On beer and taxes (cost, elect, government, states)

[Roadking2003]

This is an old story, but quite true. In fact, it's almost a 60 second summary of the story line in "Atlas Shrugged".

"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 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."


read the rest of the story here; On Beer and Taxes

[RCCCB]

This is the kind of thing that will make liberal's ears bleed.

[BirchBarlow]

Let's not forget that since the first four men are "poor" they get earned income beer credits of $5 each, so $20 out of the $100 spent on the beer go right into those four men's wallets...

[Harrier]

I notice the liberals are ignoring this thread - they can't handle the truth?

[noexcuseforignorance]

Originally Posted by RCCCB

This is the kind of thing that will make liberal's ears bleed.

No, it makes an intelligent person's ears bleed. Did you bother even thinking through the poor analogy that they're making.

1. The service provided by the bar is elective. People could just choose to stay home. In the case of government, unless you want to be walking through the woods, running away from raiders while speaking Russian in the dark, it's not really a valid comparison. The taxes go to things that are essential to making the country run. I love my beer, but it's not a mandatory thing.

2. The dumb little story assumes that the price of drinking beer in the bar is high in the first place. Relatively speaking, the United States has a low rate of taxes to start with including a ton of deductions for the rich and a very low level of capital gains taxes. It also assumes that people would want to go to another, not as nice bar, where nobody knows them, nobody speaks their language and all of their friends would be in a far away bar

3. Taxes aren't beer. It's like discussing if planes flew the way donuts are made. It's not a valid analogy

I should also point out that if you don't like how our tax system works, you're advocating raising taxes on most people. That would include most people on this site and likely yourselves to a great degree.

I'm pretty sure none of you have traveled much, but feel free to hit some countries with a large disparity between the rich and the poor. They don't typically make for great places to live. There are also typically more social problems and increased costs of law enforcement when you end up with that situation.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by noexcuseforignorance

No, it makes an intelligent person's ears bleed. Did you bother even thinking through the poor analogy that they're making. .

It's a perfect analogy and illustrates why it's destructive to try to increase taxes on those that already pay more than their fair share so that the leeches can continue to suck the life out of the middle class.

[marcopolo]

Originally Posted by noexcuseforignorance

......Relatively speaking, the United States has a low rate of taxes to start with including a ton of deductions for the rich and a very low level of capital gains taxes.....

The tired old bromide about "a ton of deductions for the rich and a very low level of capital gains taxes" doesn't really do a very good job of explaining why the tenth guy is paying 59% of the tab.