And the theme of the day is that the present economy is hurting the midddle and upper middle class folks a lot harder than the people at the lowest end -- and so the poor now should subsidize wage increases for the upper middle (who adjusted for inflation) are really the poor.
The whole article actually is so badly written by someone with no understanding of anything they're writing about -- if they stopped to really think about it instead of maxing on the buzzwords -- that has come to be the standard of articles in the mainstream press now. Most people's adjustment for inflation is to shift their buying patterns rather than, as the cost of living adjustments assume, they make no such adjustments.
Everything the writer knows, is what some totally self-serving, vested interest told them is the truth.