In The Blogs

Placing John McCain's "Rich" In Context

I love a well-made chart. And Ezra Klein just so happens to have one.

incomedistribution-thumb-480x320.jpg

As you can see, the chart reflects the answers McCain and Obama gave when asked to define "rich" at the Saddleback forum over the weekend. Obama said $150,000, an income which would put someone in the 94th percentile of American earners, and McCain said $5 million, which is just completely preposterous. As Ezra points out, this is dangerous:

Asking the world's tallest man to set cabinet heights, or the world's strongest man to decide the tension of jar lids, is going to leave you with some pretty tall cabinets and some pretty tightly closed jars. Similarly, asking one of the world's richest men to set your tax policy will end up with a pretty skewed set of policies: Say, a tax plan that gives his wife $370,000 in breaks. Again, nothing weird or malign: Just the naturally skewed perspective of someone who lives on a particular extreme, in this case, the extreme edge of the wealth distribution.

This is inevitable, of course. The American political system demands wealth as a condition of entrance. You have to be able to take time off in order to run for office (or even plan/contemplate a run for office), and you usually have to have a network of wealthy friends you can tap as donors and contacts. As a result, most people who make it to national politics are wealthy, and have the "naturally skewed perspective" that Ezra mentions.

I should add that there was hope for John McCain once. In 2001, he was one of two Republicans who opposed Bush's tax cuts, saying, "I'd like to see much more of this tax cut shared by working Americans... I think it still devotes too much of it to the wealthiest Americans." If you've seen his tax policy today, you know he no longer has such qualms.

image
image
Get Mother Jones by Email - Free. Like what you're reading? Get the best of MoJo three times a week.
Comments
no profile pic for comment author

I believe Obama said that rich was $250,000, not $150,000. Am I forgetting something?

no profile pic for comment author

That's what I recall too, which means he was spot on. I say we elect the smart candidate.

no profile pic for comment author

Anyone watching the forum knew that McCain was joking when he said $5 million, and even admitted as soon as he said it that it would probably end up as a sound bite, taken out of context.
In his full statement, he didn't put a dollar figure on what is rich because he said it didn't apply to his tax plan - he wants tax breaks for everyone and there's no cutoff point.

no profile pic for comment author

Oh, so McCain was joking when he answered questions at the Saddlebrook forum. And his ads attacking Obama are meant to be humorous. I'm starting to wonder if he's running for president (oops, I meant commander-in-chief, since we don't seem to elect a *president* any more, but rather a commander-in-chief), or is he running for Jay Leno's replacement?

Post a comment
Alternately, you may login to or register an account
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <ul> <ol> <li> <blockquote> <img>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options


Jail.org - Inmate Search
Criminal records, instant public records & people search & current court records. www.jail.org

U.S. Public Records Search
Search County & State Court Records, Criminal records, Vital and Adoption Records www.PublicRecordsInfo.com

Records.com - People Search
Public Records and Background Checks. Instantly Search Criminal Records, Addresses and Court Records www.Records.com

Court Records & County Records
Find Instant Public Records, Criminal Records as Well as County Property Records Search. www.PublicRecordsIndex.com

Mother Jones Podcast
Get in on the conversation! We talk about culture, politics, the environment, the economy and more. Listen now!

TalkBackTees.com
A treasure trove of liberal wit, wisdom and quotations, from ancient to modern, on colorful, cotton tees.

Support Independent Artists
Amazing art, crafts, apparel, paper-goods and more. A carefully curated selection of sundries since 1999.

FREE CONNECTIONS FOR GREEN SINGLES
Meet progressive singles in the environmental, vegetarian & animal rights community who share your values