PJM Goes Hollywood On Israel?

Via Hot Air headlines from JD Johannes:

Joe the Plumber--Out of His Depth

I hadn't been following this. So with several ex-military bloggers potentially available, even assuming a Yon, Roggio, Johannes, or whomever weren't, PJM put up dough to send a plumber who is this year's personality fad to Israel in an effort to cover the fighting?

I don't think opting for name recognition over substance best serves PJM in this case, or new media as a whole. But balancing credibility against traffic is often going to be a challenge as blogging enters the business world.

I can't think of his name but that Hollywood guy who posts pics of celebrities with nasty captions cashed in last I checked.

This is somewhat ironic for me as I was criticized by some for covering the Holloway story, which took RWV into the top ten blogs in traffic while the story ran. I actually didn't do that for traffic, though it would be silly for me to suggest I didn't enjoy that aspect of it. Heck, I even contemplate going back to crime blogging some on occasion.

The fact is, if you want to make a living doing this you need eyeballs. And you have to do what sells. Maybe the New York Times should have used Joe as their correspondent instead!

Comments

[jharp]

"PJTV's sending Joe The Plumber to Israel felt like a shark-jumping publicity stunt and it was a risk that could put PJTV's credibility at risk"

Good Lord. As if PJTV ever had any credibility. A desperate move by a desperate organization and it's blowing up in their face. Couldn't happen to a better group.

[Chris]

I read JD's critique and it seems he's mostly upset about one aspect; Joe commenting on the media/military interaction. Whatever. It was one man's opinion. JD's right on the narrow point but wrong on the larger issue. JP's insights are no more or less insightful than the MSM's own reporting from the ME. They are, however, different. He doesn't have their pedigree and that is what incensed the MSM. Good. Let them be upset. I also seem to recall reading that JP had done his own tour in the military. He isn't threatening PJTV credibility. He's bringing them some extra attention while providing the "everyman" take on the situation.

I would not be surprised or disappointed to see JP in any number of roles in the future. Maybe a journalist, congressman, whatever. And I love to see the MSM'ers get hysterical. As if there is something special they do in spewing their talking points and propaganda. Go Joe!

[jharp]

"that is what incensed the MSM"

You're joking? Right?

The MSM is laughing at PJTV as is every else with a sane bone in their bodies. Incensed? Good one. It gave me quite a laugh.

[jharp]

"I would not be surprised or disappointed to see JP in any number of roles in the future. Maybe a journalist, congressman,"

Chris, the dude is a failed plumber who couldn't even pay his income taxes. A congressman? Put the bong away.

[Fred Beloit]

"Chris, the dude is a failed plumber who couldn't even pay his income taxes."
Is someone talking about Obie's nomination for the Sec of the Treasury?

[North Dallas Thirty]

"Chris, the dude is a failed plumber who couldn't even pay his income taxes. A congressman? Put the bong away."

And let's see who jharp endorses and supports for office.

-- A Senate candidate who wouldn't pay his taxes, who wouldn't pay workers' compensation insurance for his employees, and who stole money from charities to pay his salary.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/04/16/frankentaxes/

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2005/07/federal-funds-diverted-to-air-america.html

-- The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes the nation's tax laws, refusing to pay income tax, illegally claiming property tax exemptions, and using rent-controlled apartments -- which are supposed to be for people who can't afford regular housing -- as his houses and offices.

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/12/11/opinion/doc4940f6490bdc7421638554.txt

-- The nominee for Treasury Secretary -- which oversees the IRS and is thus responsible for enforcement of the nation's tax laws -- couldn't even pay his taxes, repeatedly, or the ones he was mandated to pay for his (illegal) workers.

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/13/uh-oh-obama-treasury-nominee-had-undocumented-housekeeper/

And yet, jharp supports, endorses, and praises these and says they make or will make "excellent" politicians and leaders.

[DaMav]

Couldn't pay his taxes? So are you suggesting Joe be made Obama's Treasury Secretary?

[IslamoLlama]

We can only hope that future conservative pundits and intellectuals will turn to Joe the Plumber style reporting exclusively for their information needs.

[jharp]

Couldn't pay his taxes? So are you suggesting Joe be made Obama's Treasury Secretary?

Posted by: DaMav | Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 02:26 PM

No, but some other dumbass was hoping he'd get elected to Congress. Still laughing at that one.

[jharp]

We can only hope that future conservative pundits and intellectuals will turn to Joe the Plumber style reporting exclusively for their information needs.

