Letter to Feinstein

[meadandale]

Very few of us “socialists” are talking about the mechanic shop or restaurant owner, etc.

Yet, the very taxes you are proposing raising would, in many cases, dramatically affect these very people.

I know that, as a consultant, who is incorporated as a one person company, I’m paying more taxes now than ever before–by a wide margin.

Yes, I’m doing better as well…but I’d suggest that some of you who want to raise taxes actually sit down a few times a year and write out a couple of 5 figure checks to the government and see how you feel about it then. That doesn’t even include the payroll taxes I’m paying, that’s just quarterly income taxes.

When you actually have to put pen to paper and write down those large digits on the check you are sending off, it seems a little more real than some arbitrary number you see on your check stub that you never think about.

[an]

This has been shown throughout history.
History also shows there might be one rich guy who will convince all these poor guys to follow him and he’ll deliver them to a country where everyone is equal. There will be no more poverty and we all work for the common good of the country. We will no longer have rich people. They’ll have to pay into the system more than anyone else to help bring up the poor. Does that sound familiar? Promises of we all drink great beers end up being we all drink horrible beers.

UCGal, you are denying those who work hard of their benefit. Either through bad corporate management or high taxation. You might decide to stay in a low paying job in an area with high cost of living, but I can say for certain that if that’s the case throughout the whole region, people will move. Which will lower the demand for housing here, which would reduce the cost of living. It’s already happening right now with the net out migration.

“It’s not the cost of living – it’s the cost of labor.” only work if there’s enough people afraid of moving or changing. I would not mind at all of moving if that’s the case. There’s a disparity in wage between SF vs SD. How do you explain that? They can find plenty more people willing to work for less in SD, why are companies still flocking to SF, SJ, NYC, etc?

Cost of living does not factor in to whether you are in a top income bracket or closer to median income. Raw data dictates it. I’m sure you’ve seen that standard bell curve type figures for salaries. It’s hard to justify calling someone on the far right of the curve as typical of the peak of the peak (middle) of the curve.

That’s the problem, it should be considered. It’s not how much you make, but how much you save that determine how rich you are.

Here’s another bit of data for you. In San Diego County, for 2006 the median income was $36,081, it was $67,935 for married filing jointly.
By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

[an]

This has been shown throughout history.
History also shows there might be one rich guy who will convince all these poor guys to follow him and he’ll deliver them to a country where everyone is equal. There will be no more poverty and we all work for the common good of the country. We will no longer have rich people. They’ll have to pay into the system more than anyone else to help bring up the poor. Does that sound familiar? Promises of we all drink great beers end up being we all drink horrible beers.

UCGal, you are denying those who work hard of their benefit. Either through bad corporate management or high taxation. You might decide to stay in a low paying job in an area with high cost of living, but I can say for certain that if that’s the case throughout the whole region, people will move. Which will lower the demand for housing here, which would reduce the cost of living. It’s already happening right now with the net out migration.

“It’s not the cost of living – it’s the cost of labor.” only work if there’s enough people afraid of moving or changing. I would not mind at all of moving if that’s the case. There’s a disparity in wage between SF vs SD. How do you explain that? They can find plenty more people willing to work for less in SD, why are companies still flocking to SF, SJ, NYC, etc?

Cost of living does not factor in to whether you are in a top income bracket or closer to median income. Raw data dictates it. I’m sure you’ve seen that standard bell curve type figures for salaries. It’s hard to justify calling someone on the far right of the curve as typical of the peak of the peak (middle) of the curve.

That’s the problem, it should be considered. It’s not how much you make, but how much you save that determine how rich you are.

Here’s another bit of data for you. In San Diego County, for 2006 the median income was $36,081, it was $67,935 for married filing jointly.
By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

[an]

This has been shown throughout history.
History also shows there might be one rich guy who will convince all these poor guys to follow him and he’ll deliver them to a country where everyone is equal. There will be no more poverty and we all work for the common good of the country. We will no longer have rich people. They’ll have to pay into the system more than anyone else to help bring up the poor. Does that sound familiar? Promises of we all drink great beers end up being we all drink horrible beers.

UCGal, you are denying those who work hard of their benefit. Either through bad corporate management or high taxation. You might decide to stay in a low paying job in an area with high cost of living, but I can say for certain that if that’s the case throughout the whole region, people will move. Which will lower the demand for housing here, which would reduce the cost of living. It’s already happening right now with the net out migration.

