Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hyattsville is middle class, as is a lot of pg county

If Hyattsville is middle class, I would hate to see lower...

Mitt, it's great to have you on DCUM. Now that you're among friends, how about sharing those tax returns? Or at least some idea what loopholes could possibly make up for a 20% cut in the rate?

Anonymous wrote:Hyattsville is middle class, as is a lot of pg county

If Hyattsville is middle class, I would hate to see lower...

Hyattsville is middle class, as is a lot of pg county

Anonymous wrote:
Middle class is wheaton with kids in public

Is it just me or does the middle class get to be closer to the city in MD? Because in NoVA, to get a similar single family home under $500K in a neighborhood with decent public schools, you're looking 20 miles out of the city. We make maybe $135K and live 20 miles out of the city in a house we purchased for $455K last year. We're WAAAY off the metro line (although there are plenty of busses near our house that can take you there - apparently we are 9 miles to Vienna metro according to the Google).

Now, yes, I do realize that there are TH's closer in for that price...but a SFH with a decent yard is what I think of when I think "middle class lifestyle"

I'd move to MD if it made any sense, but we both work in VA. BOO

Given that most people do not live lose in, it cannot possibly be an expectation of the middle class. Most people do not live close in.

Anonymous wrote:

that's not a choice , a choice is whether to have a cathedral or coffered ceiling in the master bedroom, whether to go for granite or silstone, etc... Middle class is good schools and newer 2 story 3000 sqrft home in bethesda or vienna.

That is upper middle class.
Middle class is wheaton with kids in public

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband and lived for many years off 70K or less. Now at 125K we feel incredibly lucky and live well. We have everything we need and a lot that we don't. There are so many thousands in this area that live off much less. I'll never understand how people act as if they don't exist.

+1

Curious, how many children? And what were your daycare costs?
If your kids are older, how do you manage summer camp?

Anonymous wrote:My husband and lived for many years off 70K or less. Now at 125K we feel incredibly lucky and live well. We have everything we need and a lot that we don't. There are so many thousands in this area that live off much less. I'll never understand how people act as if they don't exist.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI of 140k for family of four here. Townhome with a garage, 12 mi from downtown and 1 mi from red line metro, 2 cars and a dog. We aren't rolling in it but certainly don't feel we are poor.

To be fair, which stop on the red line....

Grosvenor/Strathmore. It may not be in downtown Bethesda, but it isn't the boondocks either.

I'm this PP. When we moved to the area we had choices -- live closer in and settle for a townhome or unrenovated small SFH, live farther out in a newer SFH and suffer a longer commute. We made the best choice fo us. The point is WE HAD CHOICES. The truly poor have few, if any, choices. We are lucky.

that's not a choice , a choice is whether to have a cathedral or coffered ceiling in the master bedroom, whether to go for granite or silstone, etc... Middle class is good schools and newer 2 story 3000 sqrft home in bethesda or vienna.

Anonymous wrote:Look, not everyone in this town gets to live close in. Yes, it costs more the closer you get. But we all know the score and we make adjustments accordingly. We were able to have a decent life on $100K in a small TH in the burbs with 1 kid in daycare, but no, we didn't take a lot of fancy vacations. With our family far away, our vacations are generally to visit them. It is what it is. Not every family gets to go stay at resorts or go to europe or whatever. Frankly, most people are happy to have a roof over their heads, health insurance and food on the table. Lots of people in this country are struggling to do just those basics right now. So, get the fuck over yourselves with your "well, exactly WHICH metro station are you close to?" horseshit.

do you live in the townhouses near vienna metro

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI of 140k for family of four here. Townhome with a garage, 12 mi from downtown and 1 mi from red line metro, 2 cars and a dog. We aren't rolling in it but certainly don't feel we are poor.

To be fair, which stop on the red line....

Grosvenor/Strathmore. It may not be in downtown Bethesda, but it isn't the boondocks either.

I'm this PP. When we moved to the area we had choices -- live closer in and settle for a townhome or unrenovated small SFH, live farther out in a newer SFH and suffer a longer commute. We made the best choice fo us. The point is WE HAD CHOICES. The truly poor have few, if any, choices. We are lucky.

My husband and lived for many years off 70K or less. Now at 125K we feel incredibly lucky and live well. We have everything we need and a lot that we don't. There are so many thousands in this area that live off much less. I'll never understand how people act as if they don't exist.

Look, not everyone in this town gets to live close in. Yes, it costs more the closer you get. But we all know the score and we make adjustments accordingly. We were able to have a decent life on $100K in a small TH in the burbs with 1 kid in daycare, but no, we didn't take a lot of fancy vacations. With our family far away, our vacations are generally to visit them. It is what it is. Not every family gets to go stay at resorts or go to europe or whatever. Frankly, most people are happy to have a roof over their heads, health insurance and food on the table. Lots of people in this country are struggling to do just those basics right now. So, get the fuck over yourselves with your "well, exactly WHICH metro station are you close to?" horseshit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI of 140k for family of four here. Townhome with a garage, 12 mi from downtown and 1 mi from red line metro, 2 cars and a dog. We aren't rolling in it but certainly don't feel we are poor.

To be fair, which stop on the red line....

Grosvenor/Strathmore. It may not be in downtown Bethesda, but it isn't the boondocks either.

Literally speaking, the median U.S. household income had Adjusted Gross Income of $32,393 in 2009.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/SOI-Tax-Stats---Tax-Stats-at-a-Glance

Now, that includes singles, marrieds, heads of household, young, old, etc. But if you adjust upward for the prototypical middle-class "family" then the income band is probably more accurately described as $50,000 to $70,000. And yes, there would be some locality differences where the cost of everything is higher.

Nonetheless, all of this is relative. Romney stands to gain a lot by making the debate about whether or not middle class is $250,000 of income, because as long as well all squabble over the absurdity of that statement, we cannot focus on the way those who earn $250 million are treated.

Someone who earns $250,000 has a lot more in common in terms of day-to-day family financial management with someone making $50,000 or $100,000 than he does with with someone in Romney's income class. For all the talk about the 99%, the reality is the dividing line really is between the top 0.01% and the rest of us 99.9%. And they prefer that we fight amongst ourselves so that they can pay their criminally low taxes in peace.