Joe Wurzelbacher, or as Republican presidential candidate John McCain dubbed him during Wednesday's presidential debate, 'Joe The Plumber', chats with members of the news media outside of his home in Holland, Ohio, yesterday. Wurzelbacher was cited by the GOP presidential candidate as an example of someone who wants to buy a plumbing business, but would be hurt by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's tax plans. In Toledo, on Sunday, Wurzelbacher told Obama that he was preparing to buy the plumbing company, which earns more than US$250,000 a year, and said, "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" Obama said that under his proposal taxes on any revenue from US$250,000 on down would stay the same, but that amounts above that level would be subject to a 39 per cent tax, instead of the current 36 per cent rate. - AP

HOLLAND, Ohio (AP):

'Joe the Plumber' said yesterday he does not have a licence and does not need one.

Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as 'Joe the Plumber', the nickname Republican John McCain bestowed on him during Wednesday's presidential debate launching him to national fame, said he works for a small plumbing company that does residential work. Because he works for someone else, he does not need a licence, he said.

Cited as example

Wurzelbacher was cited by the Republican presidential candidate as an example of someone who wants to buy a plumbing business, but would be hurt by Democrat Barack Obama's tax plans.

Wurzelbacher said he was surprised that his name was mentioned so many other times.

"That bothered me. I wished that they had talked more about issues that are important to Americans," he told reporters gathered outside his home.

Wurzelbacher, 34, said he does not have a good plan put together on how he would buy Newell Plumbing and Heating, where he has worked for six years.

The plumber said Obama's tax plan would not affect him right now because he does not hit the US$250,000-a-year threshold for higher taxes.

"But I hope someday I'll make that," he said. "If you believed (Obama), I'd be receiving his tax cuts. But I don't look at it that way. He'd still be hurting others."

Registered Republican

As he leaned against the Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle parked in his driveway yesterday morning, Wurzelbacher indicated to reporters who crowded around that he was a conservative, a fan of the military and McCain.

He said meeting McCain would be an honour, but said he hadn't been contacted by the Republican campaign.

Still, the plumber would not say who he was voting for and brushed off a question about whether he could influence the election or other voters.