Tracy made me watch the view this morning and Elisabeth Hasselbeck was ranting about something that really ticked me off. So here I am clearing up one of the worst misconceptions in American civic life.

Hasselbeck was complaining about Barack Obama’s tax plan that may - may - impose new taxes on American families making more than $97,000 annually. She was very, very concerned about “raising taxes on Middle America.”

Families making $100,000 a year ARE NOT middle class. Period. End of story.

The median household income in America is $48,201.00 according to 2006 US Census Bureau statistics. Fully one-half of American families survive on less than that income. If you and your husband both have $25,000 a year jobs, you’re not only not poor, you’re better off than half your neighbors.

I think the elite among us - including Elisabeth Hasselbeck and those who control our civic and cultural institutions - really have no visceral understanding of just how out of whack their understanding of “normal” really is.

That family making $97,000 a year that Hasselbeck is so worried about being taxed? Turns out that household is in the top 17% of American incomes. Now, I have a good word to describe a family better off than 4 out of every 5 American families - rich.

Read more about these numbers at Wikipedia.