Joe the Plumber Angered: 'I'm Just a Private Citizen'

Joe Wurzelbacher — better known as Joe the plumber — tells Newsmax that he was “angered” by the background checks Ohio officials ran on him after he was mentioned by John McCain at a presidential debate.

Asked by Newsmax’s Ashley Martella for his thoughts on the Barak Obama election victory, Joe said on Wednesday:

“I’m disappointed, but the American people have spoken. They’ve gotten what they wanted. Now it’s time to make sure that he goes to work for us. He’s got a lot of work to do.”

VIDEO: Joe the Plumber Interview: 'Angered Me, I'm Just a Private Citizen

He said the multiple background checks by officials in Ohio “angered me. I’m just a private citizen … That scares me just for the simple fact that other people might hesitate on questioning our elected officials and that worries me greatly for America.

“I’m not real happy about that at all.”

Asked if he felt the Democratic Party was behind the checks, he responded: “I’m not going to say they’re completely behind it. Maybe people who were connected to them.

“They wanted to find out something so they could try to discredit me.

“But to sit there and say that Barack Obama was directly responsible for such a thing — no, I’m not going to say something like that.”

Joe declared that for the Republicans to “get back into the game” following their election defeat, “they’ve got to remember that they’re conservatives.

“As soon as people say the Republican Party, all they think about is big business and corporations and guys that make $30 million a year. That’s not the case. I’ve voted Republican a lot in my lifetime because of conservative core values that built America. That’s what I think they need to get back to.”

Asked if he still plans to buy a plumbing business, as he originally stated, or to run for elected office, Joe said he could “better serve my fellow man by working with a new watchdog group I’m coming up with,” called Secure Our Dream.com, “that essentially will hold politicians accountable and make them remember that they actually got into this business to serve their fellow man, and not themselves.”

© 2008 Newsmax

Witch Hunt Launched Against Joe the Plumber

Officials in Ohio swiftly launched a witch hunt against Joe the plumber in an apparent effort to dig up dirt on the John McCain supporter. Joe Wurzelbacher became a household name when McCain referred to “Joe the plumber” frequently during the Oct. 15 presidential debate with Barack Obama. Officials reportedly began to dig into Joe’s records the very next day. Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), admitted that she approved a check on Wurzelbacher’s child support papers. Joe maintains he is not involved in a child support case. The agency “also checked Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to determine whether he was receiving welfare assistance or owed unemployment compensation taxes,” the Columbus Dispatch reported. Jones-Kelley is an Obama supporter and contributed the maximum amount to his presidential campaign. She made the admissions in a letter to Ohio Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican, who demanded an explanation of the record checks. Jones-Kelley wrote: “Given our understanding that Mr. Wurzelbacher had publicly indicated that he had the means to purchase a substantial business enterprise, ODJFS, consistent with past departmental practice, checked confidential databases.” The reference was to a plumbing business Wurzelbacher said he was considering purchasing. “Not surprisingly,” Jones-Kelley also wrote, “when a person behind in child support payments or receiving public assistance is receiving media attention which suggests that the person appears to have available financial resources, the Department risks justifiable criticism if it fails to take note and respond.” Harris called the checks “questionable.” And columnist Michelle Malkin termed them “outrageous invasions of his privacy.” In addition to Jones-Kelley, investigators have found other suspicious uses of state computer resources to access information on Wurzelbacher. Toledo police records clerk Julie McConnell has been charged with gross misconduct for accessing the Law Enforcement Automated Date System to retrieve Wurzelbacher’s address as a favor to a reporter, according to Malkin. Officials in Ohio also say the Cuyahoga County social service office was compromised and an outside contractor with access to data belonging to the state attorney general “similarly searched Wurzelbacher’s data,” Malkin noted. “Moreover, his driver’ license and vehicle registration information were obtained from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.” Harris said of the checks on Wurzelbacher: “It’s kind of like Big Brother is looking in your pocket.” The Dispatch reports that Ohio Inspector General Thomas Charles is investigating whether the child support check on Wurzelbacher was legal. (This is an example Obama and company's "thugocracy" and what is in the future for all of us if Obama is elected!!) By: Jim Meyers  2008 Newsmax