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Old 03-31-2009, 07:43 AM
 
1,788 posts, read 4,742,928 times
Reputation: 1252

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Received this in email. Don't know where it originally came from, but it gave me a chuckle. Enjoy!


Our Tax System Explained Using Bar Stool Economics:

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 content 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." So 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 got!'

'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, ladies and gentlemen, 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.
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Old 03-31-2009, 08:50 AM
 
Location: An absurd world.
5,160 posts, read 9,149,093 times
Reputation: 2023
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Old 03-31-2009, 09:14 AM
 
Location: North Cackelacky....in the hills.
19,567 posts, read 21,806,527 times
Reputation: 2519
It will be funny to see this happening and the outrage and whining of those who pay nothing.
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Old 03-31-2009, 09:23 AM
 
69,368 posts, read 63,880,475 times
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The reason why this is actually compounded is...
Currently the lower 4-5 individuals actually get paid to show up
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Old 03-31-2009, 09:25 AM
 
1,788 posts, read 4,742,928 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pghquest View Post
The reason why this is actually compounded is...
Currently the lower 4-5 individuals actually get paid to show up
Sadly, this is true.
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Old 03-31-2009, 09:25 AM
 
Location: North Cackelacky....in the hills.
19,567 posts, read 21,806,527 times
Reputation: 2519
Actually isn't it now over 'five people' who pay nothing????
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Old 03-31-2009, 09:26 AM
 
Location: Sacramento
14,044 posts, read 27,127,873 times
Reputation: 7373
Yeah, you have to add in the factor that the lowest 6 guys just got paid a little bit to show up.
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Old 03-31-2009, 09:27 AM
 
4,145 posts, read 10,395,244 times
Reputation: 3338
And then when the bar is getting ready to close, all the unemployed people show up and the bar buys them several rounds on the rich guy's credit card.
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