Posted by: IslamoLlama | Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 02:52 PM

The sad thing is they already have. The two dropouts Hannity and Limbaugh.

Maybe it's not sad though. Look where it got them.

[Squid]

Ah, the amazing power of credentials! Why, nobody with the Proper Credentials(tm) has ever made a bad decision or a fallacious argument!

[North Dallas Thirty]

"No, but some other dumbass was hoping he'd get elected to Congress. Still laughing at that one."

Then, of course, we have a Senate candidate who wouldn't pay his taxes, who wouldn't pay workers' compensation insurance for his employees, and who stole money from charities to pay his salary.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/04/16/frankentaxes/

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2005/07/federal-funds-diverted-to-air-america.html

And what do the liberal posters say about him?

"Franken will make an excellent Senator."

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/01/um-what-waves-guys.html#comment-144708264

[Chris]

Harpie,
Nice comeback. You perfectly encapsulate the liberal mindset. JP's a rube worthy of ridicule while the best and brightest (Geithner, Franken, Rangel etc) all get a pass.

I suggest Sarah Palin could have done Geithner's taxes, stopped the looting by Citi at Treasury and forged a coherent energy policy, all before lunch. JP could have accomplished the same, although it would probably take an extra couple of hours for him. They could have also pointed out the flaws in nominating Richardson and negotiating with Blago in roughly the same amount of time.

Disdain for the people is unbecoming and a characteristic that won't serve the One very well. Keep plugging away though.

[Jimbo]

For you fools on the right to accept and support Joe the Dumber is part of the reason your party is a small, regional, and bigoted group of racists. Please, Please have Joe and Sarah run in 2012. please show the entire planet your real colors. Please continue to display your uneducated candidates so we all can see what we have been missing. The modern GOP is a laughing stock. You did to yourselves by becoming the Christian Taliban.

[templar knight]

Jimbo the Dumbo has spoken. Yeah, our Party is small, getting 46% of the vote. Dream on, bigoted idiot.

[Chris]

Jimbo,
Joe the Dumber? Very clever. Come up with that all by yourself? Again, condescension-check. Bigotry-check. Derangement-check. A trifecta! Nice work.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Actually, Jimbo, what the country now sees is that the same Democrats who want to raise taxes on everyone else won't pay their own.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/04/16/frankentaxes/

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/12/11/opinion/doc4940f6490bdc7421638554.txt

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/13/uh-oh-obama-treasury-nominee-had-undocumented-housekeeper/

The same Democrats who scream about overpaid people have no qualms about looting charities to pay themselves high salaries, even as they refuse to pay workers' compensation for employees.

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2005/07/federal-funds-diverted-to-air-america.html

You can continue to mock the American public while making excuses for your corrupt criminal party full of black racists like Jeremiah Wright and Michelle Obama. But I wouldn't bet on it lasting too long, especially when crooks like Pelosi and Reid say there's nothing wrong with people like Rangel not paying their taxes.

[jharp]

Chris,

"You perfectly encapsulate the liberal mindset."

You perfectly encapsulate the wingnut mindset. By not even being able to understand the issue. Nice work

"JP's a rube worthy of ridicule"

Joe is a failed plumber and a fake. The joke is PJTV actually hiring him as a serious journalist. And the whole world is laughing at them, at you, and at Joe.

And Sarah Palin? She couldn't even name one magazine or newspaper she had read, had no idea what the job of VP entailed, thought Africa was a country, among other idiocies.

But please, please continue to lobby for Palin and Joe. They brought the GOP down in 08 and I have no doubt they can inflict even more damage in 2012.

[Chris]

What is it about these two that gets you guys all upset Harp? And me, a wingnut? I don't consider it an insult because I am so far away from the far right you can't imagine. PJTV hired JP, NOT a serious journalist. Is that why you are upset? He got a high profile (low) paying gig? The guy is a "failed" plumber, according to you. Upon what information do you base this assertion? Is it his lack of a union card or the fact that he harbors higher ambition? For a failure, he sure occupies a lot of your and the left's time. Same with the "failed" governor of Alaska. Why do you spend so much time harping (pardon the pun) on such obvious failures?

[jharp]

"Why do you spend so much time harping (pardon the pun) on such obvious failures?"

Because an ignorant America is a weak America. And these two are ignorant and father further ignorance.

