No, Chris, I am not wealthy. And, no, I am not trying "to protect the rich."

As I stated before: How do you define Rich? You're a scientist - Investigate it thoroughly before you come to such a simplified conclusion. Here's my analysis of this middle-class bait and switch.

President Obama wants to raise taxes on the so-called rich. And like Obama, Warren Buffett, the richest man in America, speaks about raising taxes only on the rich. But somehow he ignores that the President's tax increase starts at $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. Obama ought to call them "thousandaires," but that probably doesn't poll as well.

The President needs to levy his tax increase at such a lower income level because that's where the money is. In 2009, 237,000 taxpayers reported income above $1 million and they paid $178 billion in taxes. A mere 8,274 filers reported income above $10 million, and they paid only $54 billion in taxes.

But 3.92 million reported income above $200,000 in 2009, and they paid $434 billion in taxes. To put it another way, roughly 90% of the tax filers who would pay more under Obama's plan aren't millionaires, and 99.99% aren't billionaires.

Warren Buffett says it's only "fair" to raise his taxes, but he's lending his credibility to raising taxes on millions of middle-class earners for whom a few extra thousand dollars in after-tax income is a big deal. Unlike Mr. Buffett, those middle-class earners aren't rich and may earn $250,000 for only a few years of their working lives. How is that fair?

Barbara