The question below came because I was looking at some family income distribution numbers yesterday and was a bit surprised by how the distribution looked. To enter the Top 20 percent, you need to be making $88,000 a year. To enter the Top 5 percent, you need to make $157,000 a year. I've known a lot of families making around $150,000, and none of them would have described themselves as much beyond upper middle class, or "doing pretty well." And though I'd call Top 5 percent rich, in income terms, I probably would have said $250,000. Democrats seem to use the higher definition among themselves, and only consider rolling back tax cuts on those making "above $250,000 a year," which jumps you up into the top percentile or two. To be sure, that's not a dodge. The top percent takes home 21.2 percent of all income in America. But when everyone below the 95th percentile is untouchable, and effectively middle class, you're in a bit of an odd discourse, distribution wise.
