Obama’s leaky plumbing 2


故事当然是虚构的,但是人物却是真实的,而且Joe所说的就是Obama自己本人的观点:剥削富人的钱来补给穷人。不过Obama给这个观点加了一个美丽的名称叫“公平”。

Obama’s leaky plumbing

Barack Obama discovers a leak under his sink, so he calls Joe the Plumber to come and fix it.

Joe drives to Obama’s house, which is located in a very nice neighborhood and where it’s clear that all the residents make more than $250,000 per year.

Joe arrives and takes his tools into the house. Joe is led to the room that contains the leaky pipe under a sink. Joe assesses the problem and tells Obama, who is standing near the door, that it’s an easy repair that will take less than 10 minutes.

Obama asks Joe how much it will cost.
Joe immediately says, “$9,500.”
“$9,500?” Obama asks, stunned. “But you said it’s an easy repair!”

“Yes, but what I do is charge a lot more to my clients who make more than $250,000 per year so I can fix the plumbing of everybody who makes less than that for free,” explains Joe. “It’s always been my philosophy. As a matter of fact, I lobbied government to pass this philosophy as law, and it did pass earlier this year, so now all plumbers have to do business this way. It’s known as ‘Joe’s Fair Plumbing Act of 2008.’ Surprised you haven’t heard of it, senator.”

In spite of that, Obama tells Joe there’s no way he’s paying that much for a small plumbing repair, so Joe leaves.

Obama spends the next hour flipping through the phone book looking for another plumber, but he finds that all other plumbing businesses listed have gone out of business. Not wanting to pay Joe’s price, Obama does nothing.

The leak under Obama’s sink goes unrepaired for the next several days.

A week later the leak is so bad that Obama has had to put a bucket under the sink. The bucket fills up quickly and has to be emptied every hour, and there’s a risk that the room will flood, so Obama calls Joe and pleads with him to return.

Joe goes back to Obama’s house, looks at the leaky pipe, and says “Let’s see – this will cost you about $21,000.”

“A few days ago you told me it would cost $9,500!” Obama quickly fires back.

Joe explains the reason for the dramatic increase. “Well, because of the ‘Joe’s Fair Plumbing Act,’ a lot of rich people are learning how to fix their own plumbing, so there are fewer of you paying for all the free plumbing I’m doing for the people who make less than $250,000. As a result, the rate I have to charge my wealthy paying customers rises every day.

“Not only that, but for some reason the demand for plumbing work from the group of people who get it for free has skyrocketed, and there’s a long waiting list of those who need repairs. This has put a lot of my fellow plumbers out of business, and they’re not being replaced – nobody is going into the plumbing business because they know they won’t make any money. I’m hurting now too – all thanks to greedy rich people like you who won’t pay their fair share.”

Obama tries to straighten out the plumber: “Of course you’re hurting, Joe! Don’t you get it? If all the rich people learn how to fix their own plumbing and you refuse to charge the poorer people for your services, you’ll be broke, and then what will you do?”

Joe immediately replies, “Run for president, apparently.”


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2 条评论 “Obama’s leaky plumbing

  • Puhui

    这个“公平”比mccain的富人更富,穷人更穷理论要好一些。

  • Jeffrey 文章作者

    当然McCain的政策也不怎么的,他只是the lesser of two evails。

    从长远来说,Obama的政策会对经济造成很大的损害。中小型公司很多会因为加税而破产,从而造成失业人数增加。失业人数增加,领救济金的人数相应增加,政府的负担增加,政府只能通过提高税收来弥补。这就是为什么欧洲国家的税收比美国高,高税收才能提供高福利,这就是Obama所说的“财富的重新分配”。

    我不反对政府提供福利给贫困线以下的人,但是我不赞成高福利,那样相当于拿掉了人们创造财富的动力。在澳大利亚,当你的收入达到一定范围时,你所交的税的比例可以高达50%。而有些学生毕业之后不去找工作,领取政府的救济,然后几个人一起用救济金在海边租一套房子享受生活。如果我能通过领救济金而过滋润的生活,我为什么还要勤奋地工作呢?