Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (born December 3, 1973), better known as Joe the Plumber, is an American celebrity, author, spokesperson. web commentator, and former employee of a plumbing contractor. He was given the moniker "Joe the Pumber" during the 2008 U.S. presidential election after he was videotaped questioning Democratic candidate Barack Obama about his small business tax policy during a campaign stop in Ohio. The Republican McCain-Palin campaign later applied "Joe the Plumber" as a metaphor for middle class Americans. Media research showed he was not a licensed plumber and he owed taxes which were later paid. In May 2009, Time magazine reported that Wurzelbacher was quitting the Republican Party, saying that he was outraged by the party's overspending.

On October 12, 2008, three days before the final presidential debate, Obama met residents in Wurzelbacher's Ohio neighborhood. Wurzelbacher, who had been playing football with his son in his front yard at the time, asked Obama about his tax plan. As ABC News cameraman Scott Shulman recorded the conversation, Wurzelbacher suggested that Obama's tax plan would be at odds with "the American dream." Wurzelbacher said, "I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year. Your new tax plan's going to tax me more, isn't it?"

Obama responded with an explanation of how his tax plan would affect a small business in this bracket. Obama said, "If you're a small business, which you would qualify, first of all, you would get a 50 percent tax credit so you'd get a cut in taxes for your health care costs. So you would actually get a tax cut on that part. If your revenue is above 250, then from 250 down, your taxes are going to stay the same. It is true that, say for 250 up — from 250 to 300 or so, so for that additional amount, you’d go from 36 to 39 percent, which is what it was under Bill Clinton."