Joe the Plumber vs. Obama

From Jonathan Adler today: "The press seems obsessed with plumbing the background of "Joe the Plumber." Some media outlets have even done extensive reports on his alleged tax problems. Yet, as Jim Lindgren notes, the press did not bat an eye at when Barack Obama's tax returns showed what appears to be a clear violation of Illinois ethics law. Specifically, Obama reported significant income from "speaking fees" on his 2000 and 2002 tax returns, even though, as a state legislator, he was barred from receiving honoraria and speaking fees at the time. I would think this would be more significant than whether Joe What's-his-name has a tax lien, but then I'm not a professional journalist."

Here's a review about Joe.  It also makes the point that he only claimed that he is working to buy the plumbing business he currently works for, and which has on income of around $250-$270K.  In other words, the key smears on him from Obama liberals are inaccurate.  

Also, from an e-mail from our friend Jeremy Kidd by way of explanation of Joe's situation: "My understanding of the license issue is that his boss has a plumbing license, and so he doesn't need one, because he isn't operating as an independent plumber. If he buys the business, then he would need to make sure that the license is current, but the current owner takes care of that, so the issue of the license would appear to be pure smear. As far as his taxes, I actually know a lot of people who have had tax liens against them at one point or another. It usually means that you were late in paying, but that you arranged with the IRS to repay. When that happens, they issue a tax lien until you pay in full. If he were trying to avoid paying taxes, he would be in court right now (trust me, we get a lot of those types of cases through the courtroom where I work). So, the tax lien is almost assuredly blown out of proportion."