“It’s not the cost of living – it’s the cost of labor.” only work if there’s enough people afraid of moving or changing. I would not mind at all of moving if that’s the case. There’s a disparity in wage between SF vs SD. How do you explain that? They can find plenty more people willing to work for less in SD, why are companies still flocking to SF, SJ, NYC, etc?

Cost of living does not factor in to whether you are in a top income bracket or closer to median income. Raw data dictates it. I’m sure you’ve seen that standard bell curve type figures for salaries. It’s hard to justify calling someone on the far right of the curve as typical of the peak of the peak (middle) of the curve.

That’s the problem, it should be considered. It’s not how much you make, but how much you save that determine how rich you are.

Here’s another bit of data for you. In San Diego County, for 2006 the median income was $36,081, it was $67,935 for married filing jointly.
By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

[an]

This has been shown throughout history.
History also shows there might be one rich guy who will convince all these poor guys to follow him and he’ll deliver them to a country where everyone is equal. There will be no more poverty and we all work for the common good of the country. We will no longer have rich people. They’ll have to pay into the system more than anyone else to help bring up the poor. Does that sound familiar? Promises of we all drink great beers end up being we all drink horrible beers.

UCGal, you are denying those who work hard of their benefit. Either through bad corporate management or high taxation. You might decide to stay in a low paying job in an area with high cost of living, but I can say for certain that if that’s the case throughout the whole region, people will move. Which will lower the demand for housing here, which would reduce the cost of living. It’s already happening right now with the net out migration.

“It’s not the cost of living – it’s the cost of labor.” only work if there’s enough people afraid of moving or changing. I would not mind at all of moving if that’s the case. There’s a disparity in wage between SF vs SD. How do you explain that? They can find plenty more people willing to work for less in SD, why are companies still flocking to SF, SJ, NYC, etc?

Cost of living does not factor in to whether you are in a top income bracket or closer to median income. Raw data dictates it. I’m sure you’ve seen that standard bell curve type figures for salaries. It’s hard to justify calling someone on the far right of the curve as typical of the peak of the peak (middle) of the curve.

That’s the problem, it should be considered. It’s not how much you make, but how much you save that determine how rich you are.

Here’s another bit of data for you. In San Diego County, for 2006 the median income was $36,081, it was $67,935 for married filing jointly.
By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

[an]

This has been shown throughout history.
History also shows there might be one rich guy who will convince all these poor guys to follow him and he’ll deliver them to a country where everyone is equal. There will be no more poverty and we all work for the common good of the country. We will no longer have rich people. They’ll have to pay into the system more than anyone else to help bring up the poor. Does that sound familiar? Promises of we all drink great beers end up being we all drink horrible beers.

UCGal, you are denying those who work hard of their benefit. Either through bad corporate management or high taxation. You might decide to stay in a low paying job in an area with high cost of living, but I can say for certain that if that’s the case throughout the whole region, people will move. Which will lower the demand for housing here, which would reduce the cost of living. It’s already happening right now with the net out migration.

“It’s not the cost of living – it’s the cost of labor.” only work if there’s enough people afraid of moving or changing. I would not mind at all of moving if that’s the case. There’s a disparity in wage between SF vs SD. How do you explain that? They can find plenty more people willing to work for less in SD, why are companies still flocking to SF, SJ, NYC, etc?

Cost of living does not factor in to whether you are in a top income bracket or closer to median income. Raw data dictates it. I’m sure you’ve seen that standard bell curve type figures for salaries. It’s hard to justify calling someone on the far right of the curve as typical of the peak of the peak (middle) of the curve.

That’s the problem, it should be considered. It’s not how much you make, but how much you save that determine how rich you are.

Here’s another bit of data for you. In San Diego County, for 2006 the median income was $36,081, it was $67,935 for married filing jointly.
By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

[UCGal]

By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

If the couple who are cops/teachers/firefighters etc earn $250k, then yes, IMO, they no longer qualify as middle class. But with the exception of nursing (where there is currently a large market demand, driving wages up) those fields would make it hard to earn that much.

