"Tax Breaks for the Rich", an Illustrated Guide for Stupid Democrats

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Below was taken from www.soundmindinvesting.com

“(The original version I saw was credited to David Kamerschen, an economics professor at the University of Georgia.) I updated the numbers to reflect the most recent IRS tax data—before any of the promised future tax cuts/increases take effect.

Perhaps this will do a better job of communicating the frustration that I, and many others feel, when a discussion of "fairness" in taxation captures the political spotlight.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our federal income taxes, it would go something like this (rounded to nearest dollar):

The first two men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The third man would pay $1.
The fourth man would pay $2.
The fifth would pay $3.
The sixth would pay $4.
The seventh would pay $6.
The eighth would pay $8.
The ninth would pay $14.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $62.

So, that's what they decided to do. 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. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80."

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. The first two men were unaffected ... they would still drink for free. But what about the other eight men—the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 reduction so that everyone would get his fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by eight is $2.50. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the first four men 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 in roughly the same proportion, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay! And so:

The cost to the first four men, who paid little to nothing, was unchanged.
The fifth man now paid $2 instead of $3.
The sixth now paid $3 instead of $4.
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $6.
The eighth now paid $6 Instead of $8.
The ninth now paid $11 Instead of $14.
The tenth now paid $50 Instead of $62.

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for little or nothing. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings:

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the fifth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $12!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the sixth and seventh men. “We only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got twelve times more than we did!'

"'That's true!!" shouted the eighth man. "Why should he get $12 back when I got only $2? 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, boys and girls, 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, demonize them for not paying their fair share, complain they get tax breaks they don't "need" at the expense of those who do, and they just may not show up anymore.”

[Russell J. Hensel]

Thats a great lil story...but instead of reading something froma professor in Georgia I think I would rather bet with Warren Buffet....or do you think he is not the smartest financial guru of our time?

I can make all kinds of stories like if we saved the BILLIONS of dollars that an unwarrented and lied about war, then maybe things would be different. Maybe the Beer would be free and over 4000 dead soldiers would be there to drink it with us. As a matter of fact lets break it down further

4189 soliers have dies since the start of the war
30,764 wounded in combat

So why you go to the bar and have your beer think of the families that have lost their father, mother, son, daughter aunt, uncle during this BS war.

Think of the 30,000 + that were wounded.

So my friend when you call people stupid. I guess you are looking at your check book and whining like a baby. I look at my country and am willing to spend a little more to make things better. ASk not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

Lets say someone broke your car window. You go and beat the hell out of lil Jimmy for doing it.....only to find out, lil Jimmy didn't do it. Would you just keep kicking his arse so he would learn a lesson? I, as a Desert Storm Veteran will proudly vote for Barack Obama. I despise war and look for someone to help us OUT of Iraq instead of "WINNING".

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Start your own thread about the war if you want. This one is about tax breaks for the rich. Have a nice day.

[Russell J. Hensel]

good come back!

[klott]

Originally Posted by rhensel

Thats a great lil story...but instead of reading something froma professor in Georgia I think I would rather bet with Warren Buffet....or do you think he is not the smartest financial guru of our time?

I can make all kinds of stories like if we saved the BILLIONS of dollars that an unwarrented and lied about war, then maybe things would be different. Maybe the Beer would be free and over 4000 dead soldiers would be there to drink it with us. As a matter of fact lets break it down further

4189 soliers have dies since the start of the war
30,764 wounded in combat

So why you go to the bar and have your beer think of the families that have lost their father, mother, son, daughter aunt, uncle during this BS war.

Think of the 30,000 + that were wounded.

So my friend when you call people stupid. I guess you are looking at your check book and whining like a baby. I look at my country and am willing to spend a little more to make things better. ASk not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

Lets say someone broke your car window. You go and beat the hell out of lil Jimmy for doing it.....only to find out, lil Jimmy didn't do it. Would you just keep kicking his arse so he would learn a lesson? I, as a Desert Storm Veteran will proudly vote for Barack Obama. I despise war and look for someone to help us OUT of Iraq instead of "WINNING".

Since we don't have a Draft, that means you joined, but you say you despise War, yet you served in Desert Storm, but you do not speak poorly of that War! So we can assume that you only joined, for the benefits that you could get from your country, not for what you could give it! If anyone is whining, it is you. BTW, the ones who are fighting this war, are not complaining, they keep signing up to go back, because they feel it is worth it, so who do you think you are, complaining for them?

[nwagner]

Comparing beer to government, give me a @#$%ing break! Beer is a consumer good, government is a massive umbrella of public services. What a dumb analogy.

[nwagner]

Originally Posted by klott

Since we don't have a Draft, that means you joined, but you say you despise War, yet you served in Desert Storm, but you do not speak poorly of that War! So we can assume that you only joined, for the benefits that you could get from your country, not for what you could give it! If anyone is whining, it is you. BTW, the ones who are fighting this war, are not complaining, they keep signing up to go back, because they feel it is worth it, so who do you think you are, complaining for them?

Did you serve Ken?

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

Originally Posted by klott

Since we don't have a Draft, that means you joined, but you say you despise War, yet you served in Desert Storm, but you do not speak poorly of that War! So we can assume that you only joined, for the benefits that you could get from your country, not for what you could give it! If anyone is whining, it is you. BTW, the ones who are fighting this war, are not complaining, they keep signing up to go back, because they feel it is worth it, so who do you think you are, complaining for them?

Could you be a bigger asshole?

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by jburkeson1

Could you be a bigger asshole?

Only if he can get past you.

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

Originally Posted by mlarson

Only if he can get past you.

Sorry, but you were blocking the way.

[klott]

Yea, I could change my name to joey.

[klott]

Originally Posted by nwagner

Did you serve Ken?

Did you?

[Russell J. Hensel]

Yea I got alot out of serving my country. Just because you join the service does not mean you LIKE war. I actually joined because I thought and still think it is the right thing to do for someone who needs some guideance. I needed some discipline and needed to be pointed in the right direction.

But in case you haven't heard the purpose of a large and strong military is to DETER anyone messing with you. But spoken like a true right wing, its you opinion that it is used to bully and push your beliefs on other countries.

The huge benefits I have received from being a 10 year war vetran in the US Army is crappy hearing and I get to join the VFW. But people like you are SO FREAKIN proud to send people to a strange land to die for YOUR beliefs. Spoken like a true p-ussy, send the men out to protect you arse. Spoken like a true Republican!

[nwagner]

Originally Posted by klott

Did you?

No.

Why does it matter, considering that I am not the one speaking on behalf of the troops?