Talk:Joe the Plumber/Temp

This is an article talk subpage for developing and working out issues in a few sections, one at a time, from the Joe the Plumber article.

As allowed by WP:SUBPAGES. The intent is that once consensus is achieved, the content will be moved to the article (either via, or after full protection expires) and the following discussion will be archived. Then other sections, if any, can be worked on in the same way. — Becksguy (talk) 19:17, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Plumbing career and licensing
Wurzelbacher told the New York Times and Family Security Matters he is one of two employees of a small plumbing firm, Newell Plumbing and Heating Co. of Toledo, the company he described to Obama as making $250,000 to $280,000 per year. . Wurzelbacher said that the idea of buying the company was discussed during his job interview six years prior. According to MSNBC and Fox News, court records show that Wurzelbacher made $40,000 in 2006. Dun & Bradstreet's report estimated that A. W. Newell Corporation, the full corporate name, had $510,000 in annual sales and 8 employees.

As part of the background on McCain's use of the "Joe the Plumber" paradigm, several media outlets researched his professional plumbing credentials. One Toledo Blade article stated, "Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under Al Newell’s license, but according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work. He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio, which means he’s not a plumber."

A detailed article in Newsweek pointed out that, "Reporters working on profiles soon discovered that Wurzelbacher didn’t actually have a state or local license to work as a plumber in the Toledo area, and despite Wurzelbacher’s insistence that he didn’t need one, local officials and building inspectors in Toledo insisted he did. On Friday, those officials said a letter was being mailed to Wurzelbacher’s employer warning him to get into compliance with city codes or face the loss of the company’s license." Wurzelbacher's employer, A. W. Newell, is licensed by the State of Ohio and the City of Toledo.

An MSNBC article further elaborated on the requirement for Joe to legally work, "...anyone working under Newell should have a journeyman’s plumbing license or an apprenticeship license, officials said." Local 50 of the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters and Service Mechanics, whose national membership endorsed Obama, stated that Wurzelbacher has not yet completed the apprentice program he began in 2003.

The uncertainty over Joe's plumbing bona fides led to some political commentators to question McCain's vetting process following Sarah Palin. Under the title of "Joe not a plumber" Andrew Sullivan of the The Atlantic wrote "Why am I not surprised? No license and a lien for unpaid taxes. Like Sarah Palin, a great concept. But the McCain campaign needs to be able to vet its hood ornaments."

Is the "McCain vetting" bit actually relevant
Seems to me that it is not directly relevant either to the exemplar or to the person. Collect (talk) 19:55, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, I'm not wed to it. I felt that the article could use some elements of the political implications of Joe not being precisely what McCain said he is.  This is about what we all have been discussing around the conflict between the man and nickname/paradigm/sobriquet of Joe the Plumber.  I think it's worthwhile to include part of that fallout given it was such a hot topic during the campaign.  I would bet Joe would not have been as famous if he's been exactly what McCain presented him to be.  Mattnad (talk) 16:06, 15 December 2008 (UTC)