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[poisonelf]

This is from a real article detailing how 'poor, average' incomes will be affected by new US taxes.
What they consider average (and judging by the faces on the graph tormented, poverty-stricken 'average'):

The article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689604578220132665726040.html

From the blog commenting on that article ( http://digbysblog.blogspot.gr/2013/01/the-poor-poor-rich-of-wall-street.html ):

The Onion couldn't top this. Whether it's the sad faces of all these put-upon dejected rich people, or the elderly minority couple who is depressed despite not paying extra taxes (or was that the point?), or the distressed single Asian lady making $230,000 who might not be able to buy that extra designer pantsuit this year, or the "single mother" making $260,000 whose kids presumably have a deadbeat, indigent dad just like any other poor family, or that struggling family of six making $650,000 including $180,000 of pure passive income and wondering how to make ends meet, mockery is almost superfluous. The thing mocks itself. That $650,000 family in particular is bizarre to the point of incredulity: those people could literally stop working entirely, live extremely well on $180,000 while doing nothing but watching television all day and staying home with their kids, and leave their high-salary jobs with their oh-so-onerous tax requirements to people who actually appreciate them.

Beyond mockery, though, that the Wall Street Journal would even dare publish such a thing without irony is indicative of the reality that the wealthy don't live in the same country as the rest of us. Their experience of life, and therefore of public policy, is on an entirely different plane. These are people who take tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of yearly passive investment income for granted and think they earned that money, deserving to pay very low taxes on it. They're people who see a single individual making $230,000 as struggling to get by, and severely put upon by the loss of a couple thousand dollars to help pay for decrepit infrastructure and basic healthcare for the indigent.

It's so obvious the people arguing against taxing the rich are looking out for the best interests of the average working class family!


Mod abuse:
Just to note that the original find came from Oblivion's blog.

 

[Tamanon]

I will say, that's a ton of investment income for the families also, pretty unrealistic.

 

[border]

Of course the lazy, retired black people don't have to pay anything extra under Obama's plan! But that hardworking white family has to pay an extra twenty grand!

 

[Guevara]

LOL No one makes under $180K? Even the retired couple? Even the single parent? Jesus

 

[Tesseract]

not a single fuck was fucking given.

 

[AlexMogil]

Single mother has 40,000 in deductions, huh?

With investment income?

 

[LegatoB]

When this image made the rounds on Facebook & Twitter recently, I assumed it was satire. Good job, WSJ?

 

[jay]

But look at how sad they are.

 

[Trojita]

What single parent of two children makes that much money?

What single Asian girl makes that much? Give me her name! She looks hot.

 

[border]

I would be a lot more open to dating single mothers if I knew they made $260,000 per year.

 

[anotherVegan]

LOL No one makes under $180K? Even the retired couple? Even the single parent? Jesus

Romney's America?

 

[shira]

Damn those be some rich sad peoples.

 

[entremet]

this is just ridiculous.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

lol rich people. Every time I hear the WSJ complain about class warfare or throw out some more tumbrel remarks I wonder if we might be better off with a real class war in this country.

 

[Tesseract]

last year we had to cut out buying regular $200 bottles of wine. thanks obama.

 

[AlexMogil]

What single parent of two children makes that much money?

What single Asian girl makes that much? Give me her name! She looks hot.

Are you nuts? Look how mad she is. You've have to make the other 420,000 and apparently she'd STILL be mad.

 

[Borgnine]

Single mom looks kind of masculine, no wonder no man wants her. Even for her money.

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Eat the rich.

 

[Plywood]

Married couple kept trying to have a girl, ended up with 4 boys. That's all I'm noticing.

 

[User 100115]

I don't....

God damn I'd be happy if I was making the retired couples income. Hell half that. I got a family of five with 40k~. Suck on that, WSJ.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

I read the wall street journal piece and I can't find where it said that the image in that insert applied to poor or average income people.

The article does talk a lot about how taxes will change for certain people, and goes into details as to how, which is also what that picture does. I think it even talks about how affluent people's taxes will go up, more than it does about anything dealing with the average or the poor.

