Lords of Death Forums Lords of Death Forums LoD General Discussion This one's for you Stretch....

The Tax System - Explained With Beer:

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 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.

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 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, 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, 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.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Dude Im just trying to lure Stretch :\

I love how you classify tax cuts as "upward wealth distribution". Your looney!

I think the point is, if we tax the rich too much, they have every reason to move away, and not pay any taxes.

Then the guy in the middle has no job, and everyone loses.

For instance, Cabela's the mega outdoor sports chain, recently put a giant superstore literally, on the state line in Idaho. The store is there to service Spokane residents, but they built it in Idaho because they pay less taxes. They still get most of their revenue from Washington, but paying us no taxes.

Big business and the people who own them have plenty of options. What is keeping them from taking thier business with all the taxes, and the jobs, then still selling us their products?

GG wealth redistribution.

You are right. Why haven't they then? If our corporate taxes are just so ridiculously high, then why are all the companies still here?

Since when does a tax cut at high income levels shift any tax burden downward? Because there isn't as much money to give away to the poor? Entitlements need to be cut? Spending curbed? Tax cuts don't make other income brackets pay more taxes and history proves that less taxes translate to increased Govt. revenues.

Why don't you start campaigning for less spending. Your going to get more traction with a new campaign.

You and I both know this is about spending. Curb spending and balance the budget, pay down the debt or we can not function.

Neither of which will ever happen.