$150k a year income is far from rich. I'm not arguing that they aren't better off that a household earning $50k but it's not all lollipops and roses like you're assuming. Tax wise, these people get hit the hardest because they're earning enough to pay high tax rates but far from enough to hire fancy accountants or structure their money in a way to pay lower rates.

This doesn't even account for CoL where some places like the bay would classify $150k as "low income."