Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-26-2011, 01:36 PM
 
Location: Nesconset, NY
2,202 posts, read 4,308,321 times
Reputation: 2159

Advertisements

- Most people seem to identify themselves as being in the "middle class".
- But even the federal government doesn't define what the middle class is.
- The U.S. Census' highest income category simply states "$250,001 and above" which results in a unfair amount of ambiguity about how high incomes go. It also makes it easier for us to believe $250,000/yr. is about as high as it gets and, therefore, we might not be so bad off financially.

But it seems to me a personal/family income of $250,001/yr shouldn't be counsidered similar to those with a personal/family income of $10,000,000/yr.

To do so would be to say a person/family with an income of $25,000/yr. is similar to an income of $1,000,000/yr. and we know this is not the case.

So, given that there are people/families which make $10-$100 million/yr (and have net worths of over $1 billion) what do you think should be considered "middle class".
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-26-2011, 01:39 PM
 
13,507 posts, read 16,972,759 times
Reputation: 9688
Quote:
Originally Posted by LIGuy1202 View Post
- Most people seem to identify themselves as being in the "middle class".
- But even the federal government doesn't define what the middle class is.
- The U.S. Census' highest income category simply states "$250,001 and above" which results in a unfair amount of ambiguity about how high incomes go. It also makes it easier for us to believe $250,000/yr. is about as high as it gets and, therefore, we might not be so bad off financially.

But it seems to me a personal/family income of $250,001/yr shouldn't be counsidered similar to those with a personal/family income of $10,000,000/yr.

To do so would be to say a person/family with an income of $25,000/yr. is similar to an income of $1,000,000/yr. and we know this is not the case.

So, given that there are people/families which make $10-$100 million/yr (and have net worths of over $1 billion) what do you think should be considered "middle class".

Even on over taxed super expensive Long Island, net income of 250K is a very, very livable wage. I'm all for putting additional tax brackets in for those making 1M and more.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2011, 01:40 PM
 
29,409 posts, read 21,937,040 times
Reputation: 5455
My definition of middle class..............Pay your bills, put a little away for your kids education and your retirement (401K) take a vacation once a year, go out to eat once in a while or to the movies. If you can do that your middle class in my book.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2011, 01:42 PM
 
29,409 posts, read 21,937,040 times
Reputation: 5455
There should be no taxes raised a penny until spending controls are put on these legislators. They will just spend what they bring in and then some as history suggests. You give your 16yo a credit card what will they do? Same thing congress does. Time to take the card away.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2011, 01:45 PM
 
13,507 posts, read 16,972,759 times
Reputation: 9688
Quote:
Originally Posted by KUchief25 View Post
There should be no taxes raised a penny until spending controls are put on these legislators. They will just spend what they bring in and then some as history suggests. You give your 16yo a credit card what will they do? Same thing congress does. Time to take the card away.
I may have to take a few days off the internet if I have to hear anymore people repeat these friggin cliches. At least come up with some new way to describe it, you people are boring the heck out of me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2011, 02:01 PM
 
29,409 posts, read 21,937,040 times
Reputation: 5455
Bye
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2011, 03:24 PM
 
45,317 posts, read 26,877,726 times
Reputation: 23691
Quote:
Originally Posted by dman72 View Post
I may have to take a few days off the internet if I have to hear anymore people repeat these friggin cliches. At least come up with some new way to describe it, you people are boring the heck out of me.
I don't know how you put icing and sprinkles on "don't spend more than you take in" - but they ain't doing it. So it needs to be repeated until they get it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2011, 03:27 PM
 
Location: South Carolina
8,145 posts, read 6,510,938 times
Reputation: 1754
Quote:
Originally Posted by LIGuy1202 View Post
- Most people seem to identify themselves as being in the "middle class".
- But even the federal government doesn't define what the middle class is.
- The U.S. Census' highest income category simply states "$250,001 and above" which results in a unfair amount of ambiguity about how high incomes go. It also makes it easier for us to believe $250,000/yr. is about as high as it gets and, therefore, we might not be so bad off financially.

But it seems to me a personal/family income of $250,001/yr shouldn't be counsidered similar to those with a personal/family income of $10,000,000/yr.

To do so would be to say a person/family with an income of $25,000/yr. is similar to an income of $1,000,000/yr. and we know this is not the case.

So, given that there are people/families which make $10-$100 million/yr (and have net worths of over $1 billion) what do you think should be considered "middle class".
The republicans are making sure that question want even matter soon. And the frogs just sit in the warming water.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2011, 03:30 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
3,403 posts, read 4,442,557 times
Reputation: 3271
Doesn't the AMT more or less nullify high income tax brackets in areas with high COL?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-26-2011, 03:38 PM
 
45,317 posts, read 26,877,726 times
Reputation: 23691
Regarding the OP, median income (not average) is around $50K-$60K.

I think you need to take more than income into consideration. You can make the median amount and be functionally poor based on life choices.

Middle class is based more on perception in our culture. You got a car and a decent house/apartment, and a job, and can support the basic needs - you are considered middle class.

With regards to the whole political rhetoric and how the middle class is used - I would rather politicians do what's best without reference to class and let the people work their way through their issues as they see fit.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top