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Obama: a $172,000 income is “modest”
Flopping Aces ^ | 01-08-11 | DrJohn

Posted on 01/09/2011 9:39:35 AM PST by Starman417

Nearly all democrats insist that anyone making $250,000 a year is wealthy. They have incited anger and even violence over the issue. Venture capitalist Garrett Gruener says "I'm rich, tax me more." Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest men on the planet, say the rich should pay more in taxes. Never mind that the top 1% of earners pays 41% of federal taxes. Never mind that about 50% of the country pays no federal taxes at all. (For a nice breakdown on this, visit here)

Jack Spillane puts it this way:

Wealthy people like Gates, Buffet and Gruener will be the first to tell you they've benefited greatly from the capitalist system and that they feel an obligation to pay back.

If they feel that obligation, why don't they pay more? Why don't write a much bigger check?

Because anyone who says this is full of shi crap.

But never mind that either for now.

A poll revealed that Democrats think that an income of $250,000 per year is wealthy while Republicans do not.

When asked “Do you think a household income of $250,000 a year makes you wealthy or not,” Americans have a modest “Yes” bias, with 55% saying “Yes,” and 45% saying “No.”

But when broken down by party, the results are startling. Among Democrats, 67% said $250,000 counted as wealthy. But among Republicans only 33% said $250,000 counted as wealthy. (Among independents, 54% said yes and 44% said no.)

While a family of 5 which has an income of $250,000 is rich by most Democrats' reckoning, Barack Obama has let us know that a family of three earning $172,000 is "modest."

(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Politics
KEYWORDS: gibbs; income; obama; rich

1 posted on 01/09/2011 9:39:38 AM PST by Starman417
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To: Starman417

He makes 400,000 so any thing less is poor. I am surprised he did not make 350,000 poor. It all depends on lifestyle. My family of six is able to be comfortable on 7800 dollars a month, but I know people who make 12000 a month and never have a dime at the end of the month. I also know people who live great on 30 grand a year. It is all about lifestyle.


2 posted on 01/09/2011 9:42:51 AM PST by napscoordinator
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To: Starman417

If 172,000 is modest - I’m totally broke!


3 posted on 01/09/2011 9:44:47 AM PST by nagdt ("None of my EX's live in Texas")
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To: Starman417

When Obama needs to be in class envy mode $172,000 is the evil rich that need to have their wealth redistributed
It’s all relative.


4 posted on 01/09/2011 9:46:25 AM PST by steelyourfaith (ObamaCare Death Panels: a Final Solution to the looming Social Security crisis ?)
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To: Starman417

172 K is a weekend vacation for zero.


5 posted on 01/09/2011 9:47:08 AM PST by Huskrrrr
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To: Starman417

$172K is modest if you live in the DC area. even more so if you live in Metro NY. Housing is hugely expensive and since the schools suck then you wind up having to go private.

The Dems ignore this fact when they scream about “tax cuts for the rich” since they are really just targeting higher wage earners who wind up subsidizing everyone else.

Oh, and Gibbs is certainly working below his income potential. He could easily make twice that or more in the private sector.


6 posted on 01/09/2011 9:49:49 AM PST by misterrob (Thug Life....now showing at a White House near you....)
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To: Starman417
I don't have the data in front of me but I read somewhere that a very large percentage of people who make over $250K (and over) will not make it every year. For many it's a one-year windfall. Maybe they sold some stock that they accumulated and they want to make a down payment on a house or something of the sort. In total these people make up a very large percentage of those who make $250K a year and above. Very, very few people start off making that amount when they are 22 and continue to make that amount until they are 65. In the vast majority of cases high income earners only have a few years to make it.

