Define middle class [View all]
I've always wondered what exactly middle class is, what defines it, and who gets to say what defines it. Is it solely based on yearly income? Should it take into account property? Somebody could win $100million lottery, opt for a bulk pay out, and for that year they'd be upper class (the one percent) but after that they could stop working, halt their income and be unemployed. They would drop back in "class" the next year while having vastly more wealth and maybe if they had little income, collect unemployment and food stamps (theoretically). Regardless of prior income, isn't the income range broad enough that there's actually a divide between upper middle class and lower middle class? A family that makes $100k would be middle class but wouldn't be anywhere close to the wealth of a family of the same size that makes $240k.
Where do we draw the line? Is it a dead stop at $250k and the next bracket is 45%? Do we add smaller rate increase brackets to tax the additional income until it reaches, say, $1million? How do we decide the cut off number? It should get adjusted for inflation shouldn't it? (for example, in the constitution you have the right to trial by jury for any amount over $20. Which was huge back then, but now having a jury trial for that amount seems like a gigantic waste of time). Various numbers that we believe should cap off the middle class have been proposed over the years. In the Bush tax cuts bill the senate(D) version had the cut off at $200k but the house (D) version had the cut off at $250k. Obama has proposed numbers from $100k to $1m and I recently heard him mention $3m in a speech. Does middle class even stop at an even number?
Another point, If a static number is proposed, then in a number of years everybody will be upper class technically. (I grew up in a house normal sized house that we got for $13k in the sixties and would now be worth almost $300k, yep it's still there too.) My point being that $13k would've bought you a nice house then and now it will get you half way to a decent car.
The $250k number has been being proposed for a while now, but doesn't that mean it's outdated? If we adjust for inflation (Which reading my reasoning above, we have to) shouldn't a bill proposing income after $250k be taxed at 45% from 2011 now be changed to $254k? (using the 1.6% inflation and cost of living increase congress decided to give the military for 2012). Next year it would be $258,318 using the predicted 1.7% cost of living and inflation increase for 2013.
My last point is (worded as a question because I want to know your opinion), should there be an exemption for small business owners (say under 50 people) because in my opinion they have larger personal income but it's not proportional given their expenses and paying employees and stuff.
Post your thoughts and opinions about "middle class" 
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