“Joe the Plumber” has sprung a leak.
Joe Wurzelbacher – an Ohio plumber who was thrust into the national spotlight after he was mentioned two dozen times in the final presidential debate – isn’t even licensed, it was revealed yesterday. His credibility was flushed down the drain after state and licensing agencies in Ohio showed no plumbing licenses listed under his name.
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Among other revelations that surfaced yesterday about Wurzelbacher:
* He’s not a member of the plumbers union he claims to be enrolled in on his MySpace page.
* He was once listed as a member of the Natural Law Party, which claims yoga and transcendental meditation can solve the world’s problems. He voted in his first primary on March 4, registering as a Republican.
* In December 2007, the Ohio Department of Taxation placed a lien against him because $1,183 in personal property taxes had not been paid – but records show there has been no action in the case since it was filed.
* Voter-registration records reveal that a man named Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher – spelled with an “o” instead of a “u” – with the same address and age voted in 2002, 2005 and 2007. Officials admitted his name may have been misspelled in the database.
McCain brought up Joe the Plumber on Wednesday night during his and Barack Obama‘s debate at Hofstra University on Long Island. The Republican nominee cited the 34-year-old single dad, whom Obama had encountered at a campaign event, as an example of someone who yearns to buy a business but would be hurt financially by the Democratic nominee’s tax plans.
Fox News Channel caught Wurzelbacher approaching Obama at the Holland, Ohio, event on Sunday and declaring, “Your new tax plan is going to tax me more.”
“I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance at success, too,” Obama said. “And I think that when we spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”
Wurzelbacher, who lives in Holland, Ohio, said he works for Newell Plumbing & Heating Co. Records show that A.W. Newell Corp., owned by Al Newell, does have a state plumbing license and one with the city of Toledo in Ohio. Wurzelbacher said he works under Newell’s license, but under Ohio building regulations, he must have his own to be a plumber, said Cheryl Schimming of Lucas County Building Regulations.
He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio and is not part of a union, Schimming said.
Wurzelbacher’s attempt to buy the company – which he described to Obama – also appears to be a pipe dream. He said that he was hired by the company in 2002 and that the possibility of him someday buying it was discussed during his job interview.
Earlier in the day, Wurzelbacher, who said he was undecided in the race, hammered away at Obama’s tax plan. “That’s right out of Karl Marx’s mouth,” he said. “We are not a socialist country! We are America!”
Earlier in the day, Obama mentioned Joe the Plumber at a New Hampshire rally, saying McCain was being disingenuous by suggesting his tax policies would hurt people like Wurzelbacher.
McCain “is trying to suggest a plumber is the guy he’s fighting for,” Obama scoffed. “How many plumbers you know making a quarter million dollars a year?”
But McCain praised Wurzelbacher at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania.
“The real winner last night was Joe the Plumber,” he said. “Joe’s the man. He won, and small businesses won across America because the American people are not going to let Senator Obama raise their taxes in a tough economy.” With AP