"It is the upper middle class they are seeking to eliminate."
Exactly right. And "middle-middle" class, too. When Republicans say "rich" they are talking somewhere in the Bill Gates range. When Democrats say "rich" they mean anyone with a private-sector job.
This is class warfare, and the intent is to eliminate the middle class, and create a society of 1% Intellectual Brahmins who do all the thinking for the 99% poor, frightened dependent huddled masses.
Irony here; rather than "closing" the gap, they only intend to make it wider.