America's Overnight Sensation Joe the Plumber Owes $1,200 in Taxes

Joe Wurzelbacher, aka 'Joe the Plumber', took center stage in the final presidential debate between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama. Joe was referenced 23 times in Wednesday night's presidential debate.

(ABC News)
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Joe the Plumber Bashes Obama Tax Plan

The Ohio plumber of 15 years came into the spotlight Sunday when he met Obama as the Democratic senator campaigned in Toledo, Ohio. Wurzelbacher questioned Obama about his plan to increase taxes for incomes of more than $250,000.

Wurzelbacher told Obama he was trying to buy a plumbing business that would put him in that tax bracket and wondered how much he would be taxed if he acquired it.

When asked whether the McCain campaign had told him he would be a prominent part of the debate and whether McCain's people had approached him before he met Obama, Wurzelbacher was unclear.

"Oh no. No one's contacted me as far as being on the debate or as far as my name being used," Wurzelbacher said. "I have been contacted by them and asked to show up at a rally, but other than that, I just happened to be there and Barack Obama showed up."

When Obama was quizzed by Wurzelbacher, the plumber quickly became one of the most recognized faces of the campaign and a forceful voice on taxing higher income brackets.

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"Not that I don't want to be taxed," Wurzelbacher told "GMA." "You have to be taxed. Just because you work a little harder to have a little bit more money taken from you, I mean, that's scary. I worked hard for it. Why should I be taxed more than other people?"

He was even more passionate when he explained his objections to ABC News' "Nightline" shortly after the debate ended.

"To be honest with you, that infuriates me," Wurzelbacher told "Nightline." "It's not right for someone to decide you made too much -- that you've done too good and now we're going to take some of it back."

"That's just completely wrong," he added.

Wurzelbacher conceded today that he is not in danger of being hit with the higher tax rate. He acknowledged that he wants to buy a plumbing company for $250,000 to $280,000. That wouldn't be how much profit he would make from the firm.

He would make much less, he said.

That would seem to indicate that Wurzelbacher would not be subject to Obama's proposed tax increase from 36 percent to 39 percent for those making more than $250,000 per family. Instead, he would be eligible for a tax cut that Obama is proposing.

Nevertheless, the plumber said people shouldn't be "punished' for success even if you become a billionaire.

"I don't like it," said Wurzelbacher. "You know, me or -- you know, Bill Gates, I don't care who you are. If you worked for it, if it was your idea, and you implemented it, it's not right for someone to decide you made too much."