The American dream is a fantasy based on the exploitation of the majority by a vindictive, sociopathic minority. Does anyone really believe the rich work hardest or are cleverest? It is palpable nonesense. If not, the architects of this recession must have planned it! REALLY CLEVER AND HARDWORKING!

william, Manchester, UK

If having a house is not a right...then maybe we should make some of the birds and the bees and the mice and the foxes and the other creatures of the earth homeless if they aren't 'republican' enough.
It seems to me that human beings are the most selfish, vindictive, jelous, bitter, cruel, nasty..

william, Manchester, UK

How can Joe's taxes be nothing? Have you heard of the millions and millions of dollars that are owed the government?

Don't you people understand that WE ARE ALREADY A SOCIALIST NATION??? I saw a young woman holding a sign up that says:

"HAVING A HOUSE IS A RIGHT!" what???
FYI- It's NOT!!

Cara , Felton, USA

I liked what Mack said about paying taxes as an obligation until he said that it was the "Christian" thing to do. Why don't people leave that phrase out of their speech? Although I am Christian, I find it deeply offensive. It implies that "Christian" has an inclusivity to "rightness."

Gina, Pittsburgh, USA

How does Joe propose to secure a loan to buy a business when he owes back taxes and has a lien on his property? He needs to take an honest look at why he is experiencing financial difficulty - the Bush years. Obama answered his question, but he isn't bright enough to understand it.

Annette, Neenah, United States

Philippe Naughton should pay more tax

Bingstone, jackson,

Naleen Lal, Northern California:

If you're not selfish in terms of desiring to keep as much as possible of what you earn, then you are a socialist and not fit to reside in the United States. I guess you desire to have others take from me to give to you?

Leave us and move to Europe.

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

Why does Joe look so much like Vic Mackey from 'The Shield'.....

Jim, london, uk

Interesting that Obama gave an honest answer to Joe. Even though Joe, who is clearly Republican thought it necessary to lie.

McCain, who has never talked to Joe, continues the lie that he is going to earn $250k.

Given Bush's history, it seems all Republicans do is lie.

Joe is in good hands

Paul, Toronto, Canada

The other thing to know is that Joe the ersatz Plumber doesn't even support the current tax system. He is a supporter of the flat tax. He basically supports regressive taxation.

word2thewyz, st. michaels, md

Obama is going to be the next president, you can either accept it or step to the side and watch the future unfold. this is inevitable. for far too long this event has been surpressed! it is bound to happen someday, all we have on this planet is time.

tonei, nashua, usa

It doesn't matter if Joe isn't a plumber or his name is Joe.
What matters is Obama's answer to Joe's question. That's all that matters. In and unguarded moment Joe got Obama to admit, on tape and in Obama's own words, that Obama is a socialist who will raise your taxes and give the money away.

marc, Dundee, scotland

With housing foreclosures, and businesses going bust, Joe the Plumber will be lucky to have a job. John McCain seem set on not collecting tax, I wonder why. Are people going to fix the roads them selves, close down schools, leave the bridges to fall down. How is the Leves going to get repaired.

Daphne Kenward, Cambridge, UK

All Obama is talking about is welfare. He's going to send $1000 checks to those who already pay no taxes. That's not a tax cut that's welfare! Naturally the biased media is shooting the messenger & ignoring the message. Obama is a socialist & does not want to reward the hard work that built the USA!

Bob, Diamond Bar, CA, USA

People making $250 K or more can afford to pay more tax especially since they had tax cut over the last years. Do not be that selfish, the government is strap for cash and it makes sense to tax people who can afford those taxes. Banks charge poor more bank charges while rich pay none, not fair.

Naleen Lal, Northern California,

I can't understand why you are so upset with Obama concerning Joe. Joe is the one who went over to Obama and asked a question and Obama answered it. It was McCain who brought up Joe's name at the debate and who has been using it in every stump speech since then.

M Kauffman, Bend, United States

Here is another case of somebody who dares to contradict the sainted one!
How did we get to this point when to not go with the lemmings following Obama's checkered lead we leave ourselves open to ridicule?
'Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose'

Prudence Eely Bond McGuire BA, LONDON, ENGLAND UK

Kathy,
I think the basic principle is called fairness and taxing people on an ability to pay. The idea that people wont strive for success if they move into a slightly higher tax bracket once they earn $250k is ludicrous and frankly quite insulting to the majority of financially successful people.

