The demographic reality is that, in America, the Democratic party is the new “party of the rich”. More and more Democrats represent areas with a high concentration of wealthy households. Using Internal Revenue Service data, the Heritage Foundation identified two categories of taxpayers- single filers with incomes of more than $100,000 and married filers with incomes of more than $200,000 – and combined them to discern where the wealthiest Americans live and who represents them.
Democrats now control the majority of the nation’s wealthiest congressional jurisdictions. More than half of the wealthiest households are concentrated in the 18 states where Democrats control both Senate seats.
This new political demography holds true in the House of Representatives, where the leadership of each party hails from different worlds. Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, represents one of America’s wealthiest regions. Her San Francisco district has more than 43,700 high-end households. Fewer than 7,000 households in the western Ohio district of House Republican leader John Boehner enjoy this level of affluence…
It should be noted that income and wealth are often confused. Due to the fact that IRS income data is much easier to come by, but not a reflection of “wealth” or net worth. For instance, you could make $120,000 in southern California and be financially unable to purchase a home. You could also have a net worth north $100 MILLION dollars, but show an IRS income of less than $100k. (Which is actually how we got saddled with the AMT).
Just a quick Fair Tax side note: focusing on and taxing income mainly hurts people trying to become rich; not the actual rich.