Fer chrissakes, Chris, Palin didn't even know the duties and responsibilities of the VP. I'm shocked that someone so ignorant could even get a smell of the vice presidency. And furthermore with an old dude like McCain as President it is even more shockingly unbelievable..

[Lala]

Dallas,

re Geithner, eminently qualified, I'd say -

First among those questions is why he accepted payment from the IMF as restitution for taxes that he had not, in fact, paid.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

According to an analysis released by the Senate Finance Committee, Geithner “wrote contemporaneous checks to the IRS and the State of Maryland for estimated [income] tax payments” that jibed exactly with his IMF statements. But he didn’t write checks for the self-employment tax allowance. Then, according to the committee analysis, “he filled out, signed and submitted an annual tax allowance request worksheet with the IMF that states, ‘I wish to apply for tax allowance of U.S. Federal and State income taxes and the difference between the “self-employed” and “employed” obligation of the U.S. Social Security tax which I will pay on my Fund income.”

In a conversation today with sources on Capitol Hill who are familiar with the situation, I asked, “Was Geithner made whole for tax payments that he didn’t make?”

“Yes,” one source answered. “He was getting the money. He was being paid a tax allowance to pay him for tax payments that he should have made but had not.”

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=YzJjOGQyODY2ZjhhMWY4Y2U3YmVkMjhlMWQ2MWZiNTA=

[Lala]

Dallas, here's another one. List your home as a charity, don't pay any property taxes on it, then donate money to it which is then a taxable deduction. Wow.

"According to the Cook County Assessor’s website, the Chicago home of four-term Democrat Congressman and likely new White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, doesn’t exist. While the address of 4228 North Hermitage is listed as Emanuel’s residence on the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website, there seems to be no public record of Emanuel ever paying property taxes on this home…

Why would 4228 North Hermitage property owners Rahm Emanuel and wife Amy Rule not pay property taxes?

One reason could be because Emanuel and Rule declared their 4228 North Hermitage home as the office location for their non-profit foundation appropriately called the “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation”. As a non-profit headquarters, they may consider their home as exempt from paying taxes.

{Skeptical? You shouldn’t be! After six years, the “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation” has had only two donors. Can you guess who?}

The Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Trust was formed in 2002, when the Chicago lawmaker was first elected. The former Clinton White House aide and his wife, Amy Rule, are its only donors."

http://rightsoup.com/rahm-emanuel-evades-property-tax-on-home-by-declaring-himself-a-charity/

[Chris]

JH,
Let me take your argument at face value. SP and JP are both ignorant, according to you. They are also pretty honest characters from what I can tell, as opposed to BO and everyone around him. He has and continues to be surrounded by corrupt figures (Rezko, Blago, AlMouddi, Ayers, Wright, Richardson, ACORN and on and on). How does that strengthen the country?

I'll take honest over corrupt any day of the week. As for not being able to recount the duties of the VP, Joe B. seemed to have a bit of difficulty himself with that one. Something about the constitutional role which he totally botched. If you think Joe is superior to Sarah then it's telling. Joe was for the war in Iraq, then against it, but only after supporting a disastrous partition. There's a reason he's never garnered more than 1-2% of the Dem primary vote.

[jharp]

"They are also pretty honest characters from what I can tell"

Wrong again, jackass. They are both liars.

Palin lied and continues to lie about the bridge to nowhere.

And Joe lied about trying to buy his plumbing business and lied that his taxes would go up under Obama.

You are nothing but a right wing hack.

"He(Obama) has and continues to be surrounded by corrupt figures (Rezko, Blago, AlMouddi, Ayers, Wright, Richardson, ACORN"

And you are ignorant and a liar too. Maybe that's why you have such fondness for JTP and Palin.

[tas]

No, fact is PJTV just trashed their credibility by sending a guy who's probably never ever read a book about the Middle East to be a "reporter" there.

[jharp]

tas,

With all due respect PJTV never had any credibility. It was nothing but a publicity stunt. The 25%ers will buy it. But the rest of us can easily see it for exactly what it is. An act of desperation.

[North Dallas Thirty]

Of course, jharp supports for Secretary of the Treasury someone who is so ignorant that they don't know they have to pay taxes.

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/13/uh-oh-obama-treasury-nominee-had-undocumented-housekeeper/

The problem with jharp is that he needs to divert attention away from what he supports and endorses in his own corrupt party.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/04/16/frankentaxes/

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/12/11/opinion/doc4940f6490bdc7421638554.txt

Note that jharp fully endorses and supports these people and says they will make "excellent" public servants.

