Shut Up or You'll Be Investigated!
No, we're not talking the old Soviet Union, nor the right-wing dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos nor even Castro's Cuba.
It happened in Ohio, United States of America.
We all know the story, a man by the name of Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher had a chance encounter with Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama over the Senator's tax plans. Wurzelbacher, now better known as "Joe the Plumber" told Obama that he might like to someday buy the small plumbing company he worked for but was concerned that excessive taxation would have a negative impact on the business' ability to grow. Right or wrong, the story spread like wildfire and Joe become fodder for John McCain and the Republicans.
Now that should be about it but it looks like the Democrats and Obama can't take criticism. Following his "celebrity" Wurzelbacher was the subject of a number of "investigations" by government agencies. For what specific crime, we are not sure.
It has come to light that one of the investigations was conducted by a major supporter of Barack Obama who runs a state agency in Ohio. Helen Jones-Kelley, Director of the Ohio Job and Family Services Department authorized a review of Wurzelbacher's child support payments. Such a breach of public trust this was that Ohio Inspector General Thomas Charles has opened an investigation of the investigation.
Public records show that Jones donated the maximum amount to the Obama campaign. But we're certain that has nothing to do with her investigation of Joe.
The amazing thing is we haven't heard anything from the usual folks, like the ACLU, Democrats, etc. who would be all over this type of invasion of privacy by a government agency.
You may not like McCain and you may not like Joe. That's fine. But Americans should be concerned about what happened to Joe.
Labels: Barack Obama, helen jones-kelley, Joe The Plumber, john mccain
Posted by Michael Higby @ 10/30/2008 09:00:00 PM
2 Comments:
Can someone explain this to me?
Palin refers to Obama as the "Wealth Distributor," and both she and McCain complain that he's at least the next thing to a socialist.
But in Alaska, residents pay no income tax or state sales tax. They receive a yearly dividend check from a $30 billion state investment account built largely from royalties on its oil.
When home fuel and gas costs soared this year, Palin raised taxes on big oil and used some of the money to boost residents' checks by $1,200. Thus every eligible man, woman and child got a record $3,269 this fall.
She also suspended the 8-cent tax on gas.
"We can afford to share resource wealth with Alaskans and to temporarily suspend the state fuel tax," she said at the time.
Much as Obama explains his tax hike on the rich as a way to help people who are struggling, Palin's statement talked about the energy costs burdening Alaskans:
"While the unique fiscal circumstances the state finds itself in at the end of this fiscal year warrant a special one-time payment to share some of the state's wealth, the payment comes at a time when Alaskans are facing rising energy prices. High prices for oil are a double-edged sword for Alaskans. While public coffers fill, prices for heating fuel and gasoline have skyrocketed over the last six months and are now running into the $5- to $9-a-gallon range for heating fuel and gasoline across several areas of the state."
In an interview with The New Yorker last summer Palin explained that she would make demands of a new gas pipeline "to maximize benefits for Alaskans":
"And Alaska we're set up, unlike other states in the union, where it's collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs."
I wonder what skeletons Helen Jones-Kelley has hidden in her past? Maybe she needs to be investigated.
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