SEMANTICS

Mitt: ‘Middle Income’ Is $200–$250K

Flip-flops on anti-Muslim video.

Perhaps $200,000 to $250,000 is “middle income” in Mitt Romney’s eyes, but it’s a bit above the middle (in the top 2 to 3 percent, in fact) when compared with the income of most Americans. In an interview Friday on ABC’s Good Morning America, Romney told George Stephanopoulos that he would not raise taxes on “middle-income people,” prompting Stephanopoulos to ask whether “middle income” is $100,000. Romney replied, “No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less.” Stephanopoulos had the right idea, since technically “middle income” falls somewhere between $30,000 and $100,000 for individual income. Romney’s camp later clarified that he was referencing household income, not individual income. Obama has similar plans to extend tax cuts for household incomes of $250,000 or less.