Joe's Math simply doesn't work. First, he doesn’t own the business yet, so he isn’t being taxed for it. Second, it is very unclear whether revenue generated by his business would be $250K or his profit would be $250K. This is a BIG difference.
If he had a profit of $250K, then he would be taxed under Obama’s plan at a higher rate. However, if he earned $250K as revenue and then subtracted out expenses (employees, trucks, building, supplies), he would be below the $250K threshold. Joe Biden makes a good point, but one I don’t know if is accurate - how many plumbers make 250K/annually. It’s plausible, if he worked 2080 hours a year at $120 an hour. But if he had any expenses at all, he’d drop below that number. I used a Consumer Checkbook survey of rates for local plumbers in the high cost of living area of DC to determining an average plumber rate - it came out to be $84/hour (based on the top ten reviewed plumbers in DC). To make $250K at $84/hour would mean he would work 2976 hours - that’s 43% overtime or 11 hour every day for a year (no vacation/holidays). I haven’t even adjusted downward for the cost of living in Ohio. So, if he made $250K, it would mean he probably has at least one other person working for him. The median income for a plumber is 38K year (giving him the benefit of the doubt as a junior plumber). So, if that is true, he could be over the $250K threshold (2080 hrsX$84/hourX2 people= $349K). Before expenses and other deductions, it would be about $300K. But, remember Joe isn’t licensed, so he would have to hire an additional full time person. This one, I will not give him the benefit of the doubt for experience. A licensed senior plumber averages $51K/annually, which would put him at $260K of profit before other expenses.
To summarize, if Joe owned a plumbing business and he hired two people to work for him - one junior and one senior AND they worked at least 2080 hours (which means they would not get any holidays or vacation) AND had no expenses AND no other business deductions - he might clear $260K as profit for the business.
Regardless, even if Joe’s story was true, 98% of the businesses in the Country fall below this $250K threshhold. That would also be in the top 3-4% of wage earners in this country.