It has been four weeks since Gov. Cooper unveiled his budget, and yet he and the press continue to refer to his tax proposal as applying only to people who earn above $200,000. Only for married couples filing jointly is the income threshold as high as $200,000.The higher tax rates actually kick in just above $100,000 for single people and married people filing separately.

As Mitch Kokai points out at Carolina Journal, Gov. Cooper even sent fundraising mailers blaming Republicans for trying to cut taxes for those high-income individuals, but “That figure has nothing to do with lawmakers. Instead, the governor set that dividing line himself. In his most recent budget proposal, Cooper urged lawmakers to use that number while reinstating a tiered income tax system.”