We're ALL "Joe The Plumber!"

I was checking out my email the other day and ran across an article from my friend SmartCookie over at Self-Evident Truths, espousing the proposition that many, many of us are "Joe The Plumber." Joe the Plumber (more commonly known as Joe Wertzelbacher) challenged Barack Obama on his tax policy and how it would make it harder for him to purchase a small business. Check out the exchange in the video below:

Thinking about this, it occurred to me that ALL of us, every one, are "Joe The Plumber." Senator Obama would have you believe that this country is 2 classes, of the very rich, and everyone else. But that makes no sense. What we really are is a continuous spectrum of people all making their way up the ladder of success at their own pace. Will we ALL get fabulously rich? Hardly. But America is still the best place to do accomplish that, or at least move up the economic scale according to our own abilities and motivation. Why? Because our government (for the moment, anyway) is smart enough to stay out of the way while we pursue our dreams. After all, the Declaration of Independence assures us the liberty of "pursuit of happiness", it doesn't guarantee it.

There are so many of us in this country who were not born into privilege. We came from lower or lower-middle class families, where our parents didn't have much money, or privilege, or connections, but they had an abiding belief that in this country, you could accomplish ANYTHING. That belief was imparted to us, at home, in church, in school. Just a few simple guidelines, really:

• Stay In School,
• Work Hard,
• Save Your Money, and most important,
• Believe in Yourself, and in the American Dream

So that's what I did. I did it the old-fashioned way: followed those few simple guidelines, made a few smart decisions, had a bit of good luck, and took advantage of the opportunities that came my way. So what happened? I went from:

1. Joe The Janitor, to
2. Joe the Short Order Cook, to
3. Joe The Theater Employee, to
4. Joe The United States Airman, to
5. Joe The United States Military Officer, to
6. Joe the Highly-Paid Technical Consultant

And now Senator Obama wants to take more taxes from me, in order to "spread the wealth?" Let's think about that for a moment. If my taxes go UP, I will have less money of my own.

• I must pay my mortgage.
• I must eat, and travel to work, and clothe myself, and pay the costs of living in our world.
• I must save for my retirement, because Social Security is going broke.
• I must be able to pay for the care of my parents in their later years
• I like to give donations to charities I care about
• I prefer to do business with small business owners to provide goods and services to make my life better, or easier.

So, where will the money to pay those extra taxes come from? Unfortunately, I will have to make pragmatic choices about what I MUST do, and what I would LIKE TO DO. So, under an Obama administration, I will be forced to make decisions to eliminate services from:

• Joe The Lawn Care Guy
• Joe The Lady Who Cleans My House Every Couple of Weeks
• Joe The Financial Advisor, Who Helps Me Plan For My Retirement
• Joe The Physical Trainer, Who Helps Me Stay In Shape
• Joe The General Contractor Who Does Things Around My House
• Joe The Painter, and oh, yeah...
• Joe The Plumber

Senator Obama, are you starting to understand that "spreading the wealth" will hurt so many more people than you will help? Perhaps you should spend more time figuring out how to tell the less-fortunate how they can pull themselves UP, rather than telling those of us who are succeeding how you are going to pull us DOWN.