David E. Powell wrote:
On Sep 16, 1:13 pm, A Boater wrote:

SNIP


Of course, Davis' "arugula war" is just another attempt at misdirection.
After all, John McCain's $5 million threshold where "you move from
middle class to rich" is just the latest episode of his enduring
disconnect from the real lives of the American people.


With real estate prices, inflation, and the need for a cushion in case
of sickness, as well as need to invest, $5 mill in assets may be the
line between "still having to worry" and "being set for life." Not to
mention the cost in land, assets etc. of maintaining a "rich"
lifestyle. Many folks who have a couple mill don't have uber-cars and
don't live with a mindset of spending all their cash as it comes in or
spending more than they have. Indeed, for many of those who are past
50 and have a couple mill after working about 30 or so years, that's
how they got to be that way.

Remember that "5 million dollars" figure would be counting bank
accounts, stocks, land, assets etc. all together. Not just cash on
hand.

So that would cover owning a house, preferably a decent one (Depending
on area real estate values vary) that is all paid off, a servicable
car, and enough stocks and bank accounts to have dividend income you
can live on or boost earnings with while having left over money to
reinvest and put back into the bank. Looking at it that way, a lot of
that 5 Mill gets tied up pretty quickly. Especially in areas where
housing prices are really rough and cost of living is high. Even then
we are talking 5 Mill as a figure for someone who has worked their
tail off for quite a number of years. It isn't like "Oh someone showed
up, and was handed 5 Million dollars" certainly that gets portrayed as
how it happens by some but usually there is seriously hard work
involved in someone getting to that point. Which is why it shouldn't
be punished too severely, as a balance for the income it provodes the
government, etc.

McCain seems to acknowledge that. Obama's in the same club but
doesn't.




They were not talking about assets, they were talking about yearly
income. Even if you consider assets,
the vast majority of Americans don't have anywhere near $200,000 in
assets let along $5,000,000.
According to WSJ the average net worth was $93,100 in 2004. ;~)