Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) is facing a tough fight against Elizabeth Warren, a well-know advocate for middle and working-class Americans. Sen. Brown, however, is expressing his own concern for their interests.
Sen. Brown defends ordinary working families against the threat of an Obama tax hike. The Lowell Sun reports that Brown criticized Obama's proposals in a recent meeting with their editorial board:
Brown also took on President Barack Obama for proposing tax hikes on families who earn more than $250,000 per year, saying that would hurt "teachers, firefighters, policemen, folks who work two jobs."
Asked which public servants earn that much money, Brown said it is common for police officers to earn well over $100,000 annually when overtime is factored into their pay.
"You throw in a teacher who's working, plus a summer job, it adds up pretty quickly," he said. "There's quite a few of them."
Yes, Brown is concerned that Obama's tax proposals will crush all of you teachers, firefighters, and policemen because you earn so much. You should all take this into account when estimating the future taxes on your $250,000+ annual incomes.
Over at TPM they have researched some numbers that call Brown's truthfulness into question:
It doesn’t sound like there’s an epidemic of high-income public servants based on the available data for the area. According to Salary.com, which tracks average pay across various professions, 90% of Boston police patrol officers made a base salary below $75,307 last year and 90% of Lowell patrol officers made a base salary below $70,857. 90% of firefighters in Boston make under $68,793, and below $64,729 in Lowell. The average teacher in Lowell makes about $80,841 a year, according to the Massachusetts Department of Education, higher than the statewide average of $68,781.
Maybe Brown is just stupid, but I notice that he specifically names three groups of often-unionized public employees as potential victims of a tax on the wealthy. It makes me wonder if Brown isn't previewing a new talking point from the Right: public employees make so much money that they themselves are among the wealthiest Americans.