Growing up in Texas, I had the pleasure of listening to a lot of ZZ Top. In the 70s, they packed the house as well as any band. Then they went underground. They exploded back on the music scene in the mid-80s with several monster hits. Velcro Fly was probably their last big hit in the 80s. A combination of a danceable beat with killer guitar licks -
One of my commenters suggested that I was going after Joe the Plumber. Well, he actually said, “this is so typical how the weak intellectually deficient left wing liberals address an issue.” This brings up two issues — first, I did not say that “Joe the Plumber” is a bad guy or was a terrorist or was morally deficient. Instead, I pointed out the facts as they stand. “Joe the Plumber” may not be a plumber nor a contractor since he is not licensed to do either in Ohio. Secondly, I’ve addressed the issues in several posts (here, here). I addressed these issues long before John McCain made Joe the Plumber a household name.
Trickle-down economics doesn’t work and has never worked. Republicans have been unable to create jobs in comparison with the success of the Democrats. Since Truman, Democrats and their policies have consistently been able to create more jobs than Republicans. This isn’t my opinion. This is fact.
Creating incentives to get more money into the hands of the middle class stimulates the economy and causes small business to grow. Again, this isn’t my opinion. This is fact.
John McCain and the rest the Republican Party have proposed nothing new for our country’s economic woes. Their answer to every crisis is tax cuts for the rich. That is their answer. We’ve learned over the past 27 years that what happens is that the rich get richer and the rest of us are left behind.
Finally, I would like to address the notion that empowering the middle class is something akin to Marxism, socialism or whatever other derogatory term the right wing is using today. The middle class is the fiber of our country. As such, they are the engine that makes industry great. Under Franklin Roosevelt we saw increased taxes on the rich and a government that supported unions. Yes, I mentioned unions. Unions work to increase wages for the middle class. Unions are sometimes the only leverage that the middle class has against management. Unions also work to suppress inflated CEO salaries. So in the “40s and “50s, as a result of these forces, there was a compression of our society. The rich were a little less rich but the benefits of these policies made the poor a little less poor. Anything that benefits the middle class directly is something that I will support because it is good for America and good for our economy.
Friday Evening News Roundup
New Oliver Stone movie. Here’s the trailer.
Were Joe the Plumber working 12 hour days, 7 days per week for 12 months at $50 per hour, he would bring in $201,600 before taxes. This is without one day off. He still wouldn’t be able to afford to buy this business he was talking about.
Joe, your five minutes of fame (you don’t merit all 15) are about up. Before I leave Joe, I have to dish up some Joe-isms -
Joe on Iraq: We’ve liberated another country. I mean, you know, freedom. Things that every one of you guys take for granted, that Americans take for granted…these guys didn’t have it, now they’ve got it. I don’t know if you guys are Christians or not, but it’s like someone coming to Jesus and becoming saved. These guys have freedom. Our guys here that are poverty stricken? They’ve got cell phones. Those poor people over there, they have one pair of pants and a shirt.
Please Joe Iraq isn’t a poster. There are real people over there. I’m not sure that a Sunni in Baghdad who was forced out of his house but Shiite militias would think that he was living in the land of freedom. We have given the Iraqi people something. I just don’t know what that something is yet.
Joe on Social Security: Social Security’s a joke. I have parents. I don’t need another set of parents called the government. Let me take my money and invest it how I please. Social Security, I’ve never believed in, don’t like it, hate that it’s forced on me.
Since many of the people who are on Social Security are there because of disability I think that Joe is again way off base here. If God-forbid Joe has an accident at work, I think that he will be glad that we have that safety net.
I must admit that during the debates, I was confused by Joe the Plumber. I had no idea who he was. I thought he was some guy who was actually a plumber. John McCain managed to mention Joe around 26 times during a 90 minute debate.
