Romney says Middle Income is $200,000-$250,000 a year

[Runeghost]

I'm beginning to wonder if the Romney campaign is some sort of false-flag operation designed to make Republicans look bad and Obama look good by comparison with Romney. 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hT1nGNyd4JyixXboBO_c3Pvfj7yQ?docId=b1d66e74fd9947c59bb49883826cfe9d

[Harry]

Reminds me of some of Jack Donaghy's lines

[mondale84]

This will look great in an Obama ad.

[krazen1211]

The original post is unfortunately plagued by a fool who is unable to read.

"No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less," Romney responded.



That's pretty much the Democrats definition of the middle class.

[mondale84]

The original post is unfortunately plagued by a fool who is unable to read.

"No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less," Romney responded.



That's pretty much the Democrats definition of the middle class.

$250,000 is not middle income...

[Harry]

According to the Wall Street Journal app here: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/10/19/what-percent-are-you/

50th percentile is around $43,000.

If you extend middle income to be 25th-75th percentiles, the range is around $20,000 - $88,000.

$200,000 is 94th percentile
$250,000 is 96th percentile

#outoftouch

[5280/East California]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

[Lieutenant Governor Clinton1996]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

I know y'all aren't wining about words being twisted after the GOP devoted an entire RNC night to a lie taken out of context.

[Fuzzy]

Quote from the article:

"Is $100,000 middle income?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less," Romney responded.

His campaign later clarified that Romney was referencing household income, not individual income.

The Census Bureau reported this week that the median household income — the midpoint for the nation — is just over $50,000.

LOL

[Stranger in a strange land]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 5 or more dependents who do not work.

[5280/East California]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 4 or more dependents.

What if there were 4 people living in a household?  $50k-$75k annually is considered middle income.

[Fuzzy]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 4 or more dependents.

What if there were 4 people living in a household?  $50k-$75k annually is considered middle income.

No, it's not.  The median family brings in $50,000 a year, and  if you divided it by 4 (assuming there are 2 parents and 2 children) that would be $12,500 per. capita.  Thus, $50k-$75k is actually high.  

[5280/East California]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 4 or more dependents.

What if there were 4 people living in a household?  $50k-$75k annually is considered middle income.

No, it's not.  The median family brings in $50,000 a year, and  if you divided it by 4 (assuming there are 2 parents and 2 children) that would be $12,500 per. capita.  Thus, $50k-$75k is actually high.  

I'm saying if there were 4 adults living in a household and each one made $50k-$75k a year, that's still considered middle income.  What if they wanted to all live in the same house for whatever reason?

[Lloyd Bentsen's Ghost]

I think we can generally assume a given American household will have either one or two income earners (single person; or married couple where both work; or breadwinner and SAHM/SAHD).

$250K a year would entail a breadwinner who makes $250K (a reasonably successful orthodontist, perhaps) or two people averaging $125K each (perhaps as an associate at a good law firm; a management consultant; an engineer). They wouldn't be considered wealthy, but these are not the kind of jobs everyday people have.

The number of dependents you have is irrelevant. Someone raising five kids on $250K may have to live a middle class lifestyle because they opted to breed like rabbits, but they are not middle class income-wise.

[Lloyd Bentsen's Ghost]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 4 or more dependents.

What if there were 4 people living in a household?  $50k-$75k annually is considered middle income.

No, it's not.  The median family brings in $50,000 a year, and  if you divided it by 4 (assuming there are 2 parents and 2 children) that would be $12,500 per. capita.  Thus, $50k-$75k is actually high.  

I'm saying if there were 4 adults living in a household and each one made $50k-$75k a year, that's still considered middle income.  What if they wanted to all live in the same house for whatever reason?

That is highly atypical. We're talking about real American families, not the cast of Jersey Shore.

[Lief]

Also I'm pretty sure four adults can't file a single tax return together?

[5280/East California]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 4 or more dependents.

What if there were 4 people living in a household?  $50k-$75k annually is considered middle income.

No, it's not.  The median family brings in $50,000 a year, and  if you divided it by 4 (assuming there are 2 parents and 2 children) that would be $12,500 per. capita.  Thus, $50k-$75k is actually high.  

I'm saying if there were 4 adults living in a household and each one made $50k-$75k a year, that's still considered middle income.  What if they wanted to all live in the same house for whatever reason?

That is highly atypical. We're talking about real American families, not the cast of Jersey Shore.

Maybe some people don't want to own a home or start a family, not everybody lives a traditional lifestyle.

[Fuzzy]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 4 or more dependents.

