Senator Sanders from the Great State of New..., er, Vermont frequently cites census and economic data on his Senate website. Here's one he's posted on Vermont and US median incomes VT and US Median Incomes Post. While I applaud making this information available to Vermonters, he's also cherry-picking two income years (for US median incomes) that would show the extreme ranges of income during those time periods - one point is high (2000), and one is low (2006). Note he does not compare incomes between 1992 and 2006, for example, which might give a better sense of growth, considering it's a longer time span and covers several business cycles.
Census data shows that the same median income metric between 1992-1994 ($43,155) and 2004-2006 ($47,790) shows an increase of 11% in median income, which is a stark contrast to his two date ranges picked and shown on his website. The increase in VT median income was 13% for that same date range. I can pick the highs and lows on a chart, too. So can anyone else looking at census data: Historical Median Income Data Using 3-Year Averages. He's simply picking the numbers as a vehicle to take a swing at the Bush administration.
All is fair in love and war, they say. But if you're paying attention, you'll know that Sanders is distorting truths again for political gain.
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