It's time to get down to the of the matter.
middle class rise
the middle class is the backbone of this country.
we must protect middle class American families and make sure they have the tools
they need to thrive and prosper.
Let's define our terms. In our minds, there are four categories:
Top 1%
Upper Middle*
Middle 77.7%
Botton 12.3%**
* Our plan is to reduce the number of tax rates to three: 12%, 22% and 28% (read more here). The income tax brackets will be announced when our independent budget analysis is completed, but for now we will say this category brings home $150,000 - $499,000 a year after tax.
** In 2020, 37.2 million, or 11.4%, of Americans lived in poverty. The U.S. Census Bureau uses a set of dollar value thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. For a one person household in 2021, the poverty threshold is $12,880. It's $17,420 for a two-person household and $21,960 for a three-person household.
Sources:
1. United States. Census Bureau. Emily A. Shrider, Melissa Kollar, Frances Chen and Jessica Semega. "Income And Poverty in the United States: 2020." September 2021
2. United States. Health and Human Service. "2021: U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines Used to Determine Financial Eligibility for Certain Federal Programs." Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).