'Joe the Plumber' makes plans to take his politics online

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher

"Joe the Plumber" has decided to go cyber to spread not only his views as a political watchdog but also to raise money for his countrymen after taking his cut of the pie.

He said yesterday afternoon he plans to create two Web sites with the motto of keeping a check on the federal and state governments and to distribute Americans' wealth among other Americans.

In an exclusive chat with this scribe on Election Day, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, or "Joe the Plumber," while standing in the driveway of his Springfield Township house, refuted the claim that he turned the presidential race on its head by asking then-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama a simple question about his tax plans last month.

"I don't know about turning the debate around, all I know is that a simple question has turned my life upside down and more people know about me than Obama," claimed the ordinary-looking American, wearing sports pajamas and T-shirt.

"I asked what every Joe in America wanted to ask him and for that I was made an example by the media for asking that simple question, because no one in the media was asking him this," Mr. Wurzelbacher said. "I am not the kind of guy who seeks fame, but every other thing has come on me, except a good fortune."

Questioning the credibility of the media for acting as an agenda-setter instead of representing and reporting the facts as they are, he said: "After that one question, everybody knows everything about me, but not about Obama, and I have to go through various things which I cannot even make public."

Mr. Wurzelbacher lambasted journalists and media who he alleged have twisted his words, saying, "It's not journalism; it's like spreading personal views than reporting facts. The media is on an agenda as it sealed the elections for Obama almost after the presidential debates, being off-limits on many issues and involved in character assassination."

He also said the "media has been against [President] Bush throughout and before his first election in 2000, with the exception of 9/11, period."

Mr. Wurzelbacher claimed the media labeled Republicans pro-corporate, money makers, and war-mongerers, "but that's not the case, and some of this bothers me a lot."

But he also rallied against capitalism: "Capitalism needs some moral compass as nobody should be allowed to build fortunes or get away with $30 million without paying any taxes.

"I don't know what they would do with that kind of money, but I know what I will do with that amount. I will give more of the money to various charities for various noble causes because I am a modest and simple-living person and love to spend my fortunes on missionary things," he said. "But I won't let the government decide that for me what to do about that kind of money. I will decide it for myself."

Mr. Wurzelbacher said he planned to launch a Web site, www.secureourdream.com, with the goal of making it a political watchdog. "We will keep a check on both the Republicans and the Democrats for not only living up to their promises, but also not let them dictate to people how to live and spend their hard-earned fortunes," he said.

He added that he also planned to launch www.secureourdream.org, which he said will be a charity branch of the watchdog site to raise money "for all sorts of charities and causes for fellow Americans."

Praising his countrymen for being very generous to various charities, he said he hoped people would donate at this Web site. He said his Web site would be run in a very transparent way so everyone will know how much money is raised and distributed.

When asked about how much money he would take from the site, he said: "Yes, I would make money to some degree from this charity Web site, but not a whole lot because a majority of the portion collected through this Web site would go to help fellow Americans get a decent living."

He said his plan to distribute wealth is different than Mr. Obama's because, "I am talking about redistribution without taking," and Mr. Obama "wants it to go through the government, so [my plan is] a lot more different than his slogan of redistribution of wealth."

Saeed Minhas is editor of the Pakistan Urdu newspaper Daily Aajkal. He is covering the United States' presidential election from Toledo under a program sponsord by the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) on Election 2008 program.