From https://apps.sandiego.gov/pjaol/currjob/control?view=OpenJobListing&job_category_cd=Safety+Srv
Police Officer II maxes out at just under $73k.
A firefighter I makes $45k
A firefighter helo pilot makes $82k
The highest paid teacher in San Diego Unified makes $80k.
(http://www.sandi.net/personnel/pdf/SalaryScheds/teachers.pdf)

I go back to the last paragraph of the original post in this thread. The statement is that $250k is middle class. My argument that seems to be missed, is that 250k is not middle class.

And for the record, I’m not underpaid – I think I’ve said several times that I feel fortunate to make a good living. Which is why I look at my salary as an engineer, and my husbands salary as an architect, to put is in UPPER middle class – if not bordering on wealthy by national standards and San Diego standards. And we’re far below the $250k.

What has been said about debt is an interesting point. We were fortunate enough to buy houses (not in San Diego) when we were younger and single. When we married, merged, and moved back to my hometown, we sold our houses and had a nice bit of equity to put down. It was also just before the bubble (2003).

Hypothetical.
Family A makes $200k/year.
Family B makes $200k/year.
Family A and Family B both own identical models in the same development. But Family A bought pre-bubble, and Family B bought at the peak. Who’s richer?

Obviously, family B has more debt. But it comes down to choices, fate, timing, etc. But they both have the same income.

[UCGal]

By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

If the couple who are cops/teachers/firefighters etc earn $250k, then yes, IMO, they no longer qualify as middle class. But with the exception of nursing (where there is currently a large market demand, driving wages up) those fields would make it hard to earn that much.

From https://apps.sandiego.gov/pjaol/currjob/control?view=OpenJobListing&job_category_cd=Safety+Srv
Police Officer II maxes out at just under $73k.
A firefighter I makes $45k
A firefighter helo pilot makes $82k
The highest paid teacher in San Diego Unified makes $80k.
(http://www.sandi.net/personnel/pdf/SalaryScheds/teachers.pdf)

I go back to the last paragraph of the original post in this thread. The statement is that $250k is middle class. My argument that seems to be missed, is that 250k is not middle class.

And for the record, I’m not underpaid – I think I’ve said several times that I feel fortunate to make a good living. Which is why I look at my salary as an engineer, and my husbands salary as an architect, to put is in UPPER middle class – if not bordering on wealthy by national standards and San Diego standards. And we’re far below the $250k.

What has been said about debt is an interesting point. We were fortunate enough to buy houses (not in San Diego) when we were younger and single. When we married, merged, and moved back to my hometown, we sold our houses and had a nice bit of equity to put down. It was also just before the bubble (2003).

Hypothetical.
Family A makes $200k/year.
Family B makes $200k/year.
Family A and Family B both own identical models in the same development. But Family A bought pre-bubble, and Family B bought at the peak. Who’s richer?

Obviously, family B has more debt. But it comes down to choices, fate, timing, etc. But they both have the same income.

[UCGal]

By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

If the couple who are cops/teachers/firefighters etc earn $250k, then yes, IMO, they no longer qualify as middle class. But with the exception of nursing (where there is currently a large market demand, driving wages up) those fields would make it hard to earn that much.

From https://apps.sandiego.gov/pjaol/currjob/control?view=OpenJobListing&job_category_cd=Safety+Srv
Police Officer II maxes out at just under $73k.
A firefighter I makes $45k
A firefighter helo pilot makes $82k
The highest paid teacher in San Diego Unified makes $80k.
(http://www.sandi.net/personnel/pdf/SalaryScheds/teachers.pdf)

I go back to the last paragraph of the original post in this thread. The statement is that $250k is middle class. My argument that seems to be missed, is that 250k is not middle class.

And for the record, I’m not underpaid – I think I’ve said several times that I feel fortunate to make a good living. Which is why I look at my salary as an engineer, and my husbands salary as an architect, to put is in UPPER middle class – if not bordering on wealthy by national standards and San Diego standards. And we’re far below the $250k.

What has been said about debt is an interesting point. We were fortunate enough to buy houses (not in San Diego) when we were younger and single. When we married, merged, and moved back to my hometown, we sold our houses and had a nice bit of equity to put down. It was also just before the bubble (2003).

Hypothetical.
Family A makes $200k/year.
Family B makes $200k/year.
Family A and Family B both own identical models in the same development. But Family A bought pre-bubble, and Family B bought at the peak. Who’s richer?

Obviously, family B has more debt. But it comes down to choices, fate, timing, etc. But they both have the same income.

