IN AN INTERVIEW with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, Mitt Romney argued that “middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less.”
This was in response to Stephanopoulos citing $100,000 as the cut off, Romney disagreeing.
If $250,000 is considered middle income, the poverty line was just hiked over a lot of people’s heads.
Gee, in Mitt’s world, I guess the old bell curve of looking at what people actually make has been thrown out with both the baby and the bath water… :b
The number of people living in poverty then is astronomical if middle income is between $200,000 and $250,000.
Well, learn something new everyday. Never heard of ‘middle income’. Heard of ‘median income’ (an average), heard of ‘middle class income’ (a range), but never heard of ‘middle income’.
Reading is fundamental.
Mr. Romney is indicating that he believes that ‘middle income’ is less than $200,000 per year or perhaps less than $250,000 per year not that it is between $200,000 and $250,000.
Pretty lame parsing of words. Of course, it depends on what the meaning of “is” is.
Wow!, I’m broke as shit.
I wonder if Mitt understands that there are actually incomes less than $200,000? Or what it is like to get by TODAY on $50,000 a year and pay for groceries, mortgage/rent, car payment, clothing, food and medical costs for a family of 4?
“Middle income” is a vague term, to say the least. Still, if you take it as being the income all but the upper 20% of U.S. individuals earn, Romney’s not that far off. According to the census data announced the other day, that figure is $189k in 2011 dollars. That figure peaked at $194k back in 2006, again in 2011 dollars.
I’m quite comfortable making considerably less than that where I live (and by that I mean multiples less), but I suspect that if I lived in DC, NYC, Chicago, or LA, I’d probably be needing something close to that $200k to be as comfortable. Heck, I’d need something well north of half that to live in Seattle these days. If you take the conventional wisdom of a mortgage being no more than five times your income, an individual earning $100k could barely afford a fixer-upper there.
As an upper bound, $200k doesn’t sound unreasonable, if we’re talking about household income, at least.
Well, I sit here in awe……a self-described anti-Romney liberal applying logic as opposed to kneejerk partisan emotion for arriving at a conclusion.
I think you were also against the NY sugar ban too. Rejection of nannystate statism because it limits individual freedom…….now that is downright admirable.
Can’t recall writing about the big sugar ban. I’m a fence-sitter on that one. If nothing else, it will force people to get up and refill their drinks more often, which seems like a benefit. OTOH, it does seem largely useless, which is a kind of regulation I’m against.
I got distracted by the big sugar thing, so I’ll just add that I don’t blame folks for being a bit surly about the $250k thing. Median income in this country is considerably lower (about $37k, going from memory). When you’re trying to support a kid or two on that kind of money, $250k can sound like all the money in the world. And it’s a lot of money, if you live in quite a few parts of the country.
I just happen to be in a position where I don’t think that way.
… And I misread the data. That $186k figure is for the lower bound of the upper 5% of the population, which means that 95% of us earn less, not 80%. So, it’s less reasonable in that context. Still, if you live in some parts of America, it will still seem like a middle class existence.
The actual 80% figure is $101k for individuals, about half the number Romney quoted.
Sure, you can build the partisan commentary solely around pure math, but it is a cheapshot. There is a longstanding acceptance of the professional “middle class” which easily earns low 6 figures and they don;t consider themselves “upper class” which is the only other logical option in a tri-partaid segmentation.
Even though it is, and probably should be, considered middle class, there’s a hell of a difference between earning the median yearly salary and $250k. It’s the difference between everything you earn going into what you need almost immediately (rent, food, insurance if you can afford it, car), and being reasonably secure. Anyone earning $250k who isn’t completely careless will have money to put way in the bank or investments. He can afford decent insurance, even assuming he’s not getting it from work.
These are real differences. I’ve been on both sides of that divide, and I can tell you that the world looks a hell of a lot different, depending which side you find yourself.
I think that this particular criticism of Romney is unfounded, but I don’t blame folks one bit if they don’t see it that way.
$200k to $250k is usually lower-end upper class. Upper middle class is around the $100k to $110k. So Mitt’s raising the bar a bit. But he’s a rich dude. But he’s alright. Nothing major here to worry the ol’ campaign.
Either way, depending on where you live, $250k lives like $75k.
Either way, depending on where you live, $250k can live like $75k…. Sheesh I can’t type! LOL
“depending on where you live, $250k can live like $75k”
In my case, it is “depending on the girlfriend, 750K can seem like 75K”
Maybe you should get some recommendations from Dick Morris..aka Toe Sucker or david Vitter? Their “girlfriends” were much cheaper.
Hilarious casualO!
Having lived in all of the major cities I have to agree with you.
I remember when I was single living in NYC making $120K a year and I was living paycheck to paycheck AND working overtime.
My friends living in middle American never fully understood the cost of living difference.
Yep, a veritable chuckle-fest is the plight of the downtrodden, no?
America has been conditioned to believe that wealth equals success…only those who excel in schemes that place cunning over creativity — trickery above the tangible, and self-importance beyond symbiosis hold an evolutionary key. IMO, the United States will live and die through many darker days before the light can be seen, and I can only hope that we will choose the power of love amidst the of simple seduction of hate when the last veils of illusion crumble into dust.
I guess asking your “middle income” parents for a loan to open your business is out of the question … ?!!?
One thing is for sure, I am sure Mitt has never had to worry about being able to afford shoes ….. for Rafalca.
I make $54,000 per year as a private school teacher in suburban Maryland. I can’t afford to buy a house, but I can pay all my bills, fund my 401(k) and a Roth IRA, and help my niece with her car payments. I’m single, but I’m pretty sure that if I were married to a woman making about the same amount, we could purchase a modest house and provide a decent life for a kid or two. I thought that’s what “Middle Class” meant. Now I am being told that I am actually in the lower class- significantly so- and unless I change professions or take on 2-3 more full time jobs I have zero chance of ever climbing the social ladder? What the heck?