Look, Joe, you don't know me, but I've also been blue-collar most of my life. I spent thirty-two years in a paper mill in southern Ohio, and before that I worked in a meatpacking plant and a shoe factory. Just like you, I know hard, dirty work: my last eighteen years at the mill I tended the ash silos in our coal-fired power plant. It was a union job; and I made good money, around $50,000 per annum counting overtime the last couple of years I worked there. But when I turned fifty, I decided to quit the mill and go to graduate school. I bring this up because you mentioned the "American Dream" in the Obama video I saw; and I wanted to let you know that, as far as I'm concerned, I've lived that dream. It is my hope that you get your chance to live it too.
With that said, I was more than a little surprised by the comments you later made to the media. I watched the video, Joe, and I think any sane person would agree that Barack Obama tried his best to give you a straightforward, honest answer to your question. In other words, he didn't "tap-dance" around the issue at all. I can only believe that you had your mind made up to try to fluster him; and when it didn't work, you went ahead and pretended that it did. That, Joe, is a typical Republican strategy; and I'd like to think that you're better than that.
Too, I'm a bit mystified that a plumber, a working man, would think that the Republican Party has ever had his best interests at heart. Out of the last forty years, the Republicans have held the White House all but twelve; and wages for the working class have stayed flat or fallen since the early Seventies, while the pay for the average CEO has risen a thousand to two thousand times. Now I can see from the video that you're a sharp guy; but we've just endured eight years with the worst president in our history, and yet you want more of the same? It's mind-boggling, to say the least.
As for questioning the candidates, shouldn't you really be asking John McCain why he thinks he WON'T have to raise any taxes if he's elected? That promise is as ridiculous as his recent statement about knowing how to get Bin Laden. Think about it: Bush is leaving us flat-ass broke, and we still need to buy body armor for our soldiers and pave roads and build schools and take care of the elderly (and yes, Social Security was a great idea until the politicians started borrowing from it, but then maybe that was easier than raising taxes on a bunch of crybabies) and on and on. Unless we borrow more from China, that money will have to come from taxes. Even a fool can see through that bullshit.
Another thing that struck me was your statement to Katie Couric that you don't think the wealthy should have to pay a higher tax rate than the average worker. Lord, Joe, you don't even own the company yet, and already you're thinking like a rich man! I suppose this indicates just how powerful your fantasies are, but damn, man, does that dream have to be all about money? We all need to take a serious look at where greed and selfishness has gotten us, Joe. Why does it have to be dog-eat-dog all the time? Shouldn't a wealthy man (or even a man making a fair wage) just be thankful that he's not homeless or working the checkout line at Wal-Mart instead of wanting MORE, MORE, MORE? Shouldn't he have enough gratitude for his good fortune that he'd gladly pay a little more in taxes than the people who work for him? Only the truly arrogant and greedy would argue against this kind of fairness. A wise man once said, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." That makes sense, regardless of what Sarah Palin might say (and she'll evidently say damn near anything).
Now, of course, you can call me a socialist or a liberal, but really I just believe in fairness and decency for all people. Don't get me wrong: I think that everyone should put forth an effort to do better, but let's face it, some of us are just plain luckier than others. So, Joe, please be careful as you climb that ladder to success, or you're going to end up as miserable and bitter and despised as our current leaders, and I wouldn't wish that kind of life on anyone, not even a Republican.
Sincerely,
Don (the Factory Worker) Pollock