Cameron, Melbourne, Australia

Deliberant "Dumbing Down" by liberals over the past 2 generations has given them exactly what they want. A candidate such as BO. Their unexpected surprise is a McCain who ran a lousy campaign. McCain is still going to win this thing, and then meet everyone in the middle and make everyone mad.

Duke, Scottsdale,

I cannot believe how this man is being attacked. Obama was in his neighborhood. This man asks a question, hypothetical, and is lambasted for it because Obama let out the truth of redistributing the wealth. Why give welfare to people who don't even pay taxes - like this country's got the money. AL

angie, Tuscaloosa, USA

Clearly, our confused puritans and anti-welfare palls are also in a state of denial: they still do not realize that Republicans are currently administering the biggest welfare plan in World History..it's called the "BAILOUT PLAN" (expected to exceed one Trillion Dollars) and guess who is benefiting

K. Smith, California, USA

It certainly appears that John McCain has told another desperate "porky pie" to hoodwink the voters. So "Joe the plumber "owes a bit of tax, and he is not even a plumber. America is going down the drain with John McCain and his Republicans. I really think the world needs a change let alone America.

Plum Mad, Sydney, Australia

Keep attacking the messenger!
The message is Spread the wealth! The critical point is that Obama got exposed as a closet socialist (at best). Obama's credibility is now in question. When $250k is not raking in enough for the Leviathan - trust Obama to hold to that - he's so forthright.

ReginaldL, OKC, OK

Okay, so you don't want the rich taxed, you don't want businesses taxed...how is the government supposed to pay for stuff then? And anyway, so the American rich get taxed higher than the poor? They get taxed less than the middle class in almost every other developed country.

Chris, Crystal Lake, USA

The democrats are the reason for the bank failures giving them so much and loans that people cannot pay back. Then we the people get to bail out the banks. We should let the whole system crash and burn. So we can get a reasonable system up and running. Can anyone say socialist!

Barb, Rio Rancho, United States

Easy for me too. If i made $250k what is the difference if i pay and extra 3% above what i am paying now on my 38k salary. I'd rather pay taxes on 250K then pay taxes on my 38k.
It used to be the more money you made the higher tax bracket you were in, meaning the more taxes you pay.

peggy, new york, usa

Henry,
I don't mind working for a living.... but not when the fruits of our labors are being swindled from us. That is fascism, not democracy. When the bosses take our money from our labors they are not working for their sustenance... they are thieving. And "Joe" is enabling.

charley knox, cottage grove,

I don't focus on the amount of taxes I pay for. It's what's being done with the taxes I pay that I'm concerned about. 400 billion a year in Iraq is what the estimate was when we went in 7 years ago. 2.8 trillion????? I'm sick of the Republican's taking my taxes, and wasting them.

Jerry, North Mankato , United States

Don't you understand who Joe the plumber is?
He is the typical american who doesn't pay his taxes, and then screams bloody murder that his taxes will go up.
Hello, anyone home?

Cara, Felton, USA

Joe's potential income of 250,000$ is irrelevant to what his personal net income would be. This is an American who is trying to make the American dream come true for himself. Who cares he is past due on some taxes. He is trying to rise above the entities that want to keep you down once you are there

ken, west haven, usa

Obama intends to increase the tax for Social Security past the thresold of the 100K today to infinite costing businesses and high income employees 15% in additional taxes alone. This will only force lower waged jobs to be held in the USA. Example, the IT engineer loses job to India.

wayne, Frt Lee, usa

Taxes are not penalties. People in societies assmue certain obligations in common and they must be paid for, the war in Iraq, for example. It is only fair that those of us with the most pay a share of the cost of governing commensurate with our wealth and income. Its the Christian thing to do.

Mack H. Jones, Atlanta, USA

If I can double my income, a percent more tax doesn't matter. If I have to take a 50% cut, a percent less tax doesn't matter. The real issue is income, not taxes. The Republicans broke unions, exported jobs, exported factories, and killed the economy, and now try to change the subject to taxes.

Steve, Fort Lauderdale, USA

Smells like a plant by McCain!

Helen, London,

Do you people not understand that millions of people work at Corporations! When Corporations making less money, they employ less people...sorry to bother a dumb liberal with common sense!

barry, litchfield,

Leave Joe the Plumber alone, the media has pounced on him like he was a canidate and not the one you want to win or Osama Bin Laden. He's just the average "Joe".

