Taxes Seen In Another Light, Or Lite If You Choose

[3rdnlng]

THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN 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.
Te 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 ball. "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 men would 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 ? 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 a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," 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 benefit than me!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 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. This new tax 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 satdown and had their 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 government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally 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 . (Sorry Gatorman)

--

Edited April 9, 2016 by 3rdnlng

[Azalin]

 

THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN 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.

Te 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 ball. "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 men would 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 ? 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 a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

 

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).

The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

 

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

 

"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," 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 benefit than me!"

 

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 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. This new tax 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 satdown and had their 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 government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally 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 . (Sorry Gatorman)

 

 

--

 

 

You'd think that putting it in terms of beer would make it easier for most guys to relate to, but you know that the same old people will miss the point completely.

[3rdnlng]

 

You'd think that putting it in terms of beer would make it easier for most guys to relate to, but you know that the same old people will miss the point completely.

Gatorman disapproves this message, not because it hits home but because he thinks that if we all drank Busch it would somehow make us all more equal. Little does he know that he is a 3.2 kind of guy going against IPA's.

[Azalin]

Gatorman disapproves this message, not because it hits home but because he thinks that if we all drank Busch it would somehow make us all more equal. Little does he know that he is a 3.2 kind of guy going against IPA's.

 

I'd be inclined to make that "wine coolers vs tequila", but your point's taken.

[DC Tom]

Gatorman disapproves this message, not because it hits home but because he thinks that if we all drank Busch it would somehow make us all more equal. Little does he know that he is a 3.2 kind of guy going against IPA's.

He also thinks that if you give beer to people who don't have beer, it brews more beer.

[Dr.Sack]

As Bob Marley said, "alcohol is the destruction of a nation. Weed is its salvation." Let a man grow weed in his backyard and he will be a slave to nothing.

[DC Tom]

As Bob Marley said, "alcohol is the destruction of a nation. Weed is its salvation." Let a man grow weed in his backyard and he will be a slave to nothing.

Great. Another !@#$ing "Pot fixes everything" stoner.

[Chef Jim]

As Bob Marley said, "alcohol is the destruction of a nation. Weed is its salvation." Let a man grow weed in his backyard and he will be a slave to nothing.

He'll forever be a slave to Nabisco.

[Dr.Sack]

He'll forever be a slave to Nabisco.

Bake some brownies $1.99 at the local grocer.

[Chef Jim]

Bake some brownies $1.99 at the local grocer.

Ok so he'll be a slave to brownies. To say he'll be a slave to nothing is a lie.

[Tiberius]

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible . (Sorry Gatorman)

 

 

--

 

We need to call this the "Gatorman Paradox". Constantly being told to leave you poor sots alone yet being included in so many threads he's never responded to.

 

Anyway, where did the $20 go? You are asking the businessman to surrender $20 of his profits every night for the sake of this? Did something happen? Is it a question of rents? Perhaps the place lost value and had to cut the price of beer to keep customers. the fact that violence was resorted to makes this seem like something went really wrong some place else. Perhaps a factory closed and property values declined so that the rent went down and the savings were passed on. But the hard times led to violence and had nothing to do with the money.

 

And if these guys are drinking $10 worth of beer a night who will pay for the health care problems down the road?

[keepthefaith]

 

And if these guys are drinking $10 worth of beer a night who will pay for the health care problems down the road?

 

The rich of course. Most in the example can't even afford beer. How the hell are they going to pay for health insurance or medical care? It would not be fair to ask them to pay for that.

[Chef Jim]

 

 

And if these guys are drinking $10 worth of beer a night who will pay for the health care problems down the road?

 

What health care problems?

[3rdnlng]

 

What health care problems?

I don't get it. Now that Obamacare is in full swing I feel so much better protected and I saved $2500 to boot!

[unbillievable]

If they just let 10 more guys into the bar that want free beer, all of their problems will be solved.

[Tiberius]

I know what happened, they cut the price by $20 because the rich guy had lent the bar owner the $20 at interest and was benefitting in interest and the lower taxes! Boom!

 

Gatorman exposes the society wide scam!*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, the bar owner did get credit though, so not all bad

[Chef Jim]

I know what happened, they cut the price by $20 because the rich guy had lent the bar owner the $20 at interest and was benefitting in interest and the lower taxes! Boom!

 

Gatorman exposes the society wide scam!*

 

 

No the bar owner cut the price by $20 to get them to come in more often and actually spend more money. You know....incentives. Something the government doesn't really do all that well.

[Tiberius]

No the bar owner cut the price by $20 to get them to come in more often and actually spend more money. You know....incentives. Something the government doesn't really do all that well.

 

the government does an awesome job of providing incentives. All the advances in health care were incentivized by government money, same with military and space stuff

[Chef Jim]

the government does an awesome job of providing incentives. All the advances in health care were incentivized by government money, same with military and space stuff

 

You're so far left you don't even know what the !@#$ an incentive is.

[Tiberius]

You're so far left you don't even know what the !@#$ an incentive is.

you are wrong as usual

 

Stop banging your head of frustrated one