elkoholic
04-21-2007, 07:04 PM
Suppose that everyday, 10 men eat dinner together and the bill comes to $100.00. If it was paid the way we pay our taxes, the first four men would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1; the sixth would pay $3; the seventh $7; the eighth $12; the ninth $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. They ate together every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until the restaurant owner reduced the cost of their daily meal by $20. Now dinner for the 10 cost $80. The first four are unaffected. They still eat for free. $20 divided by six is $3.33, but if they subtract that from every-body's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would end up being paid to eat their meal. They decide that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same percentage. And so, the fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52 instead of $59. Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man pointing to the tenth, "and he got $7." "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man, "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got seven times more than me! 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 he didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate with out him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered they were $52 short! And that, boys and girls and college instructors, is how the tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just might not show up at the table anymore.