Democrat Translation routine start:
high income earners = anyone with a steady job
Especially if that job is in a high cost of living area. Sure, you barely make your rent on your one-bedroom apartment and you’re eating Ramen half the month, but you hit our magic income number, so you must be rich! Time to pay up!
Back in the late 60’s my republican mother was having an argument with my Democrat uncle. He said, “But the Democrats protect the little guy.” To which she replied, “Do you have a job? Then you are not the little guy.”
And here we are.
BTW, he worked at the Alcoa plant in Wenatchee, Wa and suffered some sort of job injury and was living off fairly reasonable disability for most of his adult life. He seemed fine to me and I didn’t even find out about this until I was an adult.
It put a ceiling on his life. If he wanted any more money he would have to go to work, so he just got comfortable with what he got and his wife got a job at the local Penneys or Sears. He was always a pretty angry guy.
With a steady private sector job.