Time to break out an oldie but goodie
Lisa Ann Walter, actress, former talk-radio host and overall amazing woman posted the following on Facebook:
Just thought I'd share - in response to my lovely FB friend who said that Sanders' tax hike won't bone the "middle class" once again - only taxpayers making over 250k/year:
Here's the thing - Sanders has been in Vermont with the hippies too long.
...Depending on where one lives (los angeles), how many kids you have (4), and what the state of the (shit) public school system is making private school necessary - $250k/year won't even buy you a house in a middle class neighborhood.
Just thought I'd share - in response to my lovely FB friend who said that Sanders' tax hike won't bone the "middle class" once again - only taxpayers making over 250k/year:
Here's the thing - Sanders has been in Vermont with the hippies too long.
...Depending on where one lives (los angeles), how many kids you have (4), and what the state of the (shit) public school system is making private school necessary - $250k/year won't even buy you a house in a middle class neighborhood.
Not after 50% taxes (and paying %'s to your representation, extras that
the schools don't pay for your kids, like books & sports programs,
etc) It certainly doesn't allow you to pay for your children's college
education. It beats out to about 75k/year BEFORE paying all your bills
including those "extras" for your kids. (which aren't extras - all kids
need sports...AND tutoring to place well on standardized tests for
college acceptance - especially if one had the bad sense to have white
boys and not illegal aliens for children - and it's VERY expensive). Now
cut that in half because being a single parent household. (Usually 250k
is 2 working parents with REALLY good jobs).
Try to live in L.A. on under 40K a year. What middle class neighborhood has mortgages under $1500/mo? TMI? My point is that it's not equal across the board. Not all income means the same thing nationally. He is dangerous as fuck. Socialism CANNOT work in a country this size. The absolutely fucked state of health care as is under Obama-care should show people that. It's only better for people who are at the bottom rungs. Sanders' platform - being touted by lots of high-pro BIG INCOME HOLLYWOOD STARS - will effect them not one bit. They have too much money for it to matter. The very poor - illegal aliens, drug addicts (and I'm including marijuana) will get a big boost in their standard of living.
I'll be SHOCKED if Sanders actually makes corporations pay their fair share AT ALL...but certainly not BEFORE he rapes the middle class for the rest of their discretionary income. Shocked.
His policies will insure that everyone will have the same equally shitty standard of living. He's coming for your money, your freedom to choose your health care provider and your retirement fund...all of it. Young people like him because they're wearing the delusion of youth - and they all want whatever candidate says that pot should be legal. Cause they all think the government should support them, like their parents have always done, while they get baked and play video games.
Who's paying?
Who's paying, Bernie?
* * *
The oldie but goodie I'm breaking out has its roots in a presentation that I co-delivered with the then headmaster of the expensive private school to the annual conference of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). The topic was financial aid in independent private schools and how to differentiate between the Statistical Middle Class and the Emotional Middle Class.
A Pew Research Center study released last December provides a calculator to determine which of the three classes your household falls into. According to the study, 21% of American fall into the Upper Class, 50% fall into the Middle Class and the remaining 39% fall into the Lower Class when defining class by household income. The calculator on their website claims that a family of four with an income of $140,000 falls into the Middle Class while the same family with an income of $150,000 is in the Upper Class.
Now as Lisa correctly notes, geography does play a big role in this. This is illustrated by an article at Bizjournals.com that shows the 2013 median income in Silicon Valley was much greater than the California statewide median of $61,320 or the nationwide median of $53,291. But statistically, no matter how you slice it, someone who has a household income of more than $175,817 is in the top 5% of households according to data from the non-profit Tax Foundation. You can't be in the Middle Class by any possible statistical definition when you're in the top 5% of the population by income.
This is where we learn about that Emotional Middle Class. Families who aren't really wealthy or rich, but who have incomes that put them into the Statistical Upper Class, while they still see themselves as Middle Class.
It's a little about geography and a lot about perception.
