Joe Wurzelbacher, "Joe the plumber", learned a big lesson this week about pollies and the media. Both will stroke your fires when they need air time and flatter you to no end. But the minute they smell the smoke they helped create, they spend the rest of the time throwing gasoline on the fire. "Joe the plumber" needs a fire truck from Engine 212 ASAP.
"Joe the plumber" (as he is know in affectionate and despicable terms at the same time) welcome to fifteen minutes of fame. Joe's name was mentioned twenty six times during the presidential debate on Wednesday night. Thursday morning, Joe was in desperate need of an press agent and a few talking points. By the way, Joe's name is really Samuel which he will probably start using again. He was declared the winner by many, including me, of the final presidential debate. Anytime a plumber consumes the attention of a candidate that has never met him, you are the winner.
The clip of Joe asking the Demo candidate about his tax plan and how it would hurt "his business" was shown hundreds of times by every crazy pundit on cable and network news. He was the toast of the town. But it does not take but a few seconds to burn toast. After a minute of vetting Joe, it has been revealed that Joe does not own a business, does not have a license to do business, and is not required to have a plumber's license. Hold up, wait a minute! I am okay with his questioning taxes and the like, but please have your crap together. Do not give the stupid pundits any reason to make you look like an idiot. It will not be long before we see an exclusive of a few customers who are unhappy with the work that Joe has performed in the past. Say-it-ain't-so-Joe before long, Joe will need a fire hydrant outside his home.
In the pest control industry, we can not service a client's home or business without being certified or licensed. We can not operator a business without a charter which must be inspected by the state. We can not advertise our business without meeting these litmus tests. This is the law. So how is Joe making his money, the pest control operators are asking?
As a business owner in the pest control industry, I would not want an unlicensed, non-certified person representing me or my industry. No, Joe was not speaking for his industry but we are going to forever associate him with plumbers. By the way the national union for plumbers release this statement to The Hill.com
Plumbers union rips McCain on ‘Joe the Plumber’
By Chris Good
Posted: 10/16/08 03:54 PM [ET]
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (UA) says Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) "manufactured outrage" over Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama's (Ill.) tax plan in last night's debate by invoking the now-famous — or infamous — "Joe the Plumber."
"Last night John McCain made Joe the Plumber a household name. His manufactured outrage on behalf of Joe would be a lot more believable if his economic plan had anything to do with helping working people deal with the economic crisis," UA Assistant General President Steve Kelly said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
The UA union claims to be the first organization of any kind to endorse Obama in the presidential race. It did so Jan. 9, 2008.
Joe Wurzelbacher, the now-famous Toledo, Ohio plumber who sparred with Obama over taxes at a campaign event in his hometown, is not a UA member, a UA staffer told The Hill.
The UA staffer claimed that Wurzelbacher is a member of the Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), a non-union trade group that has endorsed McCain.
Gail Raiman, vice president of public affairs at ABC, stated in an e-mail that Wurzelbacher reportedly works for Newell Construction in Toledo, Ohio, which is a residential contractor. ABC, Raiman stated, “represents commercial and industrial contractors, not residential contractors.”
Neither Wurzelbacher nor Newell Construction is a member of ABC, Raiman stressed.
The UA staffer noted that Wurzelbacher does not hold a plumber's license in the state of Ohio, though Wurzelbacher says he does not need a license as he works for someone else.
"Unlike McCain's, Obama's outrage for the middle class is real. He will turn us in a new direction, not keep us on the same, tired old path of the Bush years," Kelly said, going on to blast McCain's tax proposal.
"McCain's plan gives massive tax giveaways to CEOs and mega-corporations while leaving working families out in the cold. At a time when our economy is bleeding jobs, McCain also opposes investment in infrastructure spending, which would create good jobs and help put our economy back on solid footing."
Geez. I thought it was crazy killing bugs and dealing with the industry's big bug stompers, I can not imagine the sh**, I mean fallout the plumbers will be dealing with because of their new found media star, Sam...I mean Joe. So much for calling a plumber for the truth.
Go vote, then call a LICENSED pest control company.
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