Intellectual Property Law

What's $200,000 per year worth? Or; Are there no rich people in America?

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

First, ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson made a fool out of himself and caused a lot of laughter at a debate held at a small college in New Hampshire by claiming that a married professor couple at that college probably makes $200,000 per year.

Then he used that $200,000 figure a few weeks later in another debate while asking about Obama's tax plan.

Now CNBC's Maria Bartoromo is doing the same thing -- calling $200,000 middle class and "not rich." Think Progress reports that the McCain Campaign agrees with her.

Here is the problem with that:

?The 2006 census showed that an income of $174,012 put an American household within the top 5 percent of income earners.

? A report by the Citizens for Tax Justice estimates that in 2008, “only 3.2 percent of taxpayers will have adjusted gross income (AGI) greater than $200,000 and only 2.1 percent will have AGI over $250,000.�

? A 2007 Wall Street Journal article placed earners who make $277,000 in the top 1 percent of all income earners.

Now, as a former New Yorker, I can attest that a $200,000 annual salary would not go far in Manhattan. It would put one squarely in the middle of the income spectrum. Needless to say, that's the main reason that Melissa and I moved to Virginia. We could no longer afford the place. We did not come close to the middle. But still, New York and three or four other cities are the exceptions. They are not the norm. Why don't reporters actually understand what Americans make and spend?

BTW, the median family income in the United States is $48,451.

Full post as published by SIVACRACY .NET on June 10, 2008 (boomark / email).