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/01/um-what-waves-guys.html#comment-144708264

[Chris]

JH,
Test, testy. Sarah "lied" about the bridge to nowhere and Joe "lied" about wanting to buy a business and being worried about raising taxes on business owners (a class he claimed to aspire to)? And I'm also a liar. Is anyone who disagrees with your outlook always a liar, ignorant, a hack or all three?

I don't have a tremendous amount of fondness for Palin or Wurzelbacher but I do view them as a liberal Rorschach test. They're entirely typical Americans with dreams and ambitions. You hate them for it. And you apparently feel the same animosity toward me as well for simply sticking up for their right to exist and express their political beliefs. You'll notice I'm not hurling invectives at you. Yes, I gently taunt but so what? You're guy won, get over it.

[Todd]

Why isn't Joe The Plumber's 15 minutes of fame up yet???? Enough already!

[jharp]

"And I'm also a liar."

Yes. You posted a lie. Thus you are a liar. Pretty simple.

"Is anyone who disagrees with your outlook always a liar, ignorant, a hack or all three?"

No.

"They're entirely typical Americans with dreams and ambitions. You hate them for it."

So you come back with another lie.

"And you apparently feel the same animosity toward me as well for simply sticking up for their right to exist and express their political beliefs."

Another lie. The only animosity I feel is towards your lying.

[Chris]

Let me connect some dots for you. The bridge to nowhere didn't get built. The governor saw better uses for the money. Therefore she claims to have been against it. And you call her a liar. Biden and Obama voted in favor of the bridge to nowhere, twice.

Joe wants to buy a business which will require filing as an S or C corp. He's pretty sure Obama will increase his taxes if he does so. He asks Obama about it when the candidate comes to his front yard. For having the temerity to ask such a question his life history is exposed and he's maligned and investigated as public enemy number 1.

But let me concede that he "lied" for the moment. What difference does it make? It's the question and subsequent answer you object to. Obama can't handle anything that isn't scripted. You should just accept it and focus your anger at someone other than Joe, Palin or me, for that matter.

He's in Israel with a camera and microphone having no impact on your life. She's the governor of Alaska and not impacting your life. I'm on Dan's website which you treat as your personal property pointing out your inconsistencies and hatred of people who think a bit differently than you and apparently causing you tremendous discomfort. I'll say it again. Your guy won. Get over it already.

[jharp]

This, from her home state paper, the Anchorage Daily News:

When John McCain introduced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate Friday, her reputation as a tough-minded budget-cutter was front and center.

"I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere," Palin told the cheering McCain crowd, referring to Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge.

But Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it.

The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them "nowhere." They're still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin's subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects -- and over the timing of her announcement, which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national news deadlines.

She stood up with John McCain and flat out lied to the national press and the American people.

"The "Big Lie" that Joe the Plumber and McCain are perpetrating is that somehow businesses will be taxed on GROSS RECEIPTS rather than net income.

Very few plumbers are making $250,000 a year in net take-home pay. Yet "Joe the Plumber" implies that his GROSS receipts of $250,000 would somehow be taxed under Obama.

Gross receipts have never been taxed at the Federal Level and never will be.

NET PAY is taxed at the Federal level. Average pay for a plumber these days is $47,000. Such folks would get a tax CUT under Obama. Joe the Plumber fails to mention this.

Note also that the argument that a tax hike on the rich will suppress jobs is plainly false. Again, salary expenses for employees are DEDUCTIONS not TAXABLE INCOME, so there is no disincentive to hiring people. You will not "pay more taxes" by hiring more employees.

(Note: "Joe the Plumber" is actually an unlicensed plumber's assistant, and it is unlikely he will "buy the business" he works for anytime soon, the entire scenario was a "gotcha" question for Obama).

Why does "Joe the Plumber" and John McCain spread these clear falsehoods about basic tax law?The "Big Lie" that Joe the Plumber and McCain are perpetrating is that somehow businesses will be taxed on GROSS RECEIPTS rather than net income.

Very few plumbers are making $250,000 a year in net take-home pay. Yet "Joe the Plumber" implies that his GROSS receipts of $250,000 would somehow be taxed under Obama.

Gross receipts have never been taxed at the Federal Level and never will be.

NET PAY is taxed at the Federal level. Average pay for a plumber these days is $47,000. Such folks would get a tax CUT under Obama. Joe the Plumber fails to mention this.

