CNN’s Anderson Cooper criticized Joe the plumber for owing back taxes, but Cooper himself was once slapped with a tax lien for 10 times the amount Joe owed.
On Oct. 16, Cooper said, “We heard a lot about Joe the plumber today on the trail and, moments ago, at the Al Smith Dinner. We have also learned quite a bit on our own. It turns out, Joe is not actually a licensed plumber.”
Cooper went on: “He admits he is not making anywhere close to a quarter-million dollars. So, in fact, he would be getting money back under the Obama tax plan. He also owes back taxes, according to local court documents.”
Clearly, Cooper said, the media “has been looking all over this guy. His name is actually not Joe. At least, that's not his first name. His name is Sam, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.”
Cooper was the subject of a New York State tax warrant for $11,926.82, according to a judgments docket in Kings County, Brooklyn, on Feb. 25, 1994. The warrant was satisfied on Aug. 5, 1994. Joe the plumber’s tax lien from Ohio was for $1,182.98. The amount has since been paid.
A final bit of irony: Cooper is the son of heiress Gloria Vanderbilt.
Shimrit Sheetrit, a spokeswoman for Cooper, said the tax lien arose when Cooper was based overseas working for the news agency Channel One. He took care of it immediately upon learning about the taxes owed, she said.
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via
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