Seriously, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said, "Trust me, after taxes, a million dollars is not a lot of money."
I looked it up on the interwebs and apparently the marginal rate on a million bucks is 35%. I'm probably doing this wrong (having never had to pay taxes on a million bucks) and there are contributers and spouses of contributers who know a thing or two about tax law so feel free to correct me. Anyway, let's suppose that after taxes you walk away with $650,000. That's about 10 times the GROSS (pre-tax) income of the median family of four in this country.
The Democrats need to make this quotation the most recognized public statement of the year. They need to use for everything from jobs creation and stimulus to health care to deficit reduction. Every time the Republicans (any Republican) says Democrats are out of touch or going against the national interest, they need to say, "The leader of your party is a shameless elitist who thinks millionaires are poor!"
2 comments:
Problem is that all the Democrats in Washington are rich like this and believe it too, so they don't see the issue.
But you are right, this needs to be a major device on the 2010 campaign! In bad economic times, we have to make sure that the public knows that the Republicans are not their friends, but the party of their bosses and bankers who are treating them so badly.
The take home on $1m is closer to $600K when you consider the other taxes, the 401K dedux, the health insurance dedux, and the AMT.
If you live in a swanky suburb of DC in a 1.5m house with a $10k/month mortgage over the tax-deductibility limit, plus three kids in $30K/year private schools, not to mention the $50K/year country club fees, the mooring fees for the dinky sailboat, the full-time nanny/housekeeper, and leases for the lexus minivan any parent needs, you're spending at least $400-450K before you've even eaten your niman ranch organic pork chop or spent one day at Phuket. Save a little cash, pay your broker fees, your lawyer and accountant, and the orthodontist, and that leaves no more than $100K for the whole year out of which to buy sports tickets, donate to political candidates, and take vacations.
Hardly worth getting out of bed.
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