Note also that the argument that a tax hike on the rich will suppress jobs is plainly false. Again, salary expenses for employees are DEDUCTIONS not TAXABLE INCOME, so there is no disincentive to hiring people. You will not "pay more taxes" by hiring more employees.

(Note: "Joe the Plumber" is actually an unlicensed plumber's assistant, and it is unlikely he will "buy the business" he works for anytime soon, the entire scenario was a "gotcha" question for Obama).

Why does "Joe the Plumber" and John McCain spread these clear falsehoods about basic tax law?

Because jackasses like you believe it.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/robertbell/gGgDhL

[Chris]

Why does "Joe the Plumber" and John McCain spread these clear falsehoods about basic tax law?

Because jackasses like you believe it.

There you go again with the personal insults. Maybe Joe didn't understand the tax laws. Did you ever consider that possibility or is it just easier to call him a liar? In reality, any successful small business with more than 10 or 15 employees falls into the category of having an owner making around or over 250K. What about the shifting number for tax increases proffered by Obama and his campaign? It started at 250K and got all the way down to 100K if I'm not mistaken. Was the campaign lying? I didn't call them liars but the number for the "wealthy" certainly became a moving target. The larger point that cannot be refuted is that Obama campaigned on raising the taxes of the very people who sign the checks for the majority of employees in this country.

Remember when Obama said he was going to cut capital gains taxes for small businesses? Only one problem with that, businesses don't pay capital gains? Was he lying? Again, I'm not calling him one. But I think he doesn't have a clue of what it takes to run a business and employ people.

As to Palin and the newspaper you cited, I couldn't care less. They are opposed to anyone without a D following their name. Part of it is understandable but part of it is simply reflexive. From CNN; http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/09/palin.earmarks/index.html

Her office canceled work on the span in 2007 after it became a symbol of congressional "pork-barrel" excess, but kept money that Congress had appropriated for the project, using the funds instead for state transportation projects.

So did she "get rid of it" or not? I can certainly see how some would take offense to her characterization but can't understand calling her a liar. She came down on the correct side of the issue. Her position shifted. Shocka! A politician changing their view. I know, it's difficult to comprehend but to me it seems more important that she ended up getting it right before the money was wasted on the project.

Fortunately for us Obama has never had any inconsistencies in his statements nor will he ever if you believe the press clippings. We have entered the era of presidential infallibility. I didn't vote for the guy but I truly hope that he's a good president. I realize that he's a politician and everything he says is subject to revision. I don't reflexively call him a liar anytime he says something I disagree with or know to be incorrect (like cutting cap gains tax on business). I don't ascribe the worst motives to him the way you and the left do with a Palin, Bush or Joe the plumber.

You gave me a pretty detailed tutorial on the tax code as it relates to business owners so it's obvious you know a bit about the subject or you've done some research. If Joe's question was "gotcha" in nature, why did Obama go on a tangent about spreading the wealth rather than correct Joe WRT the tax code? Answer: because it's what he knows and believes in. Nothing wrong with that. People can agree or disagree. But shooting the meesenger and calling him a liar and a failed anything is just ridiculous. Joe the plumber is not the president so no one really expects him to know the intricacies of the tax code. It would be nice for you to acknowledge that and lay off the guy. I doubt you and the rest of the leftist caterwaulers will be able to do so, however.

[jharp]

"In reality, any successful small business with more than 10 or 15 employees falls into the category of having an owner making around or over 250K."

Complete and utter nonsense. A false and stupid claim that only proves your ignorance.

I stopped after that line. Go to school son. Ignorant is no way to go through life.

[Chris]

Well then correct my ignorance. Do tell. Because I only meet with between 3 and 10 business owners 4 days out of the week in the course of doing my job. But please enlighten me. You can't but I won't call you names. You've outed yourself as the inconsequential bombthrower that you are while Joe is covering a war and getting lots of coverage. Your stuck somewhere calling him names and railing about the injustice of such an ignorant fool gaining fame and notoriety while someone with your demonstrated brilliance toils in anonymity.

[jharp]

"But please enlighten me."

OK. How many people you have working for you has nothing to do with how much money you earn. Absolutely nothing.

Though I have a bachelor of science in accounting I'm pretty sure sure I leaned that in the sixth grade.

[Chris]

No kidding. You'll notice I said "successful" small business with "10 or 15" employees. Am I ignorant or are you splitting hairs.

[jharp]

"Am I ignorant or are you splitting hairs."

You are ignorant. But do seem to be a decent fellow.