our tax system, the method by which we might gently mitigate this trend has exacerbated that inequality. the top marginal rate has fallen from 70% before reagan to a low of 35% under the bush tax cuts. now extended through 2012. the capital gains rate, the taxes most wealthy people like mitt romney pay on the dividends and earns on investment has fallen to 15% today. on top of that, the tax code has also been eaten through with determination by the special interests of the wealthy, creating carve-outs and hidden pockets where they can hide their income away. to take one particularly egregious example, the notorious carried interest loophole, allows people that work in private equity and manage hedge funds to classify their income as capital gains, allowing them to pay the rock bottom rate of 15%. tax fairness advocates and progressives have decried this for years. every time changes are proposed to correct it, an army of lobbyists, what political
have a shrinking number of doctors and hospitals accepting medicare. one dirty secret about the government funded healthcare is how hard is it to get a doctor because they are paid so little. the cost of medicaid shared by the state and the federal government. the state manage it and approach it in very different ways. larger, more urbanized, more politically liberal states tend to provide more generous eligibility. making them further up the income scale eligible for medicaid. some states offering benefit with incomes as high as 300% of poverty. close to $60,000 for a family of three. that drives up costs. to afford them, they pay the doctors rock bottom rate. primary care physician in new york state is paid a third from medicaid what that doctor would get from say an elderly medicare patient, paid under medicare. california pays 36% of what medicare pays. raising the question of being eligible means anything if you
doctors and hospitals accepting medicare. one dirty secret about the government funded healthcare is how hard is it to get a doctor because they are paid so little. the cost of medicaid shared by the state and the federal government. the state manage it and approach it in very different ways. larger, more urbanized, more politically liberal states tend to provide more generous eligibility. making them further up the income scale eligible for medicaid. some states offering benefit with incomes as high as 300% of poverty. close to $60,000 for a family of three. that drives up costs. to afford them, they pay the doctors rock bottom rate. primary care physician in new york state is paid a third from medicaid what that doctor would get from say an elderly medicare patient, paid under medicare. california pays 36% of what medicare pays. raising the question of being eligible means anything if you
before and 16% from the year 2000. experts say the recession could be one reason. but high divorce rates, teen pregnancies and long military deployments are no doubt also factors. mortgage rates are up for the first time in three months so says the mortgage buyer freddie mac. the average rate for a 30 year fixed loan was 4. 5% last week. up just a smidge from the record low the previous. despite the rock bottom rate. home sales are the lowest they have been in decades. fox news is on the job hunt. we have a step in the right direction to report. as we mentioned earlier, fewer americans file for jobless benefits last week but that doesn t necessarily mean it s getting easier to find work. in fact, the labor department tells thrust is now an average of five people or there are an average, five people competing for every open position. that makes it tough. and as applicants look for ways to stand out from the crowd, it appears more of them are