Manny, Berwyn,Il, USA

When Reagan cut taxes across the board by indexing tax rates for inflation & lowering top marginal rates all sectors of society benefited. Revenue to the government doubled as well. Obama's hope is to destroy the market and replace with misery, his plan is right out of the Communist Manifesto.

paul, Los Angeles, USA

Do people not understand that Corporations DO NOT PAY TAXES? When you tax Exxon, do you think they just make less profit. No, they pass it on to the consumer. So when Obama says he is going to tax the rich, he is really taxing you.

Lonnie, Dallas, TX,

So sorry that now the Democrats are trying to dig as much dirt as they can on this poor man. Certantly, if the man does in the future own a company, he will be pinalized for being successful, is this right? I say no!

Alex, Carson City, NV, USA

Why is it o.k. to tax people that make 250K more than someone that makes 10K? Let's penalize someone for startig a business, creating jobs etc? Does that makes sense? NO! How about everyone paying a fair perentage of their wages.

Kathy, Dallas, TX, US

All I know is that Joe has helped the McCain campaign and also exposed the true socialist that Obama is. You see, here in the States we have what is called a Puritan work ethic, and we don't mind working for a living. We just can't understand why able people won't work for their own sustenance.

Henry, Warrenton, Missouri

The plummer is not the point. He's simply a symbol of many small business owners. Obama's response to him is what is important. Also, "Mr McCain complained..."?! It was a comedy speech for a charity. Obama, seated at the same table as McCain, laughed and clapped.

Dee Browne, New York, USA

People -- let's not forget that taxes in this country are only paid by 60% of the population! Therefore Barack Hussein Obama's plan to "spread" the wealth amounts to nothing more than more welfare. Do we really want America to be a welfare nation?

caroline, Stamford, USA

Barack giving 95% of us tax cuts? No.. the number is said to be around 83%.. but that is better than John McCain who intends to tax my health insurance and give taxcuts to the people who need it the least. investments in those who need it or handouts to those who don't? Easy Choice.. for Obama.

Joe, Dayton, USA

Leave it to the media to make something good turn into a circus! He didn't ask for all the recognization, so what gives the media the right to dig into his personal life. Let him enjoy the moment!

karen, Cincinnati, USA

So by increasing taxes on people who earn more than 250,000 isin't it a way of saying ... there's no point in working hard... only to get taxed higher. Doctors probably earn in that bracket. So for all the time they spent studying, working hard and doing well... they are now to be taxed higher?

natasha, deerfield,

The state of Ohio does not require a person to have a plumming license for someone who is a helper for a plumming crew.The REAL issue is the tax plan Obama has suggested.After a 700 billion dollar rescue package,ALL of our taxes are going up not only in America,but around the world.95% tax cuts=lies

Timothy Ferguson, Atlanta, USA

Joe says the business makes $250,000 a year. Assuming the business has expenses-employees, materials etc. it's unlikely Joe will be making that much. And if he can't manage to get a license and pay his taxes it's possible this business will be run the same way. So why worry about taxes?

John, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, US

The way John McCain jumped on this issue makes me seriously wonder if he wasn't a plant by his campaign - and just in time for the 3rd Presidential Debate! Unfortunately for them both, Barack Obama is always on his game. He talked sense to "Joe" who nodded in agreement, and he won the debate!

Jimmy C, Letchworth Garden City, UK

If Joe the plumber does earn 250k or more, what is wrong with him paying higher taxes? People who earn 100k pay more taxes than people who earn 10k. Is there any issue with someone earning 250k earning more than 100k?

Michael, Dublin, Ireland

The relevent question here was taxes on the top three percent of wage earners in the United States. "Reagan-omics" and "Trickle Down Economics" is a huge myth that doesn't do a damn thing for the U.S. middle or lower classes. All it does is make China, Singapore, India and Mexico wealthier, not us.

Carl J., Michigan, USA

So Mccain has hired himself a new plumber !
Why do guys like Joe vote against their own self interest. Why does he not vote Obama until he is on 250k per year and then vote republican if he feels they will help him keep more of his wealth. He is voting on how he wants to be and not on reality.

pete, Dublin, Ireland

surely, the only important issue here is the answer to "joe's" hypothetical question on taxes? his actual unlicensed status and tax arrears are totally irrelevant.

jem, london, uk

The American public need an urgent reality check, even after all the financial shinanagins of the past few months. Too much emphasis is placed on what people say, NOT on what they actualy do ! That's why the present presidential race looks more like a 'soap' than a true election.

John Fisher, Edinburgh,