Plumbing the Depths of Joe

Here's a good thing that has come out of the insertion of a "regular guy" into the national political dialog:

According to the New York Times, Mr. Wurzelbacher says that he is planning to buy a plumbing business that has profits of between $250,000 and $280,000 a year.

While this income would put Mr. Wurzelbacher above the threshold where he could expect to pay higher taxes under Senator Obama's tax plan, the increase in his tax bill would be relatively modest. Under Senator Obama's plan, the tax on income above $250,000 would increase by 3 percentage points from 33 percent to 36 percent. This means that Mr. Wurzelbacher could expect to see his tax bill rise by between $0-$900, assuming that this plumbing business would be his entire taxable income. If he has additional taxable income, then he would see a larger increase in his taxes.

It would have been useful for reporters to explain the extent to which Joe the Plumber would see his taxes increase under Senator Obama's tax proposal. It is unlikely that this tax increase will seriously impair his plans for his business as Senator McCain implied.

Actual examination of a real-life example of what might happen to a real person. We could totally use more of that.

Not such a good thing? Allegations that Mr. W is a nut, a "ringer," related to Charles Keating, possibly not a plumber, or perhaps just a little enraptured with his own voice. (Not bothering to link to these.) This is obviously just a case of "attacking the messenger, rummaging through his personal life and predictably wielding the race card once again." And everyone -- especially the right -- knows that citizens are not fair game when it comes to sussing out the legitimacy of the questions they raise. Right?