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Maybe people will understand Obama’s proposed tax system better if I use beer instead of taxes.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100 and if they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would
…pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.)
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.” So drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free…but what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share’? They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before…and the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
“I only got a dollar out of the $20,”declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,” but he got $10!”
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!”
“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
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The one thing you are not calculating is how much each man drink. The first four (the retired, the ex-military, the crippled, and yes, the poor and lazy). Get one beer each in their evening of drinking. Drinkers 5-9 (the middle class, get two beers each. The tenth gets 7,000+ and he gets them at a reduced rate (tax loopholes, offshore accounts, unfair capital gains tax rates, and subsidies). And, oh by the way, they are already “drinking overseas” that’s where are jobs go due to outsourcing. Try thinking more center, than right.
Please excuse the spell check above.
The one thing you are not calculating is how much each man drank. The first four (the retired, the ex-military, the crippled, and yes, the poor and lazy). Get one beer each in their evening of drinking. Drinkers 5-9 (the middle class, get two beers each. The tenth gets 7,000+ and he gets them at a reduced rate (tax loopholes, offshore accounts, unfair capital gains tax rates, and subsidies). And, oh by the way, #10 is already “drinking overseas” that’s where are jobs go due to outsourcing. Try thinking more center, than right.
Extremism in either direction is wrong.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Oh, and by the way, we now have an ‘exit’ tax of 95%. Don’t forget to pay before you leave. If things are so great someplace else go there.
I like how the extreme lefty in the first comment suggest the writer should think more center, but then says the richest guy drank 7,000 + beers. The total bill was only $100. Are you so far left that you don’t appreciate the fact that the first four guys drank for FREE!
Jay, that makes no sense. They drank $100 worth of beer – unless beers were given away (which would be the Greek system) the amount of beer drunk is not in question. They do bring different incomes into play, but that is covered in the scenario. THIS kind of failure to understand is why the Democrats get away with their propaganda.
Your analogy does not do reality justice so I’m thinking that you must be attempting an old joke- I believe it goes something like this: These three guys walk into a bar……If you require some analogy for a realistic comparison remember that the reader/listener should automatically know the real topic that’s being addressed due to the clarity- albeit humorous story line, thanks.
leslie’s right one of you always has her legs open (see mildde corn)
sorry for taking it there, but i really just have to for some reason. also, sorry to all of your moms. and to the corn. ooooooohhhhhhhh, burn! ahem.Left by noelle on October 7th, 2005
there is flaw in Bill’s comments. Taxation without representation. It is well know that the people picking up the bulk of the tab rarely use any services. While the 4 that are drinking for free typically use a lot of services(in this case beer). So if we truly wanted things to be fair. I think you would see the bar tab would need to reverse its pay order.
Nice way to simplify something so important, you boiled it down so well that the humanity has evaporated, replaced with fermented drinks. Are we to believe that the money saved from the discount will only go back into buying more beer? If so what does beer represent here, one’s total expenses and well-being? Are we to believe there is no rent, hospital bills, home repairs or any kids wanting toys or is it all represented by beer? If thats the case, the better off you are economically the more drinks of beer you get. If that was not the case in this country then the life of someone with a low income would be at the same standard as the richest man. So don’t say the amount of beer that is consumed per person does not matter if beer represents one’s economic situation. Its way too easy to make the poor look bad in this scenario because it is a leisurely activity, a night at a bar and portraying them as ‘that guy’ that doesn’t pay for his own drinks many might be familiar with. Those poor guys might be getting a glass of beer in this story, but in real life all it eases is the monetary strain from a child’s dental work, auto repairs, tuition, etc.
Equal opportunity, not equal results. it does stink that some children won’t get the needed dental work or nutrition they need. I was one of those children. I never grew up thinking”if only the government did more” instead I grew up realizing how lazy and government dependant my mother and other mothers in my neighborhood were. all were capable of working and providing for us, yet perfectly content with living off the tax payer and letting their children half starve.
if you pay people not to work… they won’t work. but please don’t take it out on those of us who still believe in the American dream, working 2 jobs sometimes in excess of 100 hours a week. we work to get ourselves ahead, not to make sure third generation welfare recipients can shoot kids out like a pez dispenser to get more benefits.
I’m certain Mitt Romney isnt going to buy me or anyone else a free beer…not one…Ole Rudy though, the town drunk and homeless man, is more than willing to share his wine with anyone who’ll have a sip,regardless of whether he earned his dollar or panhandled it.
Reality is often shrouded by greed, as is this scenario.
“Beer….mmmmmmm.” – HOMER SIMPSON
The assumptions that the richest men work the hardest and deserve the most, that the poorest men are bums and loafers, or that the free beer taken away from the group in taxes is redistributed to the poor is out of touch with reality. Among many factors missing in this outrageous and simplistic analogy is the fact that the vast majority of income taxes are collected at gunpoint and then handed over as interest payments to the private shareholders of the Federal Reserve system on loans of funds created out of thin air which never existed until our puppet government and by extension the American taxpayer was strong-armed into borrowing this fiat paper instead of simply issuing its own Colonial Scrip or Lincoln Greenbacks type of notes – without debt.
—————————————
FIRST AND LAST
Some are born on Earth
– but have no place to live
Others are rich beyond measure
– but have nothing to give
When Christ comes back from Heaven
And the trumpets roar and clatter
I hope He comes to free the sons
Of the first and not the latter
The Catholic Church is richer
Than a hundred nations bound
But ask the Pope for a buck and a smoke
He’ll be nowhere to be found
I think what makes me sicker
Than the lies and greed and wars
Is the way these Euro bankers
Turned our Congress into whores
The Mormons think their money
Is proof God loves them best
The Jews believe their Talmud
Makes them better than the rest
Some Arabs have more cash flow
Than you or I could dream
Their Prophet must be disgusted
By their profits from gasoline
Some are born to riches
Yet live their lives in fear
Some are trapped in poverty
But rejoice year after year
When Christ comes back from Heaven
And I pray He makes it fast
I hope He comes to clear up
What he meant by ‘first’ and ‘last’
- CHRISTOPHER HAYDEN
There is in fact a much better metaphoric story that people need to understand if anything is going to change. It has been around for 112 years but, unfortunately, when the bloodsuckers in Hollywood got their hands on it for their 1939 adaptation they obscured the allegory by making a few fundamental changes in the symbiology. But here, don’t take my word for it, let Libertarian film maker Bill Still explain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swkq2E8mswI
People are so very quick to bite the hand that feeds them. There is a point where taxes that become too high will disuade investment and discourage people from expanding their businesses which means higher unemployment. Keep beating on the class of entreprenureal business people and they will eventually go on strike.