This information will likely be attacked as biased, since it is provided by an entity that might be motivated more by a desire to install water softeners than a desire to educate the inadequately washed masses. But MIGHT is the key word.
It seems that ole tuckandroll has decided to walk on the wild side and enter the exciting world of politically oriented blogging! He undoubtedly thinks that this will be a one-time event and that he'll soon go back to blogging about divorcees and fried victuals, but he is so very, very wrong. I too once had an apolitical blog, but a look down the page will reveal that I cannot resist expounding on matters political. Welcome, and nice work!
12:38 PM
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Common sense, peppered with sarcasm:
"Here's an easy-to-understand example of the current tax law and the president's proposed tax cuts.
Suppose every day ten people go out for dinner, and the total bill comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
• The first four people - the poorest - would pay nothing.
• The fifth person would pay $1.
• The sixth $3.
• The seventh $7.
• The eighth $12.
• The ninth $18.
• And the tenth person - the richest - would pay $59.
That's what they decided to do, and they ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement.
Then one day the owner threw them a curve. "Since you're such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your meal by $20, so your dinner will now cost only $80."
The owner suggested it would be fair to reduce each person's bill, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
• The fifth person would now pay nothing.
• The sixth $2.
• The seventh $5.
• The eighth $9.
• The ninth $12.
• And the tenth person would have a bill of $52 instead of his earlier $59.
Each of the six was better off than before, and the first four continued to eat for free.
Once outside the restaurant, however, the people began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20" declared the sixth person as she pointed to the tenth, "but he got $7!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth person. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got seven times more than me!"
"That's true!" shouted another. "Why should he get $7 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four people in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine people surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night he didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They were $52 short!
And that's how the 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 at the table anymore." 8:16 AM