Guys like Buffet and Gates are on another planet when you compare them to 99% of the group making more than $250K a year. And there are very, very few guys like Buffet and Gates out there and most of their income is capital gains.
7 posted on 01/09/2011 9:55:47 AM PST by truthguy (Good intentions are not enough.)
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To: Starman417

No, $200,000 for an individual would have qualified to be “wealthy”, so now we understand that the scale is quite short. At $172,000 you are modest and at $200,000 you are wealthy. Thank goodness that Gibbs didn’t stay, because he would have been off the scale with the merit increases he would have gotten for his excellent lies


8 posted on 01/09/2011 10:03:16 AM PST by kushnejz
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To: Starman417

bump


9 posted on 01/09/2011 10:18:16 AM PST by Roberts
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To: Starman417

If the ‘Rats were really serious about wanting the rich to pay more in taxes, they would actually cut the top marginal rate and replace the AMT with the simple expedient of putting a cap on the amount of income that can be excluded from taxation on the basis of deductions, exclusions and “tax exempt” sourcing. They aren’t. Their “soak the rich” rhetoric is just a way to gin up support for using the tax code as a means of social control.


10 posted on 01/09/2011 10:19:42 AM PST by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: Starman417

The real issue here is why anyone in the government of a Constitutional Republic would be attempting to define “wealthy” and “poor”.


11 posted on 01/09/2011 10:26:06 AM PST by Psycho_Bunny (Hail To The Fail-In-Chief)
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To: truthguy
Guys like Buffet and Gates are on another planet when you compare them to 99% of the group making more than $250K a year. And there are very, very few guys like Buffet and Gates out there and most of their income is capital gains.

Exactly. Don't forget Buffet & Gates also hire vast armies of lawyers and accountants to help them take advantage of every loophole. They probably have trusts and tax dodges the average Joe couldn't even dream of.

I'm not sure about Gates but Buffet is invested heavily in insurance companies (GEICO for one), so he has a lot to gain selling gap insurance for medicare , and life insurance so people can pay the death tax. In a sheer coincidence he's a big proponent of both of these Marxist schemes. Go figure.

Both Buffet and Gate, like every other progressive billionaire, made their money under the current of even more lenient regulatory rules. Now it's, "I've got mine slam the door behind me.". Don't want any upstart companies coming along to compete now do we.

12 posted on 01/09/2011 10:26:31 AM PST by YankeeReb
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To: misterrob

Even $100k isn’t that much if one buys health and disability insurance, puts a little bit into 401K, etc.


13 posted on 01/09/2011 10:35:08 AM PST by Eagle Eye (A blind clock finds a nut at least twice a day.)
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To: Starman417

Obama: a $172,000 income is “modest”

I find it interesting that House and Senate salaries are $174,000/yr. (source: http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/payandperqs.htm

14 posted on 01/09/2011 10:59:16 AM PST by OrioleFan (Republicans believe every day is the 4th of July, democrats believe every day is April 15.)
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To: Starman417

It actually is modest.

I’ve made as much as $248k in a year and never been rich. I may have eaten out more, but that was by necessity. Turns out the lifestyle surrounding earning “big money” requires you to spend a lot more. Less time to slow down and enjoy your family and simple things like meals at home.

I earn less now, but am a “wealthier” man for it. I can sit down most nights with my wife and children, give thanks to God for our food, and talk about our day.


15 posted on 01/09/2011 11:25:40 AM PST by bolobaby
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To: Huskrrrr

172k wouldn’t even begin to pay for an evening for Obama and his entourage.


16 posted on 01/09/2011 11:25:58 AM PST by MV=PY
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To: Starman417

$172,000 is modest because union thugs are paid a modest amount, so $100,000 a year for a govt pension is painful...don’tcha know.


17 posted on 01/09/2011 11:28:16 AM PST by King Moonracer (Bad lighting and cheap fabric, that's how you sell clothing.....)
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To: Starman417

My husband makes about 1/3 of that (about $60K), and somehow we manage to house, clothe, feed, and insure our family of six, plus send three kids to Catholic school. I guess we’re bottom of the barrel ;)


18 posted on 01/09/2011 11:32:58 AM PST by Hoosier Catholic Momma (Arkansas resident of Hoosier upbringing--Yankee with a southern twang)
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To: truthguy

When Buffet and Gates fire their tax attorneys and accountants then I will take them seriously. Otherwise they are lying hypocrites who have stashed most of their wealth in family foundations.


19 posted on 01/09/2011 11:34:41 AM PST by kcvl
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