The state of the public school system may make private school seem like a necessity but the reality is, it is a choice. A choice not available to those earning near the area median income without significant financial aid from that private school. Because most such schools prioritize giving their limited financial aid budgets to the most needy, they usually run out of most of their budget before they get around to this Emotional Middle Class' need.
Lisa wrote: "Try to live in L.A. on under 40K a year. What middle class neighborhood has mortgages under $1500/mo? TMI?" Let's look to the L. A. Times for the answer. That link leads to an interactive map of Los Angeles that lists 272 neighborhoods by median income and ranks 265 neighborhoods from high to low by median income. 40 of those 265 have median incomes below $40,000. Clearly some people are indeed living in L.A. with low incomes.
None of this information makes it any easier for a family with an income of $250K to live well in Los Angeles. But maybe it can illustrate that no matter how they feel, by the numbers they are not in the Middle Class.
Try to live in L.A. on under 40K a year. What middle class neighborhood has mortgages under $1500/mo? TMI? My point is that it's not equal across the board. Not all income means the same thing nationally. He is dangerous as fuck. Socialism CANNOT work in a country this size. The absolutely fucked state of health care as is under Obama-care should show people that. It's only better for people who are at the bottom rungs. Sanders' platform - being touted by lots of high-pro BIG INCOME HOLLYWOOD STARS - will effect them not one bit. They have too much money for it to matter. The very poor - illegal aliens, drug addicts (and I'm including marijuana) will get a big boost in their standard of living.
I'll be SHOCKED if Sanders actually makes corporations pay their fair share AT ALL...but certainly not BEFORE he rapes the middle class for the rest of their discretionary income. Shocked.
His policies will insure that everyone will have the same equally shitty standard of living. He's coming for your money, your freedom to choose your health care provider and your retirement fund...all of it. Young people like him because they're wearing the delusion of youth - and they all want whatever candidate says that pot should be legal. Cause they all think the government should support them, like their parents have always done, while they get baked and play video games.
Who's paying?
Who's paying, Bernie?
* * *
The oldie but goodie I'm breaking out has its roots in a presentation that I co-delivered with the then headmaster of the expensive private school to the annual conference of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). The topic was financial aid in independent private schools and how to differentiate between the Statistical Middle Class and the Emotional Middle Class.
A Pew Research Center study released last December provides a calculator to determine which of the three classes your household falls into. According to the study, 21% of American fall into the Upper Class, 50% fall into the Middle Class and the remaining 39% fall into the Lower Class when defining class by household income. The calculator on their website claims that a family of four with an income of $140,000 falls into the Middle Class while the same family with an income of $150,000 is in the Upper Class.
Now as Lisa correctly notes, geography does play a big role in this. This is illustrated by an article at Bizjournals.com that shows the 2013 median income in Silicon Valley was much greater than the California statewide median of $61,320 or the nationwide median of $53,291. But statistically, no matter how you slice it, someone who has a household income of more than $175,817 is in the top 5% of households according to data from the non-profit Tax Foundation. You can't be in the Middle Class by any possible statistical definition when you're in the top 5% of the population by income.
This is where we learn about that Emotional Middle Class. Families who aren't really wealthy or rich, but who have incomes that put them into the Statistical Upper Class, while they still see themselves as Middle Class.
It's a little about geography and a lot about perception.
The state of the public school system may make private school seem like a necessity but the reality is, it is a choice. A choice not available to those earning near the area median income without significant financial aid from that private school. Because most such schools prioritize giving their limited financial aid budgets to the most needy, they usually run out of most of their budget before they get around to this Emotional Middle Class' need.
Lisa wrote: "Try to live in L.A. on under 40K a year. What middle class neighborhood has mortgages under $1500/mo? TMI?" Let's look to the L. A. Times for the answer. That link leads to an interactive map of Los Angeles that lists 272 neighborhoods by median income and ranks 265 neighborhoods from high to low by median income. 40 of those 265 have median incomes below $40,000. Clearly some people are indeed living in L.A. with low incomes.
None of this information makes it any easier for a family with an income of $250K to live well in Los Angeles. But maybe it can illustrate that no matter how they feel, by the numbers they are not in the Middle Class.
posted by me at 4:28 PM
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