I am not sure I understand the outrage at explaining how peoples taxation rates will change.

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

I like how the elderly couple making $180,000 are still sad despite having no tax increases.

 

[gcubed]

WSJ>GAF>Internet>GAF

isn't that a gaffers blog?

 

[HerbertFish]

I'm lost. Are we going after the WSJ or rich here.


Guess what most rich people aren't going to be happy paying extra taxes. Breaking news!

 

[Dave Long]

I don't even...

 

[Hari Seldon]

Why is someone with a household income of 200k not allowed to whine about a tax increase?

 

[pestul]

Images like this really make me feel like I'm failing at life.

Me and my Wife combine for ~$90k/yr and I dunno.. life seems pretty good. I guess according to this I should be hunkered down in an alley crying.

 

[TUSR]

Why does the single parent with two kids look so sad making $260,000/yr before deductions?

 

[Hellsing321]

Won't anybody do something to help those poor people?

 

[GitarooMan]

Doesn't like only 3-4% of the US claim over 200k income on their taxes?

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Why is someone with a household income of 200k not allowed to wine about a tax increase?

Oh they're allowed, it's just that everyone else is allowed to laugh and tell them to fuck off.

 

[AlexMogil]

I am not sure I understand the outrage at explaining how peoples taxation rates will change.

Because

 

[Guevara]

All that investment income. I mean seriously.

 

[jay]

I like how the elderly couple making $180,000 are still sad despite having no tax increases.

They are sad because of the communism the rest of us are having to endure.

 

[BorkBork]

Wow. Just wow.

 

[Akuun]

I want to see The Onion rise to the challenge.

 

[faceless007]

I like how the elderly couple making $180,000 are still sad despite having no tax increases.

It's because they're black and they actually expected a tax cut from Obama. Free gifts, you know.

 

[ezrarh]

The funny thing is, for the ones making 200k or so, a large chunk of their tax increase is due to the payroll tax cut expiration. Something the Republicans weren't even fighting for.

 

[Aquavelvaman]

Being a single mother must be so hard. Can you imagine trying to raise two kids barely making over 1/4 of a million dollars a year?

 

[Anbokr]

LOL WOW. These people are completely out of touch with reality. $650,000 is rich, and $180,000 is poor? I'd like to move to that neighborhood. I'll gladly accept a very very poor menial job that pays $100,000.

 

[Zombie James]

A retired couple making $180K/year? Obama must be taxing alternate dimensions, too.

 

[TUSR]

It's because they're black and they actually expected a tax cut from Obama. Free gifts, you know.

Are you 100% sure.

 

[Jado]

Some of the target audience for the WSJ are millionaires who genuinely do feel bad for the pictured schlubs living on meager six-figure incomes.

I remember similar "gloomy" articles popped up in 2008-09 about "struggling" executives, lawyers, analysts and brokers in Manhattan earning six figures and up, but not being able to look forward to their usual hefty bonuses/raises. Wondering in fear if they would have to sacrifice their Central Park penthouses and townhouses, or how they would continue to afford elite private schools for their kids.

 

[Joel Was Right]

Wow

 

[Cyan]

Haha, they got it from Oblivion's blog.

WSJ>GAF>Internet>GAF

isn't that a gaffers blog?

Ayup.

 

[Kazerei]

What's with the comments in the article? So much lies and bullshit.

 

[androvsky]

When I saw this on facebook (posted by a wealthy marketing guy who thought it was completely insane), I had to track down the article for context, thinking there had to be more to the story.

There wasn't. The article mentions how it's going to affect the poor, then proceeds to never talk about anyone making under about $230k, iirc.

The worst part is someone snuck in a graphic in a sidebar that does actually talk about how people making under $20,000 are going to pay more in taxes due to the payroll exception expiring, but you only see that if you click through.

 

[BertramCooper]

Man, those rich retired negroes sure are living large at the expense of us lowly whites.

Time to take back the country.

 

[Raistlin]

FML





FML SIDEWAYS

 

[Jacob]

Nice. My brother and I were raised by our single mother and if she had made $260,000/year we would have been living like kings, comparatively. Fuck the WSJ.