Washington Post Profile Describes The Economic Misery Of Well-Off People

Have you heard about this nationwide economic crisis we're facing? Yeah, a lot of people are hurting out there. But riddle me this: does any journalist have the guts to stare into the pit of despair in which people who are making $300,000 a year are trapped? The Washington Post's Anne Hull does, and guess what? THESE PEOPLE ARE JUST "SQUEAKING BY!" As someone whose household income tax form lists "blogger" and "public school teaching assistant" as occupations, it's high time I vigorously palpated whatever gland manufactures superfluous pity!

Here's what the recession looks like to Laura Steins, whose skin is resolutely "golden" and whose "wet hair" bravely "radiates confidence."

But she's months overdue for a visit to her colorist, a telltale sign of economic distress for a woman such as Steins. The smell in the basement could mean a crack in the septic line; unlike a $200 hair appointment, a plumber will be in the thousands. And from the breakfast table comes one more urgent need from a 10-year-old.

"At my birthday party, every single girl had a phone," says Katie Steins, making the case that an enV2 phone with matching cover is just standard in her crowd.

Steins kneels down to face her daughter. "If you continue to tell the world how undesirable your phone is -- it's not a flip, it's not a swivel, it's not an LG -- you will not have a phone."

Steins takes a breath. Life in this $2.5 million house was built on the premise of two incomes, not the income of a divorced mother of three in a tanked economy. Her property taxes are $35,000 a year, the nanny is $40,000 and the gardener is $500 a month.

"I can ride this storm out," says Steins, which means having tiger-striped hair and getting her kid a generic cellphone and ignoring the stinking basement.

Indeed. Couldn't it be said that the stink of her basement is a jarring symbol of the way we live now, in these tempestuous, recessionary times? No. It could not. Not in a million years.

The piece goes on at length, describing the predicament of those who, like Laura Steins, live in Harrison, New York. Even as the "sandwiches at Patisserie Salzburg" sit there, mockingly "wrapped in wax paper and tied in pink ribbon," the world of the $300K set is a brutal panorama of abject economic despair. Nannies go unhired. "The billions of dollars lost in investments are still gone." STILL GONE! And yet, "for all of the lives shaken, few are willing to talk about it." Maybe because they have "self-awareness" and "lots of disposable income."

Astoundingly, the words "health care reform" do not appear in this article! I, for one, would like to know if the Steinses support a robust public option or if they feel their family can scrape by as part of some health care co-op. (Also, no indication that anyone is paying off a mortgage, which is pretty fortunate!)

The article concludes: "Perfect looks perfect from a distance." Uhm...doesn't "perfect look perfect" close up as well? That sort of does not make any sense. But then, neither does this article! What exactly brought Laura Steins to this lowly state? Her divorce. Recall that "life in this $2.5 million house was built on the premise of two incomes," and that now, Steins "receives $75,000 a year in child support from her ex-husband." This is not a story of recessionary woes. It's the story of the consequences of a ruined relationship.

At any rate, this is a special article, detailing the misery of those who can still happily afford to purchase subscriptions to newspapers. But what makes this article extra special is that despite the fact that there are people in McLean, Virginia and Potomac, Maryland who are also just "squeaking by" on $300,000 a year, the Post felt it necessary to troop out to Westchester County, New York to file this story. That means that this is not just an article on the plight of the comfortably affluent, it's a needlessly expensive article on the plight of the comfortably affluent. Maybe the recession really is over!

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Comments

[John Denton]

02:19 AM on 09/14/2009

We should tax the rich until they need cheaper health care.

[billw8017]

12:21 AM on 08/22/2009

I find class war a big turn off because my side lost long ago.

I find my ironic pleasure in thinking about evolution. H.G. Wells, in his story of the time traveler says these idle and stupid people are evolving into the food of the lower classes. Evolution is said to operate by the "survival of the fittest," but it operates by culling the less fit as each community adjusts to its niche. The poor would evolve more swiftly since 1) the proof of God's love: He made so many of us; and 2) our tribulations are more trying and lethal. So, the more wealthy live in elegance, while workers grow more pragmatic, ruthless and smarter. Finally, all their elegance is that of the well cared for cattle and the workers are their herdsmen.

Then, revolution turns everything upside down. Lenin, a cousin to the Czars, has a brief eminence until the hardier Stalin emerges from the ranks. The low are raised, the high fall and H.G. Wells is circumvented. Ah, well ...

[MJinCanada]

04:23 PM on 08/21/2009

This is absolutely standard in how the right-wing media do an "ordinary people toughing it out" story. Fifteen years ago, our local paper did a story on a a dual income couple making $90,000 a year who simply could not make ends meet.

We were raising two kids and paying a mortgage on maybe a third of that and could not figure out how they couldn't manage on what seemed like so much. And God forbid our local paper, owned then by crooked millionaire Conrad Black, should even consider that there were hundreds of families making do on less than we were!

Rule 1 of "economic" reporting -- the working poor do not exist, except as "pawns" of "power-hungry unions."

