Joe the Plumber

By MICHALE HALEY

The real reason this story has resonance is due to the fact that Obama used the phrase "spread the wealth around.” In doing so, he portrayed a view of economics that conservatives are roundly against,  wealth redistribution to make things "fairer.”

In fairness to Obama, he did not say that directly after Joe the Plumber asked him the question, he said it much later and it was in reference to business in general. However, the idea remains the same. Obama previously has put forward the idea that due to middle class wage stagnation or even shrinkage compared to those higher up the wage scale, he wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and give it to the middle class.

This is nothing new from Obama but it really hasn't gotten a whole lot of attention. What gave it so much attention is that the phrase "spread the wealth around,” especially to your "Joe six-pack," kind of average American, really brought the point home as to what the intention of Obama's plan is.

There are other reasons that Obama has given for this particular tax plan. One is to stimulate the economy, and from an economic stand point Obama is correct, tax money to those in the middle gets more bang for your buck than those at the top who would not immediately go out and spend all of it. Some kinds of tax cuts  stimulate the economy more than others, and this one is more stimulative than  cutting wealthier people's income taxes, all else being equal. 

What 84 percent of Americans would object to in this, at least according to one survey, is to take money from wealthy people and give it to those lower down the scale for fairness, this from a Gallup poll last June:

"When given a choice about how government should address the numerous economic difficulties facing today's consumer, Americans overwhelmingly — by an 84 to 13 percent margin — prefer that the government focus on improving overall economic conditions and the jobs situation in the United States as opposed to taking steps to distribute wealth more evenly among Americans."

 

(Hat tip to James Pothokoukis, see the full item here)

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2008/10/16/did-barack-spread-the-wealth-obama-just-blow-the-election.html

Joe the Plumber and other average Americans want to make their own way and wealth distribution like this amounts to a hand out that they don't want. Something that seems hard for some Democrats to understand is that even though you may be a low  wage earner, it doesn't mean you think others should have to pay your way. 

What they want is opportunity, which is a classic Republican position, increase opportunity, not hand outs. Those Democrats believe that average Joe is voting against his own interests by voting Republican, but they do not understand Joe's interests, at least in his own mind. He doesn't want someone to give him money, he wants to earn it himself. He should have the opportunity to work hard and get ahead.

If the Democrats can make the argument that somehow the system is flawed, and that average Joe plumbers do not have that opportunity and that no matter how hard he works he still won't make it, then at least the Obama position is more justified. 

Although we have some ideas, no one knows for certain why middle class wages are decreasing. If it is true that the system itself is flawed or regulated in a way as to prevent upward mobility then the Democrats have a point. At present that is debatable.

But even if it is true, transferring money from the wealthy to the poor will not fix that problem. Hand outs may be morally justified, they may be economically  justified as a stimulus, but they will not increase opportunities for upward mobility. Only education and business development can do that. No matter how you slice it, Obama's strategy of transferring money, "spreading the wealth around" is at best a one time fix that will not change the root problem.

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