Two stories caught my eye in this morning's local paper. The AP reported that the budget bill recently signed by the president cut the Department of Labor's Senior Community Service Employment Program by 45 percent from $825 million to $450 million. Advocates of the program say it could mean as many as 58,000 fewer jobs for seniors. The loss of these jobs will impact those over 55 earning less than $13,600 a year.
Another AP report on the opposite page titled "Super rich paying less in fed taxes" noted that according to the Internal Revenue Service the average income of the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes during 2007 was nearly $345 million. Their average income tax rate was 17 percent down from 26 percent in 1992. During that time period the average federal income tax rate for all taxpayers declined from 9.9 percent to 9.3 percent. The report goes on to describe the complexity of our tax code and the $1.1 trillion credits, deductions, and exemptions that enable taxpayers to reduce their tax liability.
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