Actually, the biggest issue not being addressed here is the use of IRS figures to imply anything about the US economy or the well-being of its citizens. Economist Alan Reynolds does an excellent job of criticizing the use of such data and its manipulation by the left in his book, Income and Wealth.
Most of 16+ million college students in the US work at least part-time during the summer for limited annualized wages. Should that imply that they are poor? When starting a new business, I lived off of savings for a year and reported less than $1,000 on my tax return. I was very poor by IRS data standards but certainly not in reality. My grandmother lives very comfortably on almost no taxable income through social security, her pension, and money from sold properties. The IRS data makes her look impoverished though. The list goes on.
The journalists at the LA Times and the NY Times will not rest until we are all earning $7 per day in a socialist utopia anyway. Except for them, of course. Leaders of the socialist revolution require more than the rest of us.
