It was wonderful to learn in your recent front-page article that Massachusetts trails only the District of Columbia in median income ("On state median income, we're #1: Near 6 figures, but wealth gap is stark," Page A1, Sept. 13). Not so wonderful were the statistics about the income range within the Commonwealth, especially the vast numbers with incomes well below the median.

The middle class has been on a long, steep decline since the Reagan-era tax policies. Elected officials at the federal and state levels have strived for decades to implement Band-Aid remedies, such as child tax credits. However, we are now in an era of multibillionaires.