From The Arrogant Law Professor:
Our combined income exceeds the $250,000 threshold for the super rich (but not by that much), and the president plans on raising my taxes. After all, we can afford it, and the world we are now living in has that familiar Marxian tone of those who need take and those who can afford it pay. The problem is, we can’t afford it. Here is why.
Like most working Americans, insurance, doctors’ bills, utilities, two cars, daycare, groceries, gasoline, cell phones, and cable TV (no movie channels) round out our monthly expenses. We also have someone who cuts our grass, cleans our house, and watches our new baby so we can both work outside the home. At the end of all this, we have less than a few hundred dollars per month of discretionary income. We occasionally eat out but with a baby sitter, these nights take a toll on our budget. Life in America is wonderful, but expensive.
I'm sure we've all heard of this guy by now. The Chicago College Professor who has the temerity to complain that the Obama tax cuts to the rich will make him "destitute." Well, another poster broke down his actual income based on his own information:
H]e says he's paying "nearly $100,000″ in state and federal taxes, not including sales tax; let's say $95,000. Leaving out his property tax, that's $80,000 in income tax. How much income would lead to this kind of tax hit?... [H]is pretax family income exceeds $250,000 by at least $90,000. But this doesn't include tax-free contributions to their 401Ks....
So we're pretty close to $400K gross income, and on top of that their employers are surely putting money into their retirement funds....
He is also whining about his and his wife's education loans, $500,000, which are costing them about $50K per year in interest. Let's just sketch out the family budget here: Taxes: $100,000. Housing... $80,000. Two really nice cars... $10,500. Student loan payments (20 year amortization at 10%) = $60,000....
This leaves about $90,000, a lousy $245 a day, for food, clothes, vacations, cable TV, and like that. You can walk into Nordstrom's on Upper Michigan and spend that in a minute, and for stuff you really need. Really, I don't know how these people get by; their adaptive skills, economical habits, and modest living style is an inspiration to all of us. Perhaps
they are careful to tip no more than 15% at the Sizzler when they splurge.
There are things in this world you have the right to complain about and things you don't. A college Professor making somewhere in the range of $400,000 a year HAS NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT TAX CUTS.
A breakdown of their budget from another poster:
As best as Michael O'Hare could determine (and Professor Henderson
or whoever it is does not challenge him), the Henderson annual
family budget is this:
$455,000 a year of income, of which:
$60,000 in student loan payments
$40,000 is employer contributions to 401(k) and similar retirement
savings vehicles
$15,000 is employer contributions to health insurance
$60,000 is untaxed employee contributions to tax-favored
retirement savings vehicles
$25,000 building equity in their house
$80,000 in state and federal income taxes
$15,000 in property taxes
$10,000 for automobiles
$55,000 in housing costs for a $1M house (three times the average
price in the Hyde Park neighborhood
$60,000 in private school costs for three children
$35,000 in other living expenses
I'm sorry. I'm not speaking out of my ass here. My wife and I make around $200,000 and live in NY. No, we don't have a house in Garden City or Sands Point. We don't take a month long vacation at a summer home we don't own in Cape Cod. We don't have a live-in nanny, $60,000 a year in retirement savings to put away (which this guy apparently does) or a country club membership. I pay my own health insurance (and taxes for my own company).
But you know something? I consider myself lucky. And well-off. And I actually give a shit about those of us who don't have any security or retirement or prospects, because for most human beings IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT. Sure. For some it might be. They may not have valued education. They may be drunks. They could be lazy. But I strongly believe the majority of Americans are not this stereotype. It's a convenient one for conservatives, though. It allows them to justify their attitudes.
We live in a time where millions over 50 cannot get a job again. Where many who support the republican party make 600 times what their employees do. And if you were to ask them about this, they would tell you, "Hell yeah! Why shouldn't I make 600 times my employees?"
Well, there are those who appreciate their place in this world and those who look at everything from a self-centered, anally retentive perspective like Mr. Henderson.
I'm sorry, Mr. Henderson, that you cannot live on $455,000 a year. I'm sorry that if your tax cuts expire you might have to pay an extra $30,000 a year in taxes (maybe). I'm sorry you picked a profession where you ONLY make $455,000 a year. What a tragedy. How do you live with yourself?