[jackster12]

04:10 PM on 08/21/2009

I hope and pray... I'm almost sure... this Post story WAS meant to be ironic. Though I'm not 100% convinced. Someone mused, though, about whether or not the Steins would support the public option for healthcare reform.

I can't speak for them. But fact of the matter is, I happen to make over $300K per year... and absolutely support it. No question. And I'll shell out for the higher taxes to cover it, too. It would be immoral, in my opinion, to feel otherwise.

As for someone with that income "squeaking" by, I would never dare make that claim. Then again, we don't go to $200 hair appointments or have a $2.5 million home (we rent and sock the savings away in a SEP account). Heck, I don't have a car, since we live in the city.

Of course, I did spend a good part of my younger adult life living on tuna fish sandwiches and Ramen noodles and working until 10 pm every night, trying to stretch a paycheck. So I've got some sense, maybe, of something I'm guessing a lot of the Southampton crowd does not.

One last thing: the nanny making $40K. I can't believe she makes that much or can live on that little. Frankly, how do most Americans get by on that... given that non-public schools start at $12-$15K and colleges go well over $20K. Health coverage? If you're self-employed, it can run $15K or higher for a family of four.

[coldweathergirl]

01:06 PM on 08/19/2009

I'm speechless. My husband and I are both in graduate school and are making significantly less than what these people pay for their nanny! I suppose its time to quit my research and look for a nanny position in New York! The really frustrating thing is is that we're two highly educated people, but because we don't make much in the way of salary we can't even think about buying even a reasonably priced house. Even if we could pull off a down payment, we'd lose our student loans and would bring home even less money to live on!
I don't feel a thing for all of the people who bought million dollar houses and are watching life "crumble" around them. People have lost their jobs and homes every year due to various factors; where were the bailouts in '01 after 9/11 and again in '03 when I was a fresh out of college 22 year old and couldn't find a job in any one of the 50 states?? Where's my bailout? Oh, that's right, in America you only get a bailout if you made bad decisions, lived above your means, and can't afford to get your hair done this month.

[CitizenIndie]

03:28 PM on 08/18/2009

Why isn't this woman kicking in to help pay for the destitute's healthcare in this country?

Because she needs to get her hair streaked.

[Mauimom]

03:04 PM on 08/18/2009

Yet another reason for raising the marginal rate on incomes over $300K.

As if "NYC Prep" weren't reason enough!

[WilliamP]

02:59 PM on 08/18/2009

I have a 98th percentile IQ, speak fluent Japanese, and went to law school. But I still can't find a job that would pay me as much as this woman's nanny makes.

[VillainUs]

03:13 PM on 08/18/2009

Sounds like it is time to become a nanny!

[Crumbx]

12:30 AM on 08/22/2009

At least $10,000 of the "Nanny" cost is employment-related taxes. THe 6.5 match for Social Security, the 1.45 match for Medicare, the unemployment taxes, health insurance for the nanny, etc. The Nanny herself/himself might actually see $30,000 gross and $24,000 net. Can you live in New York on that?

[Sunshine1970]

02:33 PM on 08/18/2009

Wow. I'd love to be making a fraction of $300K. Hubby & I could live very well.

I think it's time for this lady to stop complaining and take a good hard look at what's important to her in her life. And then teach her kids these lessons.

[Evangeline Lyons]

02:28 PM on 08/18/2009

EAT THE RICH!!

[b1rd67]

02:53 PM on 08/18/2009

Bring out the guillotines!

[pakaal]

03:13 PM on 08/18/2009

Hey, that's my line!

But yeah, seconded.

[raven119]

02:26 PM on 08/18/2009

"Squeaking by on $300,00 a year"? Squeaking? My wife and I could live handsomely on the child support alone.

Did the Washington Post publish this as an ironic story? A bit of humor for these dire economic times?

My advice to Ms. Steiens: Forget the nanny and use the money fix the septic or you may find that the health department condemns the house as unfit to live in, then you will know real economic hard times.

[atienne]

01:56 PM on 08/18/2009

This would appear to be a real story for how life has changed for the affluent. Let's face it, the 300,000 plus a year folks are not much different than the 50,000k a year folks. They live beyond their means.

Granted, I would give ANYTHING to only have to worry about paying the nanny, gardener, etc. So this lady and people like her need to make concessions like everyone else. The Steins and people like them aren't suffering-most people in the US aren't. They can still go to parties in the Hamptons, etc. The average person is just trying to make ends meet and the stress is amazing. To the Steins, I guess it's stressful not being able to go to hair appts. or cutting down on nanny care-(No wonder so many of them pop pills) I'll be sure to keep in mind how their lives have been disrupted next time I volunteer at the soup kitchen in my hometown (sarcasm).

[COPerez]

01:51 PM on 08/18/2009

I'm speechless.

[smchp]

02:11 PM on 08/18/2009

I know it's a tragic story. I could not imagine getting by with what she has. It would be such a horrible life!

[AKWrongWinger]

01:47 PM on 08/18/2009

She thinks it is bad now, wait until the ex-husband stops paying the bills!

[Patriot68]

01:25 PM on 08/18/2009

Mmmm....I love the smell of class warfare in the morning.