Mitt Romney is promising to cut taxes for middle-income Americans. But how does the GOP presidential nominee define “middle-income”?
Romney was asked today on ABC’s Good Morning America (the reference to middle-income comes at 5 minutes, 14 seconds into the video at right).
“No one can say my plan is going to raise taxes on middle-income people, because principle number one is: keep the burden down on middle-income taxpayers,” Romney told host George Stephanopoulos.
“Is $100,000 middle income?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less,” Romney responded.
His campaign later clarified that Romney was referring to household income, not individual income. The Census Bureau reported Wednesday that the median household income decreased 1.5% to $50,054 in 2011. That means half of Americans make LESS than $50,054. For a man who thinks $362,000 is “not very much” money and he also likes to make spontaneous $10,000 bets, $250,000 probably doesn’t seem like very much money. But at 4-5 times the median household income, it’s hardly “middle-income.”
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