Whatever happened to Joe The Plumber?

[Not Ruth]

12. Might be a Democrat now, he did join the union

In February 2014, Wurzelbacher took a job at a Jeep plant which required him to be a member of the United Auto Workers. He complained that his colleagues have called him a "Tea-bagger". The Washington Post, citing Sean McAlinden, who has studied the auto-bailout as the Chief Economist for the non-profit Center for Automotive Research, commented that an "irony" is "that Joe the Plumber may not have gotten this auto job if it weren’t for the hated bailout of the auto industry" which was "first championed by Bush" but attacked by conservatives when implemented by Obama. McAliden is quoted saying “He wouldn’t have gotten a job in Toledo if Chrysler hadn’t been bailed out..Chrysler would have shut down immediately. No production; no jobs; no pension payments; no nothing." For his part, Joe indicated he has no problem with unions per se, stating "Private unions, such as the UAW, is a choice between employees and employers. If that is what they want, then who am I to say you can’t have it?".