Barack Obama’s conversation with Joe the plumber earlier this week has stirred the minds of many Americans, and not in a way helpful to Obama. There have been signs at subsequent McCain rallies saying, "Lucy the Inspector – Joe the Bricklayer" or "Why Joe’s money and not Obama’s". But it didn’t have to go that way. No, if Obama was truly an economic wizard, or, say, just had a working knowledge of a W-2 form, he could have answered Joe the plumber in a completely different and more accurate way that would not have made Obama appears as the socialist he is.

Joe stated that he wanted to buy a company doing about $250,000 to $280,000 a year, and he believed that, under Obama’s policy he would have his taxes raised because he was over $250,000. Obama answered that yes, he would be subject to higher taxes but only as high as under Clinton. He also told Joe that as a small business he would get a credit for half of the cost of healthcare for his employees. But he then stated to Joe that his tax increase was not a penalty for success, and suggested that Joe think about what could have been if Obama was president ten years ago. He then, in a moment of perceived brilliance, told Joe that he would get a tax break if Joe grew his business from $250,000 a year to $500,000 a year because Obama was going to abolish the capital gains tax and, therefore, he wouldn’t have to pay tax on the growth.

Where to begin pointing out Obama’s ignorance on the economy and present tax code? .

First, a company doing $250,000 of business a year does not have that much profit. Businesses naturally get to exclude the money they pay in wages, insurance of all types, vehicle purchases and their upkeep, their rent or mortgage on their property, building maintenance, loss of value for buildings and other capital properties, legal fees, uniforms, and all other business costs. These exemptions would most definitely lower the taxable net income, or profit, and take Joe’s company right out of the increase bracket. That would have been an answer Joe would have liked, it would have made Obama appear knowledgeable, and Americans everywhere might have sighed a bit in relief. At least those whose net income is lower than the Obama baseline of $250,000.

Second, Obama ended up by telling Joe about the capital gains tax being eliminated and Joe wouldn’t be taxed if he grew his company over the $250,000 limit. Again, Obama didn’t know, or had forgotten the fact that the growth he was talking about was, again, total worth of all business, or gross income. Growing from $250,000 to $500,000 is not a capital gain but a growth in total proceeds and, if there were enough exemptions paid out to drop that amount to less than $250,000 there would be no tax increase. But, if there were insufficient exemptions and Joe’s company’s net income was above the baseline, then the excess would be taxable. He recommended to Joe that he think about the past and what could have been, if only.....

It is conceivable that with such a growth in business Joe would have needed a bigger building, more vehicles, a larger post-process-inhibitor (?) or other expensive long term equipment. These costs for the more expensive, longlife items that hold their value over decades are capital expenditures. The purchase of these and the growth in businees they allow are all part of growth, bur only the capital assets owned by the company are subject to capital gains tax and only that amount would made non-taxable by Obama.

Obama showed his true self in that little talk with Joe. He said that Joe would have to pay a little more so that some other Joe the unemployed could have the chance Joe had. As if to say that Joe had an undue advantage by being a hard working, visionary plumber who knew how to save and manage a budget. You could almost smell the angst of Joe when Obama told him to just think of it as if he was doing a special favor for the little guy and to be happy it is finally happening, and blame the republicans and greedy whomevers that it didn’t happen ten years ago.

Folks, Obama is wrong in almost everything he says needs changing. We do need to change America’s political workings, but that change would be AWAY from leftist socialistic policies of Obama and those already in place and TOWARD the re-implementation of Constitutional restraint on governmental power, responsibility, and funding. The change we need is AWAY from the failed economic policies of the past two decades, implemented largely by Democrats in congress and in the Whitehouse, and back TOWARD the successful economic policy of a minimally regulated, open market and the cause/effect of bad business equals failure and good business equals success. No other form of economy has ever produced the fantastic and incalculable wealth of every kind in history such as the world feeding, space exploring, atom splitting, superior military, and overall giant of production that the USA has been and still is. DeToqueville stated that it is trite to say a man or person "made" this amount of money per day, or "made" a wage less than he deserved, because, for the most part, those people actually produced nothing of tangible value. He said, though, that the term "making money" was the ideal phrase to describe the economy and results of the hard working people of America because from America flowed an abundance of all things needed for mankind to live a leisurely but productive life whwerever in the world he lived. Admiral Yamamoto, the commander of theJapanese Pearl Harbor attack force and a graduate of Harvard (I think it was Harvard) also saw the reality of the American people and the economic system they worked in and stated, in regard to the effect of their attack on Dec. 7, "I am convinced we have done what we planned. But I am also fearful that what we have really accomplished is the waking of a sleeping giant".

Obama wants to, narcissistically impose his own idea of greatness. He believes we could do much more for the world if we were forced to do so. I believe that his plan will have the opposite effect he desires on America and the world, and thereby, render the USA incapable of the glorious feats that have made it the greatest and most generous nation in history, bar none.

NOBAMA !!

Glenn Flowers