagle editorial board asked Peterjohn repeatedly to explain why the budget had grown so much and what was in the budget that shouldn’t be there, Peterjohn couldn’t answer. What’s more, he couldn’t name a single item in the budget that should be cut.
So why has the budget increased that much? Half the increase is due to an accounting change. The county didn’t include money from grants and other sources in its main budget until 2001. Other significant increases include expanding the jail in 1999, assuming full management of the county health department in 2003, building the needed juvenile detention facility in 2006, and budgeting next year for levee improvements to the Big Ditch.
“The very people that got us into this mess are the people that are going to get us out? “That’s like asking the Boston Strangler for a neck massage.” – Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., a “no” vote on the bailout plan who nevertheless says, “I hope and pray that it works”
Joe the Plumber, aka Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, may be sorry he ever approached Barack Obama during a campaign visit to his Holland, Ohio, neighborhood last week to talk about taxes. But he’s been a dream for campaign comedy. A sample:
