>>>Agnes, not trying to downplay the effects on the poor but you cannot squeeze blood from a stone and right now it is the middle classes being squeezed.
>>
>>Looks different over here.
>
>Not sure what you mean: middle clas is IMHO getting most of the shaft over here as well. Debatable, if/how the analogy on the poor matches

Same here, however, the "middle class" is a huge range of income levels here so for some it hits harder than others. It also depends on how far your dollar will go which can depend on where in the states you live and how much you have left-over after taxes.

Also, the definition changes. For example:

The 2008 census reported the medium income as $50,233. The PewResearch Center suggests that the middle income range is 75 percent to 150 percent of the median income. This makes the current middle class income range $37,675 to $75,350. To most, this range seems small and surveys conducted by the PewResearch Center find that many who fall outside this range still consider themselves middle class. Four out of 10 Americans with incomes below $20,000 classify themselves as middle class. On the other end, 1/3 of those who enjoy incomes over $150,000 say they are middle class.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5212740_average-middle-class-salary-range_.html

and:

The middle class income range is believed to be between USD 35,000 to USD 50,000 per year approximately as per the studies conducted by various institutions and economists. As per some other studies, the middle class income range could be between USD 22,000 to USD 65,000 per year. In some of the expensive cities, people earning up to USD 70,000 per year would also be included in the middle class bracket. More on gross domestic product. The middle class is further divided into the upper middle class and the lower middle class. The upper middle class usually consists of people having substantial assets and household earnings which are more than USD 1,00,000 per year.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/middle-class-income-range.html

and:

For the 50 percent of families in the middle of the scale, household income ranges from $51,000 to $123,000 for a typical four-person, two-parent family. The median is about $81,000. Those numbers are from 2008, and have probably fallen 5 to 7 percent since then, on account of the recession. Median income for a single-parent, two-child family is about $25,000.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgetingk/article/109155/how-to-gauge-your-middle-class-status?mod=bb-budgeting

The narrowest view of who might be considered middle class based on that presentation would include those in the middle quintile, which includes households with income between $39,100 and $62,000. A more generous definition might be based on the three middle quintiles, those households with income between $20,291 and $100,000. Surveys suggest that from 1% to just over 3% of the population consider themselves to be upper class. Comparing those figures with the income distribution would put the dividing line between middle and upper class close to, if not above, $250,000. Similarly, survey responses suggest that the lower end of the middle class might be close to $40,000. Much of the legislation considered by Congress is in the name of the so-called "middle class." But there is no consensus definition of middle class. Neither is there an official government definition, and it is not the aim of this report to establish one.
http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/42341-defining-middle-class-income/

and:

Jared Bernstein, chief economist and economic policy adviser to the vice president, wrote this on the Middle Class Task Force Blog:

I think it’s important for us to use a broad definition of "middle class" that encompasses the various levels of middle class. The Census Bureau tells us that the median household income—the income of the household smack in the middle of the income scale—is about $50,000, so that’s certainly got to be considered a middle-class income. But a more comprehensive definition must go a lot further. My boss, the Vice President, often describes the "middle class" as any family that can’t afford to miss more than two or three paychecks without financial difficulty. Given job market turmoil, that’s an awfully timely way to think about the question. It used to be that the middle class was able to achieve the American dream of owning a decent home in a safe neighborhood with a good public school, having access to affordable health care, saving for college and retirement, and enjoying the occasional meal out, movie, and vacation. The problem is that many middle class families are no longer able to achieve this dream. The task force will focus on making the American dream accessible again to the middle class.

and:

Brookings Institution economist Gary Burtless:

Gary Burtless: You don't need to show a passport or a baptism certificate or a club ID to be admitted to this group. If you say you're a member, then I think you're in the middle class.

He uses the term "middle income" rather than "middle class" and he bases his definition on the median household income -- which last year was $48,200.

Burtless says the middle can range from half of that to twice that number, so $24,000 to $96,000.

But in surveys, people and families far outside that range will say they're middle class. Burless says that's just American egalitarianism at work.

Burtless: So people who have very high incomes may not want to claim superior position. Similarly, people who have modest incomes do not want to accept any indication that they have second class status in our society.

Regardless of what others may claim (buying power, average income in their area, etc), I do not consider income above 200,000/yr middle class because if you look at the country as a whole, it is pretty far from the average median income. If it's middle class income, it's UPPER middle class. There is a huge difference between 50,000/yr and 200,000+/yr...