A tale of two classes

There was a record number of millionaires last year! According to a study by market research and polling firm TNS Financial Services, 8.9 million U.S. households can now derive a title from how much money they own. Reports of Regis Philbin's involvement with the status of the 700,000 new millionaires are unconfirmed as of the moment.

Meanwhile, 1.1 million more Americans slipped into poverty, raising the number of impoverished Americans to 37 million. While this may seem to be a worrying juxtaposition, the BBC reports that

[The poverty rate] rose only for non-Hispanic whites, from 8.2 % in 2003 to 8.6 % over the same period. The poverty rate remained unchanged for black and Hispanics.

For those in the very middle, real median household income is the same as it was in 2003, but even that is dubious, since it took more workers to hold the number in place.

The Government Accountability Office thinks there needs to be more taxes for these people, though. Specifically, taxes on home mortgage interest, 401k contributions, employer-paid pensions, employer-paid health benefits and non-business state and local taxes.

From what I understand, these suggestions mostly affect the middle class....which means that, if they're adopted, even more people will fall into the lower class.

Well, whatever. At least someone in the government is thinking about our deficit problems.