>>>>I think after reflection you may realize that Marcia's words were not written as you interpreted them.
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>>>>You are right, Tracy. I was merely pointing out that in this day and age, 200K is not a lot of money. Andy and I both work in an industry where it is not unusual for an individual to bill over 100K a year. I am certain that there are lots of middle class families where both adults earn in excess of 100K a year - especially in places like NYC and southern California. Heck - with the cost of living in those place, you'd need to earn 100K to be able to afford to have a roof over your head and put food on the table.
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>>>I agree with you. Mike and other Obama supporters think that the rich people who will be affected by the tax increase are some movie moguls or millionaires. But in fact, many hard working professionals (like you and many other people on this board) will be affected. I live in a middle class town where out of 17000 population, I would guess, 20% are in the > $200K range. My wife and I are in the same boat too. With two children, one in college and another in a graduate school, we don’t exactly rolling in dough. Like many other self-employed professionals I work long hours 6 and 7 days a week. Every time my wife and I think of buying something or a vacation we figure the amount or money we need to earn to pay for cost of things PLUS federal and state tax on that money. With Obama as president everything we buy will cost us more. And on top of that business will have to raise prices to recover some of the tax hikes. It won’t be a pretty picture.
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>>I know the Boston area has a lot of people with high incomes. Nationwide, though, the percentage of people with household income over $200,000 is relatively small. As Obama has said repeatedly, most people will pay less tax if he is elected, not more.
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>Mike, I think you are wrong in generalizing (kind of saying that I am a "typical white Boston man" :)). Nobody pays me or gives me jobs because I live in Boston area. And I am not as knowledgeable as many people here (including you). I make money the old fashioned way: I work long hours and I care about quality of my product and support. Others can do the same and not wait for Obama to distribute what I earn.

I really think this is overblown. Yes, some people with healthy incomes will be taxed more. But this idea that Obama is going to take everyone's money away and give it to the poor is a huge exaggeration. We'll see.

That's if he wins, of course. All signs are he will but I remain nervous. I will be glad when it's over with.