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 paid $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, college
professors, [and Obama fans] 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.
(Ed. Note: I've got $20
that says they
still won't get it.)