McCain's "Joe The Plumber" Owes Back Taxes; Not A Licensed Plumber

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Ohio plumber who challenged Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) tax plan and has become the main feature of Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) stump speeches, debate arguments and white-tie dinner jokes owes back taxes and isn't a licensed plumber. He is also reportedly related to the main figure in the public corruption scandal that tainted McCain's career.

During a campaign event on Sunday in Ohio, a man named Joe Wurzelbacher had told Obama that he was planning to buy a company that earns $250,000 to $280,000 annually. He then asked, "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" referring to the Democrat's plan to raise taxes on people with incomes above $250,000.

Obama had responded, "It's not that I want to punish your success, I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too. My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... Even if I don't get your vote, I am going to work for you."

McCain had seized the conversation as proof of his repeated criticism that Obama would raise taxes of working Americans at a time of economic uncertainty. The Republican senator mentioned Wurzelbacher, who had by then been dubbed "Joe the Plumber," more than 20 times during Wednesday night's debate. He has also invoked Wurzelbacher's new national moniker in stump speeches, a new TV ad and in Thursday night's white-tie Al Smith Dinner.

But closer scrutiny by the media has yielded holes in Joe the Plumber's story. The Toledo Blade has reported that Wurzelbacher isn't a licensed plumber in Ohio, nor does he have the money to buy the company he said he planned to. CBS has also discovered that Wurzelbacher owes the state of Ohio $1,200 in back taxes.

A blogger, Martin Eisenstadt, has revealed that Wurzelbacher is related to Charles Keating of the "Keating Five" public corruption controversy.

McCain was one of five U.S. senators investigated two decades ago for improperly trying to prevent federal regulators from seizing Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, whose chairman, Keating, had made contributions to McCain's campaign and was later convicted of fraud. The investigation was part of the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s.

McCain was eventually cleared by the Senate Ethics panel, but the controversy tainted his career and pushed him to become an advocate for campaign finance reform.