It was fun watching, as an NPR correspondent said last night, Joe the Plumber becoming a third man in the Presidential debates last night. I didn't realize (as I missed the first few minutes) that Joe is actually a real man -- Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, of Toledo, Ohio.

Unfortunately, he's not really a plumber (though initial reports of him not being registered to vote are untrue; the registrar has his name spelled incorrectly). The Toledo Blade investigated and discovered that he's not licensed or registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio. As small businessmen and homeowners everywhere [update: everywhere I've been a homeowner, and in Toledo where Joe lives, evidently not true everywhere] know, each plumber, electrician and other specialty contractors must be licensed under their own name in their locality, with most areas requiring plumbers and electricians to go through union-approved apprenticeship programs. The only exception to this rule [in Toledo and many localities, like Portland, Oregon] is if you are a homeowner doing your own work; technically, I'm not even allowed to have my dad, a licensed general contractor, work on the plumbing and electricity in my home (he's a stickler for the rules so he had my husband do the work under his counsel). Joe says he does plumbing work under someone else's license; though this is, of course, against local statutes.

So, though he does (with questionable legality) do plumbing work under W. Newell Corp.'s license, he's definitely not a plumber. Joe the unwitting victim of a debater's technique? Joe the regular guy working unethically to feed his family? Joe the symbol of our economy: Thousands of guys pretending they don't understand the rules so they can make a great living (Joe's hypothetical revenue -- not his real income -- was $250,000 a year), and getting away with it.

Reminds me of a couple hundred corporate executives in the news these days.