Download Campain issues explained

Medicare
- Created by the government in 1965
- It is a health insurance program the
government pays for (from money that they
receive in tax dollars)
- in 2012, 48 million Americans got
Medicare benefits
- It covers about 48% of cost for people
who have it (they have to pay the rest).
Pre-existing
Condition
- This is a physical or mental health condition, a
disability or illness that you have BEFORE you
become a member in a health plan
- depending on your condition you may be denied
coverage (health insurance will not cover the
cost to treat the condition) or you will have to
pay more money into getting treatment for the
issue
- the health insurance company will decided
what conditions are covered, but some examples
are: asthma, cancer, diabetes, acne, and high
blood pressure.
Estate Tax
- This is the tax that you pay when you transfer
property at your death (yes, the government still
taxes you after you are no longer living)
- This in not only on real estate, but also covers
anything of yours that has value; life insurance,
stocks, investments and other business interests
- The government takes the current value of all
these goods and charges you a percentage of the
value when you give it to another person
Wall Street
Reform Act
- This also known as the Dodd-Frank act
- It was passed in order to keep the American
people/consumer more informed about the
processes and workings of large corporations
(banks) and Wall Street businesses
- It includes the creation of certain groups (ex:
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) who
have specific jobs to watch over certain
businesses to make sure that they clearly report
their actions to the American public
Gross
Domestic
Product
- This is the main way to measure the
performance of the country’s economy
- it is the total dollar value of all the goods and
service made over a certain period of time
- Can use the income approach: which means
economists add up what everyone earned in a
year
- Can use the expenditure approach (more
common): which means adding up what everyone
spent
- When economy is “healthy” you will see low
unemployment, high pay for workers and higher
stock prices (because companies are doing
better)
- As of October 31, 2012 the U.S. GDP: $15.094
trillion
-
Japan:
Germany:
China:
Canada:
$5.867 trillion
$3.5706 trillion
$7.3185 trillion
$1.7361 trillion
Capital Gains
Tax
- This is the tax on profits that an investor
(individual or business) gets when he/she sells
their asset for a price that is higher than the
purchase price
- This exists in most countries
- In the U.S. this is the tax on yearly net gains
- Long-term gains (things that are held for more
than a year) can be taxed up to 28%
Charter
School
- These are schools that get public money and
private donations but they are not subject to the
rules and regulations that apply to other public
schools.
- they have a specific charter which lays out the
school’s expectations and end results
- they are not allowed to charge tuition
- the curriculum specializes in a certain field:
arts, math, or sciences
Unemployment
Savings
Accounts
- Workers pay for their own unemployment
insurance
- Basically people would pay into this account
while they are working for the future prospect
that they will not have a job
- When the person becomes unemployed, they
would have direct control over the account
“Buffet Rule”
- Thought of as being a rule of “tax fairness”:
everyone pays their fair share
- Many millionaires pay a smaller percentage of
their income than many other middle class
families (Warren Buffet pays lower tax rate then
his secretary)
- This rule would make the millionaires pay a tax
rate the was comparable to the rate paid by other
families in the U.S.