[UCGal]

By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

If the couple who are cops/teachers/firefighters etc earn $250k, then yes, IMO, they no longer qualify as middle class. But with the exception of nursing (where there is currently a large market demand, driving wages up) those fields would make it hard to earn that much.

From https://apps.sandiego.gov/pjaol/currjob/control?view=OpenJobListing&job_category_cd=Safety+Srv
Police Officer II maxes out at just under $73k.
A firefighter I makes $45k
A firefighter helo pilot makes $82k
The highest paid teacher in San Diego Unified makes $80k.
(http://www.sandi.net/personnel/pdf/SalaryScheds/teachers.pdf)

I go back to the last paragraph of the original post in this thread. The statement is that $250k is middle class. My argument that seems to be missed, is that 250k is not middle class.

And for the record, I’m not underpaid – I think I’ve said several times that I feel fortunate to make a good living. Which is why I look at my salary as an engineer, and my husbands salary as an architect, to put is in UPPER middle class – if not bordering on wealthy by national standards and San Diego standards. And we’re far below the $250k.

What has been said about debt is an interesting point. We were fortunate enough to buy houses (not in San Diego) when we were younger and single. When we married, merged, and moved back to my hometown, we sold our houses and had a nice bit of equity to put down. It was also just before the bubble (2003).

Hypothetical.
Family A makes $200k/year.
Family B makes $200k/year.
Family A and Family B both own identical models in the same development. But Family A bought pre-bubble, and Family B bought at the peak. Who’s richer?

Obviously, family B has more debt. But it comes down to choices, fate, timing, etc. But they both have the same income.

[UCGal]

By your argument, two cops, nurse, teacher, firefighters will be consider upper class since they’re making 2x more than the median income. What kind of world are you living in, where you basic civil servants are considered not middle class?

If the couple who are cops/teachers/firefighters etc earn $250k, then yes, IMO, they no longer qualify as middle class. But with the exception of nursing (where there is currently a large market demand, driving wages up) those fields would make it hard to earn that much.

From https://apps.sandiego.gov/pjaol/currjob/control?view=OpenJobListing&job_category_cd=Safety+Srv
Police Officer II maxes out at just under $73k.
A firefighter I makes $45k
A firefighter helo pilot makes $82k
The highest paid teacher in San Diego Unified makes $80k.
(http://www.sandi.net/personnel/pdf/SalaryScheds/teachers.pdf)

I go back to the last paragraph of the original post in this thread. The statement is that $250k is middle class. My argument that seems to be missed, is that 250k is not middle class.

And for the record, I’m not underpaid – I think I’ve said several times that I feel fortunate to make a good living. Which is why I look at my salary as an engineer, and my husbands salary as an architect, to put is in UPPER middle class – if not bordering on wealthy by national standards and San Diego standards. And we’re far below the $250k.

What has been said about debt is an interesting point. We were fortunate enough to buy houses (not in San Diego) when we were younger and single. When we married, merged, and moved back to my hometown, we sold our houses and had a nice bit of equity to put down. It was also just before the bubble (2003).

Hypothetical.
Family A makes $200k/year.
Family B makes $200k/year.
Family A and Family B both own identical models in the same development. But Family A bought pre-bubble, and Family B bought at the peak. Who’s richer?

Obviously, family B has more debt. But it comes down to choices, fate, timing, etc. But they both have the same income.

[sdnerd]

Starting and running a company can be difficult or easy. It totally depends on what you choose to do.

That’s pretty easy to say, if you’ve never run or started your own company.

Give it a try sometime, and I suspect you’ll find it much harder then you might imagine.

[sdnerd]

Starting and running a company can be difficult or easy. It totally depends on what you choose to do.

That’s pretty easy to say, if you’ve never run or started your own company.

Give it a try sometime, and I suspect you’ll find it much harder then you might imagine.

[sdnerd]

Starting and running a company can be difficult or easy. It totally depends on what you choose to do.

That’s pretty easy to say, if you’ve never run or started your own company.

Give it a try sometime, and I suspect you’ll find it much harder then you might imagine.

[sdnerd]

Starting and running a company can be difficult or easy. It totally depends on what you choose to do.

That’s pretty easy to say, if you’ve never run or started your own company.

Give it a try sometime, and I suspect you’ll find it much harder then you might imagine.

[Author]

Posts