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For Those of You Who Keep Carping that $200K-250K is a "middle class" salary &
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Anonymous
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you can't imagine paying higher taxes, this is assigned reading for you:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/13/081013fa_fact_packer Now, [i]shut the fuck up[u]. |
Anonymous
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Well, I don't understand why this woman is not even MORE outraged that McCain thinks the middle class starts at below $5 million...
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Anonymous
I really wish people would be more civil. |
Anonymous
| Well, I really wish that a lot of people on this board would stop characterizing their 250K salaries as "middle class" and take a real look at the world around them. |
Anonymous
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I read this article and found it interesting, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the subject heading on the message, LOL (except the most general way, as in, "look, here are people who earn much less than 200K") so I didn't really see the point. "Interesting article about working-class people in OH" would have been much more on point as a subject heading.
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Anonymous
Dittto this as the article doesn't even depict middle class but instead lower class workers. So I fail to see how it is at all relevant. And yes, our 200K salary in DC gives us the exact same middle-of-the-road middle class life that my friends making 80K have in other parts of the country (think Cleveland, Albany, Indianapolis, etc. etc). Read---small 3 bedroom home within 30 minutes of work, one local beach vacation a year, 2 ten year old cars, ability to make our student loan payments (interest on which we can't deduct), daycare expenses. Nothing bought which is not on sale, any major (above $100) purchase discussed with spouse and contemplated over, etc. Really, I'd be glad to show the OP our bank account statement. We aren't purchasing anything frivilously and we're not socking away money. How hard is it to understand that the cost of living (esp. housing) can be 3-4 times as expensive in one area over another? |
Anonymous
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The cost of living in the DC area is generally high as compared to other metropolitan areas. But there are plenty of people who could be living much more comfortably if they chose to live in another community in the DC area. But they are killing themselves to live in Bethesda or McLean or what they consider to the "best" school districts. We make what the PP makes but we live in PG County. Homes here are cheaper (300k now) for a 4 bdrm home. Private schools are cheaper (5-8K as compared to 18K) and our local elementary school outscores some of the better schools in Montgomery County. We've got a great community even though it's continually dismissed and belittled on this board.
In other words, I wouldn't cry poor because of the choices you've made. 200K is a very healthy income. |
Anonymous
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PP here--
I'm certainly not crying poor with our 200K income. I'm simply saying that in this area it give us a decidedly middle-class lifestyle full of used cars and coupons and one vacation a year. Heh, if we had this income in Columbus Ohio we'd be living the high life----I'd have money for spa treatments, island vacations, etc. But we don't and so on 200K a year, we live the life that 80ishK would bring elsewhere. And yes, we could live far out in PC county, Howard County, etc. But to live an equivalent lifestyle to those elsewhere in the country (who can live BY their jobs without paying through the nose for a house) we had to pay more for our house. So in this area---to have a decidedly middle of the road lifestyle without an insane commute one needs a healthy income. |
Anonymous
You either haven't read the article, are a complete bitch, a moron, or some combination of all three. You do not have a middle class lifestyle. You are living a lifestyle enjoyed by only 3-5% of this country. You think using coupons and taking one beach vacation a year makes you a member of the working middle class?? Fuck you. I will never be making fun rural people ever again. |
Anonymous
Hey, I have not been posting on this thread, but I figure that after criticizing McCain and Palin for standing by while their audiences scream vile things, I should not just sit by when I see such an unnecessarily nasty comment. You have a disagreement about what "middle-class" means. How can such a minor semantic dispute incite such anger? Please calm down and act like an adult. |
Anonymous
Whoa, the PP is angry (like John McCain angry).
I'm the PG co. poster...Not to put too fine a point on this, but since when is PG "far out"? It actually borders the district. Crazy. I know. And it takes me a whopping 15 mins to get to the Hill. |
Anonymous
| Wow, there is a crazy person posting again...(not the PP's who are actually having a discussion, but the person who keeps dropping the f bombs). May want to abandon thread. |
Anonymous
| I agree. At the same time, it's kind of interesting to see how some people think that the most effective way to express disagreement is to curse or shout. Must have limited options. |
Anonymous
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OK fine. No cursing or shouting. Here's my point:
You people that think you have a middle class lifestyle because you have a 3-4 bedroom house and a commute? You've made choices and are just complaining about them. We make quite a bit less that 200K. Four years ago, we bought a house with three bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, 2 half bathrooms and a finished basement and patio. More than enough space and a very safe neighborhood. It takes me 5 minutes to get to work in SW. The house is a townhouse. It does not have a lot of frills. Original kitchen (1981). Actually, original everything except for the new floors and carpet we put in. And I know that by any NATIONAL (not just REGIONAL) standard, I am affluent. Even compared to the rest of the city or region as a whole, I am affluent. And I am lucky. If you want a detached family home with a big new kitchen and lots of bells and whistles and a huge jacuzzi tub out in Vienna or Chantilly or Columbia, and maybe one parent stays home and the other one is willing to endure a 30-60 minute commute, that is your choice. That is your privilege. But don't tell me that makes you working middle class. Because that is an insult. The people described in that article are working middle class. When you are working two jobs, and sleeping 5 hours a night, and not going on any vacations, then you can call yourself working middle class. But I don't want to hear a lot of complaining about one beach vacation per year and clipping coupons and shopping at Target and getting movie passes. That's not middle class. That is savvy. Anyone making a quarter of a million dollars a year should feel a moral obligation to be taxed more. If you don't feel that moral obligation, that's your own conscience. But I suggest you just be quiet instead of characterizing yourself as working middle class. Not one curse word. |
Anonymous
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Amusing at a certain level because with AMT people making $250 or $300K are not going to be getting much tax relief from McCain or tax increase from Obama thanks to the AMT. The people making millions will do better with McCain because even with AMT there are bigger breaks and more capital gains geared toward business and investment breaks which if you have millions is more likely in your situation. The people making under $200K do come out better with Obama since they may fall under the AMT ceiling and would receive a tax break.
For alot of the "middle class" DC or whatever term you prefer its a bit of a wash on the taxes. The McCain healthcare tax scares us though as it will probably affect employers to offer less coverage which gives many of us fewer good options. |