What if there were 4 people living in a household?  $50k-$75k annually is considered middle income.

No, it's not.  The median family brings in $50,000 a year, and  if you divided it by 4 (assuming there are 2 parents and 2 children) that would be $12,500 per. capita.  Thus, $50k-$75k is actually high.  

I'm saying if there were 4 adults living in a household and each one made $50k-$75k a year, that's still considered middle income.  What if they wanted to all live in the same house for whatever reason?

Read my post.  Where do you get the idea that a per. capita of $50,000 or more is average among middle class families?

[ModerateCoward]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 4 or more dependents.

What if there were 4 people living in a household?  $50k-$75k annually is considered middle income.

No, it's not.  The median family brings in $50,000 a year, and  if you divided it by 4 (assuming there are 2 parents and 2 children) that would be $12,500 per. capita.  Thus, $50k-$75k is actually high.  

I'm saying if there were 4 adults living in a household and each one made $50k-$75k a year, that's still considered middle income.  What if they wanted to all live in the same house for whatever reason?

That is highly atypical. We're talking about real American families, not the cast of Jersey Shore.

Maybe some people don't want to own a home or start a family, not everybody lives a traditional lifestyle.

I think you are not going to find such arrangements very common, maybe in select cities such as NYC, SF and Seattle you might find a few such cases.

[Sibboleth]

Ah, give it up guys. Some sh!t you just can't defend...

[So the Heroes Fall]

$200-$250k OR LESS FOR HOUSEHOLD is considered middle income, stop twisting the words around.

a household making 250K is not middle class, unless they have 4 or more dependents.

What if there were 4 people living in a household?  $50k-$75k annually is considered middle income.

No, it's not.  The median family brings in $50,000 a year, and  if you divided it by 4 (assuming there are 2 parents and 2 children) that would be $12,500 per. capita.  Thus, $50k-$75k is actually high.  

I'm saying if there were 4 adults living in a household and each one made $50k-$75k a year, that's still considered middle income.  What if they wanted to all live in the same house for whatever reason?

That is highly atypical. We're talking about real American families, not the cast of Jersey Shore.

Maybe some people don't want to own a home or start a family, not everybody lives a traditional lifestyle.

I think you are not going to find such arrangements very common, maybe in select cities such as NYC, SF and Seattle you might find a few such cases.

It's probably not that uncommon, it just sounds like roommates with notably high incomes or two married couples living together, I know a ton of people who are roommates with married couples, even one who was a roommate with a couple with a kid. Granted that is in a major city but still...

But what is absurd is that four people who live in the same house are not a "household", they'd all be separate filers. You can bring up scenarios that make it even more absurd, let's imagine you have a house of four people all just out of college who average $30k, does that make that a household of six figure income?

[jaichind]

Ok.  See this

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/chuck-schumer-speech-_n_1853045.html

Charles Schumer at the Dem Convention pointed out:

"Under this plan, under this Ryan budget, Mitt Romney's own taxes would drop to almost zero," Schumer said. "But for the middle class, it's a rip-off. Families with children whose household income is less than $200,000 would see their taxes go up $2,000, on average.

Seems like Schumer defines middle class at household of $200K or less.  How is that any different from Romney?  BTW, in NYC $200K or $250K is really not that much.  It is a good upper middle class income but not rich.

[True Federalist]

Well, if you're going to restrict the upper class to the top 1%, then the upper limit of middle class is around 350K.  If you expand the upper class to the top 5% it's around 180K.  If you consider the top 20% to be the upper class, then it's around 100K.

So by the standards of the 99%ers, Romney's problem is he is counting some middle class households as upper class.  However, by any reasonable definition of middle class, his definition is too expansive.  The 33% income tax bracket kicks in at approximately $200K. (Exact value depends on whether you are married, head of household, or single.)

[King]

Sweet.  Does this mean everyone who makes under $200k gets Medicaid and an EBT card?

[IDS Legislator Alfred F. Jones]

Ok.  See this

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/chuck-schumer-speech-_n_1853045.html

Charles Schumer at the Dem Convention pointed out:

"Under this plan, under this Ryan budget, Mitt Romney's own taxes would drop to almost zero," Schumer said. "But for the middle class, it's a rip-off. Families with children whose household income is less than $200,000 would see their taxes go up $2,000, on average.

Seems like Schumer defines middle class at household of $200K or less.  How is that any different from Romney?  BTW, in NYC $200K or $250K is really not that much.  It is a good upper middle class income but not rich.

Um, Romney defined middle-class income at above $200K. That's the exact opposite of below $200K.