Law Professor’s Blog Post Incites Web Riot Over What Constitutes Rich

Professor Henderson's blog post immediately created a whirlwind of controversy with people who make a lot less than the Hendersons — namely, the vast majority of Americans — ridiculing the professor's plutocratic attitude.

Here's what he said would happen if his taxes rise:

Like most working Americans, insurance, doctors’ bills, utilities, two cars, daycare, groceries, gasoline, cell phones, and cable TV (no movie channels) round out our monthly expenses. We also have someone who cuts our grass, cleans our house, and watches our new baby so we can both work outside the home. At the end of all this, we have less than a few hundred dollars per month of discretionary income. We occasionally eat out but with a baby sitter, these nights take a toll on our budget. Life in America is wonderful, but expensive.

If our taxes rise significantly, as they seem likely to, we can cut back on some things. The (legal) immigrant from Mexico who owns the lawn service we employ will suffer, as will the (legal) immigrant from Poland who cleans our house a few times a month. We can cancel our cell phones and some cable channels, as well as take our daughter from her art class at the community art center, but these are only a few hundred dollars per month in total. But more importantly, what is the theory under which collecting this money in taxes and deciding in Washington how to spend it is superior to our decisions? Ask the entrepreneurs we employ and the new arrivals they employ in turn whether they prefer to work for us or get a government handout.

If these cuts don’t work, we will sell our house – into an already spiraling market of declining asset values – and our cars, assuming someone will buy them. The irony here, of course, is that the government is working to save both of these industries despite the impact that increasing taxes will have.

Playing the consummate victim, the good professor wrote, an "electronic lynch mob caused untold damage to me personally." [enter tiny violin]

Mr. Henderson removed his essay and summarily quit blogging.

Despite the claimed hate-mail, the original post, which University of California, Berkeley, economics professor Bradford DeLong re-posted for the sake of the "conversation," has also inspired a legitimate debate about an idea that typically makes people either furious or embarrassed. In short, the rich don't feel "rich."

There have been numerous estimates postulated about the Henderson's combined income. 

• He maintains that he and his wife do not earn $450,000.00, but only states that it is "less" than the widely publicized income figure circulating around the web.

The Business Insider, after hearing from Mr. Henderson, refigured the numbers

We tried to pin down the source of the $450,000 number. We expect it was calculated through the use of a reverse tax calculator, which ascribes an income of $450,000 to the payment of $100,000 in federal taxes. Henderson's blog post, however, said that his family's tax payment of "nearly $100,000" includes state taxes. Based on this information, and some back-of-the-envelope estimates of the likely combined income of a senior law professor and a cancer specialist in Chicago, we now estimate that the Hendersons make about $400,000 a year.

The implication of Henderson's post was that his family was not, in fact, "rich," and that Obama's proposed tax hikes would hurt him, too. Never mind that the tax increase is not on the entire income of couples making more than $250k, it is on every dollar OVER $250k. Which means that this tax increase won't hurt a bit unless you earn significantly more than $250,000.

What is your opinion? Would you be complaining if you earned over $250,000.00 per year?

The original article has been deleted, but you can still read the full text here:

http://cid-a47bd961104657a1.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!A47BD961104657A1!5711.entry

or here: http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/todd-henderson-we-are-the-super-rich.html

Additional media sources:

http://www.businessinsider.com/todd-henderson-rich-salary

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/But-the-Super-Rich-Dont-Feel-Rich-5088