Wikipedia has a lengthy treatment of what constitutes middle class, including income, income plus education, kind of work...Originally Posted by Alan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_middle_class
I guess I'm "lower-middle" by their definition, because I chose a technical job. Now I'm feeling even more like an underachiever and I'm going to spike my coffee with brandy and feel like a victim for awhile...
IL, just for you...enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQu2SVFF-cU
So middle class is somewhere less than $250,000 per year in income. If you make more than that you are just lucky or crooked in some way. If you make less than that someone is holding you back or taking your cut. Or your just unlucky. You just need to buy more lottery tickets.
And 47% pay no federal income taxes, so why would they care about tax rates? Maybe instead of pandering for votes, everyone should pay something. If I thought that paying more would actually reduce the debt and do some good, I would be all for it. Lets all pay 5% more, but they are already spending money they don't have, so why do they need more.
I've been for higher taxes for years. We had a much healthier economy before all these (mostly Republican) tax cuts. Talk about pandering!
and for the other side.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKtAX...eature=related
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/20...no-income-tax/
From the article (hotlinks not live):
"Mr. Romney is absolutely correct that about half of American households do not pay federal income tax. (He is also tapping into a now long-running vein of conservative anger at those households.) But he is missing some crucial context on why they do not pay federal income tax.
The nonpartisan and highly respected Tax Policy Center derived the 47 percent number – it is actually 46 percent, as of 2011 – and published an excellent analysis of it last summer.
It found that about half of the households that do not pay federal income tax do not pay it because they are simply too poor. The Tax Policy Center gives as an example a couple with two children earning less than $26,400 a year: The household would pay no federal income tax because its standard deduction and other exemptions would simply erase its liability.
The other half, the Tax Policy Center found, consists of households taking advantage of tax credits and other provisions, mostly support for senior citizens and low-income working families.
Put bluntly, these are not households shirking their tax liabilities. The pool consists mostly of the poor, of relatively low-income working families and of old people. The tax code is specifically designed to reduce the burden on them."
That was funny! Just silly fun.
I saw that yesterday. Loved it!
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
An argument could be made that they ARE shirking, that when everybody plays and pays, there is more thoughtful spending overall. I like this in theory.
And, if "you didn't build it" then those who aren't contributing to the infrastructure costs shouldn't use "it," if we are going tit for tat. The fact that successful business people contribute to the infrastructure in a disproportionate way when compared to working class single-moms who pay no taxes is something that our Prez DIDN'T chide anyone about.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/op...mney.html?_r=0
a reply to the "shirking" concept... Btw, I definitely do not accept that my 85 year old parents, who receive SS, are shirkers. In fact, I believe that those who shirk are those who have the means and the loopholes, while you & I pay the lion's share. I'd sure like to know what Mr. Romney's tax returns look like...
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