As it turns out, we’re really not sure what Joe the Plumber does to make his living. He is not licensed as a plumber or as a contractor in Toledo, Ohio. So who is Joe? Joe is a guy in Toledo, Ohio who may or may not be a Republican plant. He owes over $1000 in back taxes; therefore, it is hard to imagine that he is going to buy any business worth $250,000. Joe is like Sarah Palin, a myth…like Achilles. Once you look hard enough, you find Achilles was not a god. It looks as if Joe the Plumber may not even be a plumber. Sarah Palin is not the hockey mom that took on her own party but instead is a neoconservative who punishes those who disagree with her and rewards cronyism just like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice.
While I was trapped at the hospital last night, waiting on test results from several recently admitted patients, I was watching CNN when the Glenn Beck Show came on. Glenn Beck is not your typical mainstream Republican, but a man who should not even be exposed to the general public. Simple rules of logic seem not to apply to Mr Beck. For reasons that are unclear, Glenn Beck believes you need no special talent to be president. He went on and on last night about Sarah Palin’s stop at Wal-Mart to pick up diapers, making her a “regular” American. Because of this, he thinks that she is the best candidate to be president. Diapers. Wal-Mart.
Transcript from Glenn Beck Show:
BECK: Hello, America. Last night the — was the last debate for the president, you know, before the election. All throughout the debate, I mean, I just — I like to watch it with the sound off. All I could think of the whole time was diapers, because a few times, I thought they were both full of it, but those aren`t the diapers that I was actually thinking about.
While these two were yammering last night, they were spending the day just memorizing their talking points and political posturing, vice- presidential candidate Sarah Palin popped into a Wal-Mart in Ohio to pick up a few things, including diapers for her youngest son.
Here`s “The Point” tonight, America. That is my candidate. Here`s a regular woman doing the same things that people like you and I do every single day, a politician who lives in the real world. And here`s how I got there.
While McCain and Obama love talking about Joe the plumber. I don`t know about Joe the plumber. By the way, Joe, you should change the name of your company to Joe the plumber like right now. When`s the last time you think either one of these clowns lived like Joe the plumber or felt Joe the plumber`s struggles or shopped like Joe the plumber? Which — which one of them do you think — how long ago was it when they went, “Yes, my toilet`s all backed up, and I got crap all over the floor.” Do you think either of them have done that lately?
Let me keep this brief. Tonight America, here`s what you need to know. I think we`re all feeling disconnected from our government and that`s a spooky thing. And that`s the leaders in Washington are out of touch. You know, they don`t have any idea what it`s like to be an average American like you. But before you throw your hands up and think nobody gets it, think back to yesterday when a mom had a little boy who was out of diapers and she said to the Secret Service, “Pull the bus over for a second. We`re going to Wal-Mart just to pick up a few things.” She just happens to be running for vice president at the time. That`s my candidate. It may not be this time, but I`m going to be watching her for the next four years.
Look, I don’t want Joe the plumber to be my president. I don’t want Sarah Palin to be my president or vice president. I want someone who has a handle on the issues, someone who knows the facts. I want someone who can assimilate vast amounts of information and can then come up with a workable solution. I want someone who understands that our democratic government is a compromise by definition. Therefore, whoever is in the White House needs to be able to negotiate with Congress and come out with something that makes sense. Glenn Beck’s diatribe would make a lot more sense if we lived in the land of Achilles, but we don’t. We live in the real world. In 1941, after Pearl Harbor, Americans were glad to have President Franklin Roosevelt, a politician, and not Joe the Plumber at the helm. Right now, our economy is in a complete and total meltdown, our environment is heating up at an alarming rate and we are fighting two wars simultaneously. With China and Russia becoming more and more our adversaries with every passing day, too, this is no time for amateur hour. I’m sorry but Glenn Beck is a moron. He has given me indigestion and I’m headed for the Pepto-Bismol… Next time he comes on the television, I’m changing the channel.
John McCain, to his credit, showed up this time for David Letterman. Letterman was tougher on McCain than any reporter has been. He stayed on McCain’s back and even asked about some of Sarah Palin’s comments. It was a tough interview and McCain hung in there. Of course, he had to use his tried-and-true fall-back line referring to his time in prison. David Letterman didn’t even pause in his assault.
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
